Nvidia or ATI

[PEXON]

I agree, I'd wait for the 7000 series to release. Obviously when PCI-E 3.0 (mobo's) become the norm we'll be seeing very high (hopefully), benchmarks. Look at how good a card the 6970 is at the moment, it sits very comfortably between the 570 and 580 at 570 prices, its an epic card for the money. The lower AMD cards are very good too, but as people have already said NVidia seem to have the top end covered well; but who's to know whats round the corner? I'm sure AMD can pull something out the bag after BD, they need too thats for sure!

Lower TDP is also something to consider too, I imagine the thermal and power-draw of the new cards will be slightly better than current gen. I mean, a 570/6970 will max 99% of games out at the moment, so if the new gen cards are better, then well, they are going insanely powerful for current games on the market, I mean I can't think of a graphically intensive game coming out soon, perhaps if the new Metro is badly tessellated like 2033, then maybe. BF3 and Crysis 2 are intensive, but even the mid-range current cards can handle them well. Lets hope that AMD don't flop again, it would be a bugger to buy a couple of 580's to find the new cards are better, cooler and eat less electricity.

 

[SieB]

I completely agree with your opinion that is why i said this in a previous post:

PS:Sieb I had not noticed that you had changed your avatar. How will I recognize you now?

my name is on my BF3 sig.

 

[Rastalovich]

I'd go 580 over 590 myself.

On a related topic, I've never seen the sense in being in this higher end of the market and buying a card that can't do what the other cards can. i.e. a 6990 or 7xxx over a 580/680-whatever.

.. unless you just want fps vs fps and are not bothered about the quality maybe.

 

[PEXON]

Personally, I wouldn't go for any dual-gpu set up at the moment, be it on one PCB or two. SLI and Crossfire have been around ages and don't justify themselves viable, in my eyes, please note that, due to the additional heat, TDP and nasty stuttering. As before, thats my opinion, I know people get uppity when people 'bash,' dual GPU solutions for some reason.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

Man y'all must really be gluttons for punishment. Why wait for AMD's Another Major Disappointment offering??? When Nvidia already delivers all the performance you'll need for gaming today and into tomorrow. Plus we all know when the 7000 series bombs AMD will just say we need to make a windows 7 optimization patch, just like they tried with BD.

New 7xxx memory chips have double bandwidth of GDDR5

 

[JezEngland]

Dual SLI is best if you've got adequate space and I think a GTX 590 is good though more likley to have problems. The high end NVIDIA cards like GTX 580 and 480 have few and rare problems and usualy they're quickly fixed, and performance yes is above standards with 1080p, my 2 480's are bashing every game on its head today! It is a bliss piece of hardware I assure you SLI 580 is pukka! full of benefits

 

[Igor]

Hi guys,

I'll change the configuration of my PC this month and I can only make my choice on a graphics card.

I looked again a few videos of Tom to me a great help but does not go a preference I do not know what to do.

I play a few games, mainly WoW, BF3 and soon SWTOR. I have a 24 inch screen with a definition of 1920/1200. My financial limit is 700 euros or about 600 GBP.

I hesitate between a Nvidia GTX 590 or ATI 6990 or why not SLI. I have a 850W power supply Corsair modular, which will be sufficient.

Could you tell me your opinion to help me make a choice between the two dual-processor graphics cards or SLI.

Thank you in advance.

One day I decided to try one of ATI cards. I never look back at Nvidea anymore

I will always support companies that benefit us (consumers) quality and price wise.

 

[Igor]

I agree, I'd wait for the 7000 series to release. Obviously when PCI-E 3.0 (mobo's) become the norm we'll be seeing very high (hopefully), benchmarks. Look at how good a card the 6970 is at the moment, it sits very comfortably between the 570 and 580 at 570 prices, its an epic card for the money. The lower AMD cards are very good too, but as people have already said NVidia seem to have the top end covered well; but who's to know whats round the corner? I'm sure AMD can pull something out the bag after BD, they need too thats for sure!

Lower TDP is also something to consider too, I imagine the thermal and power-draw of the new cards will be slightly better than current gen. I mean, a 570/6970 will max 99% of games out at the moment, so if the new gen cards are better, then well, they are going insanely powerful for current games on the market, I mean I can't think of a graphically intensive game coming out soon, perhaps if the new Metro is badly tessellated like 2033, then maybe. BF3 and Crysis 2 are intensive, but even the mid-range current cards can handle them well. Lets hope that AMD don't flop again, it would be a bugger to buy a couple of 580's to find the new cards are better, cooler and eat less electricity.

When you buy HD 6950 ( reference design ), it has a switch on it, all you have to do is to pull and there is your HD 6970 for $250.

 

[8bitbreed]

Man y'all must really be gluttons for punishment. Why wait for AMD's Another Major Disappointment offering??? When Nvidia already delivers all the performance you'll need for gaming today and into tomorrow. Plus we all know when the 7000 series bombs AMD will just say we need to make a windows 7 optimization patch, just like they tried with BD.

Wait to see how the 7000 AMD card perform, and try and see past Sin's fanboyisum, its not healthy.

 

[8bitbreed]

When you buy HD 6950 ( reference design ), it has a switch on it, all you have to do is to pull and there is your HD 6970 for $250.

Not anymore mate.

 

[Igor]

Not anymore mate.

What do you mean by it? If you mean that you can't find this type of cards anymore, then I would recommend you to check your local Microcenter store for Diamond HD 6950 2GB =) I think this is the only place left where you can find it.

 

[8bitbreed]

What do you mean by it? If you mean that you can't find this type of cards anymore, then I would recommend you to check your local Microcenter store for Diamond HD 6950 2GB =) I think this is the only place left where you can find it.

You just confirmed my point. You Cant find them anymore with a switch for the dual bios.

And theirs a very good reason why they were binned down to a 6950.

IMO i would not risk it and save an extra £40

 

[oneseraph]

Well

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 has been released in the US. It is by far the fastest single GPU in the world today.

Add to that the very impressive list of new features that are not available on any other card.

1. DX 11.1

2. direct Compute 11.1

3. PCIexpress 3.0

4. OpenCL 1.2

5. power tune and zero core

6. Partially Resident Textures

And on and on and on........

You can read about the card here.

toms

or

3D guru

Anyway with a card like this, there really isn't any need to bother with SLI or Crossfire.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

When you buy HD 6950 ( reference design ), it has a switch on it, all you have to do is to pull and there is your HD 6970 for $250.

The BIOS was the same regardless of the switch position. They were profiles so you could flash one but keep the other. There was no 6970 BIOS out the box.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

Anyway with a card like this, there really isn't any need to bother with SLI or Crossfire.

...wind on six months....

 

[Habs]

7970 is the best now.

 

[yassarikhan786]

For 1080p the 7970 will not be worth it, but if you want to game on multiple monitors or on a resolution of 2560 x 1440/1600 then the 7970 is the best card.

 

[oneseraph]

For 1080p the 7970 will not be worth it, but if you want to game on multiple monitors or on a resolution of 2560 x 1440/1600 then the 7970 is the best card.

Well if the Idea is to just get playable performance at 1920x1080 then there is no reason to spend any more than about $240.00 US dollars. Get an HD 6950. Either the 1 GIG or the 2 gig card will work just fine at that resolution and the performance per dollar is untouchable. If you want a quite card there are quite a few of these cards with after market cooling designs that work really well.

If on the other hand you are looking for the very best performance within your budget with as little hassle as possible. then for $550.00 US dollars you can have the fastest single GPU on the planet, the Radeon HD 7970. Based on your budget that is the way I would go.

 

[yassarikhan786]

Well if the Idea is to just get playable performance at 1920x1080 then there is no reason to spend any more than about $240.00 US dollars. Get an HD 6950. Either the 1 GIG or the 2 gig card will work just fine at that resolution and the performance per dollar is untouchable. If you want a quite card there are quite a few of these cards with after market cooling designs that work really well.

If on the other hand you are looking for the very best performance within your budget with as little hassle as possible. then for $550.00 US dollars you can have the fastest single GPU on the planet, the Radeon HD 7970. Based on your budget that is the way I would go.

Good point

. You have many options for the future as well, so it can only be good

.