What Would You Do

[LtMatt]

Ok lemme start a new thread so i can move away from posting in someone elses.

Heres my situation what would you do.

I have the upgrade itch, ive replaced most of my pc parts recently, the only thing thats now holding me back is my 5850.

I have an p8p67 motherboard so can use crossfire, but it will only run @ x16/x4.

I want to be able to run battlefield 3 at the highest settings, or close to maybe knocking aa off or down to x2/x4. I have a max budget of around £200.

These are my choices as i see it.

Stick it out and wait for battlefield 3 to come out and make my decision then. This seems to make most sense but when you have the upgrade itch...

Add another 5850 into my system for crossfire goodness. I feel at times like my 5850 is holding back my i5 @4.5ghz. But im still worried about the battlefield 3 vram issue and the 1gb limit.

Buy a 6870 2gig version for £160, thats an extra £10 on what another 5850 would cost. However 2x5850 is gonna win over a 6870, but the 6870 has the extra gig of ram. If i did get the 6870 then i could sell my 5850 on flea bay for £80+, it has all the box and goodies in prime condition.

Or i could get one of the cheapest 6950's. I could just about afford the vtx version but ive heard bad reports about vtx cards so thats a worry.

I think the 6950 may be the way forward. But im not sure. Argh. Tell me what to do wise internet people.

 

[Swagger187]

I would wait it out mate. I upgraded my GPU last night. I am glad I did as I swapped out my HD 6950 for the 570 OC version from MSI. But if you are stuck between Crossfire and a single card I would wait. See how your current card compares in the final release to the beta then make a decision.

 

[arc@css]

My first choice would be to wait. Failing that I'd aim for at least a 6950 / 560ti. What resolution do you support?

 

[Dauthi]

As the next gen cards probably won't be seen this year and the lack of any significant jump in performance from last gen cards i would go for SLI 5850s.

with 16x/4x you will be losing about 3-5 FPS. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2134562.

As said above theres no harm in waiting or looking for a good deal as your card will handle BF3 just not with the settings you want.

edit: bah. forget the vram issues

I woul advise afainst the 6870 and its more a side step as there is not enough of a gain for the money and what you want.

 

[LtMatt]

My first choice would be to wait. Failing that I'd aim for at least a 6950 / 560ti. What resolution do you support?

1080p.

Ok. I've decided. I bought an MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 Twin FrozR II OC for £190, £200 including next day delivery. Seemed a good deal, it was either that or the vtx model from ocuk. Decided to go with msi hope i made the right choice.

I couldn't wait. Gonna sell my 5850 on fleabay and try to get £80-£100 back.