what to do? need some advice please?

[crabstick]

Hi Guys, this is my first post on OcUk and am in need of some advice

I have an Eyefinity set up (3x 24 Iiyama's) with a 5870 running them (other pc specs:

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) Processor

Asus P7P55D LE Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard

G.SKILL DDR3 1866 C15000 4GB (2GB x 2)

Corsair H50 Water Cooling

40Gb SSD (intel x25 v) 320Gb 7200rpm hdd

750w GX Coolermaster

The issue i have is an upgrade (a lot of games wont run in highest setting at 5760x1080) so i brought another 5870 to find it ran BAD in Crossfire, on further investigation my motherboard (although is crossfire ready) only runs the second PCIe slot in x4...... So.. got rid of the second 5870 on ebay with the plan to buy a 5970 (i.e Xfire using my x16 slot)But it seems there still holding there price! so is this the right idea? or should i:

get a single 6970?
OR.... get a GTX and try Nvidia Surround (whats it like?)
OR sell the 3 screens keep the 5870 and currentset up and buy a 30" monitor...

Any help or ideas would be appreciated

 

[arc@css]

I would go for two 6950's and, if it isn't already, overclock that cpu.

 

[crabstick]

But that would mean a new mobo too, plus 2 6950's (pricey) Cpu is running a happy 3.8 Ghz

 

[arc@css]

Sorry fella, I didn't read what you wrote properly. In that case maybe the 5970 would be your best bet. I can't think of anything else. If it was a case of x16 / x8 then I'd say yeah, go ahead but from what I've read, x4 can result in poor performance.

 

[crabstick]

crossfire actually gave me less FPS with the x4 lol
There seems to be so many cards on the market at the moment! 6950s flashed to 6970's (but ive heard the 6970 anit that much better than a 5870, so is it worth getting one of those) ive heard the GTX570 is a good card but noisy and power hungry, and will it run 3 24" monitors on high settings?

 

[arc@css]

I nearly suggested the Gigabyte 480gtx SE edition (£200), which for the money is about the most powerful card there is. Then I suddenly remembered that you have three screens, hence my edit.

I think without changing your mobo and in quite a number of titles suffering lower frame rates, your best option for the least expenditure looks to be acquiring a 5970. Or bite the bullet and get a 6990 @ £510 for the cheapest here, which isn't actually 'that' bad when you compare to the price of two 6970's. Regardless, a lot of money though and personally I'd still want to see them with better coolers, and with a further reduction in price.

See what others have to say, don't make a snap decision yet, they may well think of something I haven't thought of.

 

[Alasdairhurst]

but ive heard the 6970 anit that much better than a 5870

Well thats not true at all!

Or bite the bullet and get a 6990 @ £510 for the cheapest here, which isn't actually 'that' bad when you compare to the price of two 6970's.

Or get 2 6950's and unlock them = just over £400

fyi no point with the gtx 590 as its about the same performance as the 6990 and costs 100 quid more.

 

[arc@css]

Well thats not true at all!

Better mainly as in minimum frame rates, smoothness, not just with maximums?

 

[crabstick]

Or get 2 6950's and unlock them = just over £400

plus a new motherboard... might aswell get a 6990! really dont want to spend over 500 pounds

 

[crabstick]

*UPDATE* Decided to sell eyefinity set up (with 5870) and brought a GTX580 and a hanns g 28" monitor 1920x1200

I forgot just how good nvidia cards were!