New GPU - What to get...

[katana6434]

Hi

I am inthe market for a new GPU, but not sure what to get. I curretnly have a 8800 GTX. This is starting to show its age and is starting to freeze playing some games. The fan on it is having some problems nowadays....

I game at 1920x1200 on a i7 920, 6GB RAM.

I have no real budget and will get whatever is best for me.

I have been thinking about the GTX 570 or maybe go the whole hog and get a 580. But it has also been suggested to me that perhaps I could go down the crossfire route with 2x ATI 6950's. I notice that you can get 6950's with 1GB or 2GB. If I go this route which memory config would be best?

I have looked at the Anandtech comparison charts and the crossfire does seem to perform well.

What do you suggest.

 

[buchtis]

No budget, an i7 and 6 gigs of RAM? Go for the 580 or crossfire two 6970's.

 

[Kouba]

Crossfire unlockable 6950 2GBs.

 

[katana6434]

Ok, I know I said I have no budget but I don't want to spend money just for the sake of it...

I have also heard that you can potentially unlock 6950's to get 6970 performance.

 

[katana6434]

Crossfire unlockable 6950 2GBs.

Ahh, somebody beat me to it.

Does anybody what 6950's will unlock? Is it a specific model or will most of them do it?

 

[whipgeez]

sli 480's? pick them up for a good price and are as fast as hell

 

[Secret_Window]

6950 2GB unlocked to the 6970 is really the best value for money in terms of performance and memory from a graphics card in its price range.

 

[katana6434]

Anybody know which 6950's will unlock?

 

[FallshirmjAEger]

Anybody know which 6950's will unlock?

I think all of them I think, unless you get one of those that won't work after you've flashed it.

 

[Predicament]

GTX 480 or ATI 6950 are you two best contenders.

 

[TropicLightning]

Anybody know which 6950's will unlock?

You want any of the AMD reference cards, all of them are 2GB. The reference cards are the ones that look like/are the same as/the 6950's from day 1 release. Reference cooler is an almost certain reference card, all reference cards look the same differing only in the decals on them. Non-reference cooler is an almost certain non-reference card, most have different PCB's and coolers.

Reference Card:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-248-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-192-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

Non-reference/third party:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-254-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-113-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-028-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752


That being said, some of the non-reference cards will unlock, most won't so very risky. Go with a reference card.

 

[Mr. May]

i've heard the msi one's unlock and it its only the 2gb models its either them or 2x480sli

i personaly would go nv route i know ill get called a fan boy and so on.....

but i have a 4870x2 right next to me which i have swaped for a 470 due to the poor drivers with games the only thing ati drivers are better for are multi monitor setups which nv are usless at just my 2 cents

 

[MoodyB]

Imho I'd go for the single card option if you're happy with the fps that the 580 gets in reviews.

Less potential hassle & no waiting on crossfire / sli profile updates to fix scaling in games, etc...

 

[Randall8686]

SLI 480's = Horsepower

 

[TropicLightning]

I think all of them I think, unless you get one of those that won't work after you've flashed it.

 

[katana6434]

Thanks for listing those cards TropicLightening.

Just need to decide what route to go down. I think I am leaning towards the 2x 6950's in Crossfire.

 

[TropicLightning]

6950 Xfire is nice, pretty much identical performance to 6990 for a lot less money. Same potential, no more no less, for Xfire driver issues as 6990 too. Even in new games that may not utilize both GPU's in Xfire a single 6950 is no slouch while waiting for a Xfire driver update.

The only way I really wouldn't recommend Xfire would be 6850 or less, where if there were a new game Xfire issue, the single 6850 may not be enough while waiting for an update.