Ohhh what to buy, what to buy...

chameleon · 10 Mar 2011 at 20:57

I'm dangerously close to new system time. I'm looking at the Titan Spinosaur setup (+ssd drive) but I'm in a quandry as to what Graphics card to get. I have been considering a GTX 580, possibly the Asus CU II...?
But I read so much "this card spanks that card" or "get this and SLI it" I really have no idea what's the best option. Do I SLI two cheaper cards or go for a single better one? Who has the better/more stable drivers etc?
I play WOW mostly so a super supreme spec probably isn't essential.

Help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope.

Cleeecooo · 10 Mar 2011 at 21:19

Nvidia have more stable drivers.
AMD's are fine though.
I would get a GTX570 or GTX560 SLI but even these may be more than what you require.
On the AMD side, you could get the 6950 (maybe OcUK will flash it if you ask nicely) or a 6870xfire.

I would personally get one better card as you have an easier upgrade route

ishoeyi · 10 Mar 2011 at 22:00

wow is only good with just 1 fast card, xfire dont perform very well in wow

i dont know about sli

tommybhoy · 10 Mar 2011 at 23:29

Cleeecooo said:
Nvidia have more stable drivers.
AMD's are fine though.

Here we go yet again!

One is as stable as the other, 9 out of 10 it's because of PEBKAC.

Reaper 392 · 10 Mar 2011 at 23:37

tommybhoy said:
Here we go yet again!
One is as stable as the other, 9 out of 10 it's because of PEBKAC.

sorry for off topicness, but am i right in thinking PEBKAC is equivilant to PICNIC (problem in chair, not in computer)

never heard the term before

95thrifles · 10 Mar 2011 at 23:43

Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

95thrifles · 10 Mar 2011 at 23:44

For the OP I agree single card, a single 560 is still more than enough for your needs

kylew · 11 Mar 2011 at 00:35

Cleeecooo said:
Nvidia have more stable drivers.
AMD's are fine though.

*groan*

Why do people even try to pretend this is true?

The best value card at the moment is the 6950, and unlock it to a "6970". The GTX580 or 6970 isn't worth its asking price, though the 580 a lot more so.

tommybhoy · 11 Mar 2011 at 01:22

kylew said:
*groan*

Why do people even try to pretend this is true?

+1, It really is getting very boring now.

kylew said:
The best value card at the moment is the 6950, and unlock it to a "6970". The GTX580 or 6970 isn't worth its asking price, though the 580 a lot more so.

I liked my 6950 so much, I got another for x-fire. £18 extra than a 580 and it absolutely kills it!
Have a look here:
6950>70 V 580 Comparison

Cleeecooo · 11 Mar 2011 at 07:13

Ive never had any major problems with AMD drivers but i think nvidias interface and releases are better.
I dont think the difference between them is massive. It just seems
That eveeyone on here seems to say nv are more stable and they have more updates. That is what the op was asking

Stanners · 11 Mar 2011 at 08:21

I think the card of the moment, the 6950 flashed imo.

kylew · 11 Mar 2011 at 08:50

Cleeecooo said:
Ive never had any major problems with AMD drivers but i think nvidia'ss interface and releases are better.

nVidia's "interface" is their control panel, not driver, and it's not an indication of it being more stable, simply a preference.

I dont think the difference between them is massive. It just seems
That eveeyone on here seems to say nv are more stable and they have more updates. That is what the op was asking

Not everyone does, but this is the exact reason people say it, because they've seen other people say it, who don't actually know why they think it other than "I've seen other people say it, so it must be true?".

It's the same thinking that breeds the majority of misconceptions when it comes to PCs.

trigger-happy · 11 Mar 2011 at 08:53

buy to 6950's, flash them to 6970's. Epic xfire.

Marine-RX179 · 11 Mar 2011 at 10:52

Ignore.

chameleon · 11 Mar 2011 at 10:55

Ok, ya lost me somewhere after xfire 5970?

The Asgard · 11 Mar 2011 at 11:25

I have just upgraded from a 5870 to a GTX 580 after being dissapointed with the 6990 release. The only reason I upgraded is because I recently upgraded to a 30" monitor and the 5870 struggled in a couple of my games. I'm pretty confident at 1920x1200 that you can't go wrong with any of the current range of card. 6950 onwards. The Rev 1 6950 is a steal and should definately be at the top of your list.

For those that are interested power consumption is 9 watts more at idle and 50 watts more at load in Crysis over the 5870. Which I think is pretty amazing considering the performance on tap. More than pleased with my purchase.

Final8y · 11 Mar 2011 at 11:54

Marine-RX179 said:
No offense, but am I the only thinking going from xfire 5970 to 5970 xfire with a 5870 (getting a (2nd hand) 5870 after selling one of the two 5970) would be an UPGRADE that not just free, but give some money for the OP in return and with better performance...considering Quadfire sux and perform worse than xfire 5970+5870 in real world experience?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_5970_CrossFire/3.html

Don't look so sucky to me & that was with beta 9.6 drivers & some games are broken with Quadfire & 2560x1600 with those drivers.

Yes it can sometimes give equal or worse than Tri fire performance.
A strong CPU is really needed & highres of 2560x1600 at least or its of no use & can lead to negative scaling at low res because the CPU is the bottleneck.

But TriFire is the sweet-spot for performance & trouble free gaming as far as crossfire goes.

Marine-RX179 · 11 Mar 2011 at 12:08

chameleon said:
Ok, ya lost me somewhere after xfire 5970?

5970 is basically two 5870 GPU downclocked 5850 speed running xfire within the card itself, so two 5970 in xfire is basically crossfiring FOUR 5870 (downclocked) GPUs, and crossfiring 4 GPUs is know to scale poorly, and offer no better performance than crossfiring 3 GPUs, if not even worse than it.

I've seen quite a few people with a pair of 5970 in Crossfire and dissappointed with its performance...some sold one and sticking with a single 5970, some sold one and get a 5870 to crossfire with the 5970 instead, and some sold both 5970, and went for two GTX480 to SLI.

Bottomline is, it is not a good idea to go four GPUs.

Final8y said:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_5970_CrossFire/3.html

Don't look so sucky to me & that was with beta 9.6 drivers & some games are broken with Quadfire & 2560x1600 with those drivers.

FPS doesn't tell anything about shuttering issue though...it is possible to get perfectly fine frame rate and still doesn't feel smooth at all. So like I said, I think 5970+5870 is the best in terms of performances, and reliability.

May be the OP can disable one of the core and go trifire, and see if it's better/smoother for him in terms of real world gaming experience?

jorzeh · 11 Mar 2011 at 12:20

kylew said:
*groan*

Why do people even try to pretend this is true?

The best value card at the moment is the 6950, and unlock it to a "6970". The GTX580 or 6970 isn't worth its asking price, though the 580 a lot more so.

Because half the people on this forum have a delusional perception of the video card market, Thinking the best card is whatever is fastest out of the box at the time, Instead of what can be the best vaule with easy mods. :rolleyes:

Final8y · 11 Mar 2011 at 12:24

Marine-RX179 said:
5970 is basically two 5870 GPU downclocked 5850 speed running xfire within the card itself, so two 5970 in xfire is basically crossfiring FOUR 5870 (downclocked) GPUs, and crossfiring 4 GPUs is know to scale poorly, and offer no better performance than crossfiring 3 GPUs, if not even worse than it.

I've seen quite a few people with a pair of 5970 in Crossfire and dissappointed with its performance...some sold one and sticking with a single 5970, some sold one and get a 5870 to crossfire with the 5970 instead, and some sold both 5970, and went for two GTX480 to SLI.

Bottomline is, it is not a good idea to go four GPUs.

FPS doesn't tell anything about shuttering issue though...so like I said, I think 5970+5870 is the best in terms of performances, and reliability.

Yes 5970+5870 is the best in terms of performances, and reliability. but there are many factors for quad fire & unless they have strong CPU & have a 2560x1600 screen which is the minimum or it will hit the Driver Overhead & CPU bottleneck which will lead to worse performance & even some games at 2560x1600 are still CPU bottlenecked so much that they barely scale until you pile on the AA & AF & the 11.2 drivers have made great improvements.

I would be surprised if all of your mates meet those requirements.

As time moves & the situations change, don't get into a habit of repeating old outdated situations that may have been resolved since then.

The stuttering is down to many factors again with Drivers, CPU, motherboard/BIOS & other components & configuration & personal perception & that's why its not factored in reviews.

I can go from 4,2 & 1 GPU at a mouse click & yet to see a problem as i V sync anyway & tearing is a no no for me.