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New card which one?

tkfmmaxi

tkfmmaxi

tkfmmaxi

Associate
Joined
24 Feb 2010
Posts
101
Ok I,m looking for a new card I,m thinking of buying either 2 in xfire or 1 bigcard, But I,m not sure what to go for should I go for 2 6970 or 1 7950'really not sure some advice would be most welcome......my budget is a maximum of £420.00 never used x cross before is there much more performance fro using 2cards I compared to 2.

My system spec
Windows 7 proff
Gigabyte X58 mobo
12 gig ram
Intel core i7
60 gig. M4 SSD
1tb samsung Hdd


Thanks for looking. maxi
 
I would go with one card if you are playing at 1080p. Less hastle. Consumes less power, creates less heat and noise.

I was looking at a 7970 for next month, but to behonest I am just going to get the cheapest 7950 I can. At the exact same core and memory clocks as a 7970 (which most should hit easily on the stock cooler) they are barely any slower than a 7970 in most situations. They also seem to be able to overclock increadibly well, some people getting over 1Ghz+ on the core (stock is only 800).

Theres a good article (google it) on 7950 v 7970 at the same clocks.
 
Crossifre support depends on the game and drivers, some games work really well with it, others do not. Logically you would expect a second card to double your performance but this is rarely the case. I am not sure on the power draw of a 5850 but I am willing to bet a 7950 will draw a lot less power than two 5850's.

I wouldnt bother with a 7970, the cheapest 7950 is 335 ish. You have to spend another £100 to buy a 7970, but both have the same amount of VRAM, they both share a 384 Bit memory bus, and the 7950 clocks just as easily as the 7970 if not more so. The difference in them both being at 925 core is simply a matter of a few % in FPS. Which you will never notice! I think I would rather have the £100 in my pocket and the ability to probably clock to 1Ghz + if I really wanted to.

Thats what I would do any way.
 
Since your budget needs to stretch just £10 to get the fastest card in the world right now and your PC specs allow it, you might as well get the 7970. Or you could "wait for Kepler" :)
 
lol now thats confused me! and what is Kepler? extra tenner and i can have the fastest card ................dont mean to be rude but why didnt the guys recommend that 1 then????
 
tkfmmaxi said:
lol now thats confused me! and what is Kepler? extra tenner and i can have the fastest card ................dont mean to be rude but why didnt the guys recommend that 1 then????
Click to expand...

Kepler is the new generation of graphics card from Nvidia using the 28nm process which is expected to come out in April. Not only are these cards expected to offer very good performance, but they may well shake up the market - since AMD have already released their high-end 28nm cards and they are currently beating the Nvidia competition.

As for the "fastest card" I think he is referring to increasing your maximum budget of £420 by a bit more and afford the HD 7970. For example this XFX model is currently £432.

This review shows how the 7970 and 7950 compare against other cards currently available in a range of games. They are very fast, but not ideal in terms of value for money (which is always the case at this end of the market).
 
thanks for the explination............i think i,m going to stick with ATI anayways seen as i have a Gigabyte Board
and i like the look of the recommended 1

thanks all
 
Borsch said:
Since your budget needs to stretch just £10 to get the fastest card in the world right now and your PC specs allow it, you might as well get the 7970. Or you could "wait for Kepler" :)
Click to expand...

The HD7970 is faster than the GTX590? and HD6990?
 
cmndr_andi said:
May I ask why? Is there an issue with nvidia cards and the X58 gigabyte boards?
Click to expand...

I,m sure i read some where you get better performance with ATI and Gigabyte board? maybe i,m wrong
Anyway i,m gonna hang fire and wait for Kepler if there out next month? or april i can wait 4-6 weeks i suppose
 
tkfmmaxi said:
I,m sure i read some where you get better performance with ATI and Gigabyte board? maybe i,m wrong
Click to expand...


From what i've read there really isn't any issue with Nvidia cards and Gigabyte boards (or better performance with AMD cards)- at least not the X58 ones (perhaps there were issues in the past). I know a lot of people with the gigabyte X58 boards and they run Nvidia cards perfectly fine.


tkfmmaxi said:
Anyway i,m gonna hang fire and wait for Kepler if there out next month? or april i can wait 4-6 weeks i suppose
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good plan. I imagine with a HD 5850 you won't be hamstrung too much in terms of gaming for the next 6-8 weeks.
 
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