help choosing what to do

[mickey]

i have a 6870 twin frozr II card... i mostly play bf3 at 1080p...... i pplay alot of bf3 i mean....

here is the problem....

do i add a second 6870 or buy a 7850/7870 then CF those later on the year... i can squeeze out to buy a GTX680 since the i building a new computer with an intel 17 3770k..

i am really looking for a good price to performance setup but if things are not good i can get a gtx 680 which as i said dont wanna spend money on since i only play 1 game really.

i really want to get above 50fps.. i currently run all settings on ulta without AA and HABO.

 

[GuyIncognito]

I've had two 6870's since '10 (they've been in a sandybridge PC for a while). They scale very well. The only problem I've encountered is menu flicker in an older version of Skyrim, which later versions fixed.

I don't think OC3D benchmarked crossfire 6870's in battlefield 3...so here are some other benchmarks:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-11.html ("phenomenal" scaling in battlefield 3)

So if your cpu is not a bottleneck, you'll go from 50 to 100fps.

Here are gtx 680 benches from the same site for a more direct comparison:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-8.html

Read the comments and check what the differences are in the benchmark settings and so on.

 

[I Hunta x]

I cant recomend getting a 2nd 6870 as the 1gb vram really is the limiting factor of that card, if it was the 2gb version then a 2nd could have been worth while.

The 7870 will be a reasonable upgrade on the cheaper end of the scale for maxing it out at 1920x1080 giving around 40fps minimum and somewhere in the region of 50 fps average (same as i get on the high preset/ultra with aa/hbao off on my 1gb 5870 and thats basicaly the same performance as your 6870).

But for a little more the GTX 580 gives a better over all with around 50 minimum and 60 average.

The 680 is something like 60 minimum and 70 average so will give you a silky smooth game all day long if you think the extra is worth it.

@GuyIncognito was that on ultra or high? as i get around 50fps on high on my 5870 (basicaly the same performance as the 6870) on that mission.

 

[Contortion]

I don't see a point of buying a 680. Like I Hunta said, if your PSU can handle a GTX580, then it's pretty much the way to go because the 680 is pretty much increasing the efficiency while not delivering much of a performance boost.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Yup a 580 would be a fantastic choice as I game at 1920 x 1200 and I've had no problems so far and I play BF3 a lot. I've not exactly looked at the VRAM usage, but since I've had no problems I couldn't care less.

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

If you play a lot of BF3 I would ditch the 6870 because of the 1gb of vram. If you want an affordable card get the 560ti 2gb model.

 

[sharplucas]

Nah Gtx 580 looking pretty good mate or a 7950!

 

[killablade]

Actually, these days I cannot recommend the GTX580 any more, unless you're going to be folding.

The 7870 delivers similar performance, and huge overclockability, while still being very power efficient.

Also, the 7870 has more vram than a GTX580.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Actually, these days I cannot recommend the GTX580 any more, unless you're going to be folding.

The 7870 delivers similar performance, and huge overclockability, while still being very power efficient.

Also, the 7870 has more vram than a GTX580.

True, performance wise once overclocked it reaches 7950 levels and the extra VRAM will help. Added to that is the price so the 7870 would be a better choice.

 

[SieB]

I say add another 6870 as well, they can be found for just over £100 and the performance would be as good as a 580.

I would get the 680 if you can afford it though adding another one of those in a couple of years would be better than buying a 7850/70 and adding another one in a couple of years.

 

[Rastalovich]

I'm going to answer the OP question in a strange way - if you have to buy now get a 3g 7x70 or a 3g GTX580 ...

Reason

These tests are very small in terms of quantity, but just from this one submission, @ 1080 @ Ultra preset, over 2.33g vram.

If you can wait, hope for a custom 4g 680 over a 580 cos it's newer tech. More cash than you wanna spend tho I spect.

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

4g 680 will brake the bank. I cant see that card being cheaper than $700.