what will i choose?

[LukeDaly]

Hello guys,

Sorry titles wrong ment 2 choices not 3.

Have a question about gpu's for my new rig, I do not have a clue what so ever what to choose, I have come up with these 2 choices.

3x XFX 6970 2GB watercooled - £1056

2x EVGA GTX 580 3GB watercooled - £1100

I want to know which set of cards are better.. not listen to fanboys arguing..

Many thanks, Luke

 

[daniSAUR]

2x 580GTX, although you don't really need a 3GB version, are there no 1GB/2GB EVGA cards out there? Temps will be a little less as opposed to the 3x 6970s.

What's the rest of the spec though, buddy? And I'm guessing it's a gaming demon.

 

[LukeDaly]

2x 580GTX, although you don't really need a 3GB version, are there no 1GB/2GB EVGA cards out there? Temps will be a little less as opposed to the 3x 6970s.

What's the rest of the spec though, buddy? And I'm guessing it's a gaming demon.

thanks for the response

how come you choose the 580's?

and i hope it will be

it was an

i7 2600k

maximus iv extreme-z

16 gb corsair vengence

128gb crucial m4

1tb 7200rpm drive

was looking at an ax 850 psu - think ill change that tho

soundblaster x-fi hd

haf-x

a set of the cards above

and a custom wc loop

 

[badtaylorx]

nonononon.....go with the tri-fire ......3 6970's scale out at over 90%.....ill link you an article

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/04/28/nvidia_geforce_3way_sli_radeon_trifire_review/3

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/05/03/nvidia_3way_sli_amd_trifire_redux/4

you got some read'n to do....hope this helps tho.......

the quick and short of it tho.....

this page is the jest'ov'it

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/8

tri-fire kicks the gpu's att 580sli

 

[daniSAUR]

OR! You could wait until the new GPUs come out (probably early next year) and just get a single card for the time being.

 

[badtaylorx]

all signs point to a 45% performance increase with the new cards........

if thats the case it would be worth the wait.....

unless you got money to burn...

now is always better

 

[LukeDaly]

all signs point to a 45% performance increase with the new cards........

if thats the case it would be worth the wait.....

unless you got money to burn...

now is always better

I dont like to wait

because theres always better if you wait... id be waiting forever... if they were out in a week or two id wait but, they arent so

ill take the best there is atm

and no i dont have money to burn i want a rig that will last me tbh

 

[SparkleDJackson]

OR! You could wait until the new GPUs come out (probably early next year) and just get a single card for the time being.

Apparantly the The big boys from the green camp dont come out to play till the summer

 

[LukeDaly]

by the looks of things it takes 3 580's to keep up (slightly better)with 3 6970's, but the thing is the 6970's are the same price as 2 580's... if you ask me 3 6970's sounds like a win?

powerwise tho im guessin an ax 850 wont do

?

 

[fcb]

by the looks of things it takes 3 580's to keep up (slightly better)with 3 6970's, but the thing is the 6970's are the same price as 2 580's... if you ask me 3 6970's sounds like a win?

powerwise tho im guessin an ax 850 wont do

?

If you're looking at x2 6970 or 580s, a high quality 850W will be good enough. With 3 cards, you may want to look at PSUs in the 1000 - 1200W max just to be safe.

 

[LukeDaly]

If you're looking at x2 6970 or 580s, a high quality 850W will be good enough. With 3 cards, you may want to look at PSUs in the 1000 - 1200W max just to be safe.

still cant decide on the cards tho :/ 2 pre watercooled gtx 580 hydro copper 2's seem nice also at a hefty £1200.. also another thing to get the triple 6970s id have to void warrenty on all three cards... xfx put the stickers on the bracket now

 

[S_I_N]

first off how many times do you plan on asking the same question?? this is ur 2nd post same subject

Now on to the answer and yes I am biased towards NVIDIA as I'm sorry they beat the shit outta AMD might not show it on be3nchmarks but those are just scores and IMHO not fully optimized for each different scenario. I have been doing computers for well over 2.5 decades now. While if you asked this question back in 02-05ish I'd of said ATI all the way. But imho Nvidia has it and knows it and is willing to keep it. Benchmarks are fine but whats really important is real world performance. I bet given the equipment and time to do it I could probably make each of your options come out equal in performance on benchmarks give or take 10% error margin. But do you play benchmarks??? Nope! Do you run benchmarks for say ur video editing?? Nope!! then benchmarks are just numbers. Whats (yes I'm saying it again) important is does it give you what ya want from the game/app. Nvidia does it better quieter and faster IMHO than AMD. Not to mention the power savings of 2 cards versus 3 cards. Not to mention easier to handle the heat. As AMD cards are known for being heaters. You'll need one helluva water loop to cool everything if not dual loops.

Now back to what I said in ur first post on this topic. Nvidia has physics (yes you can with AMD but thats another card in the case) physisc is da dawgs danglies mate. It gives the game that extra realism that well AMD just lacks.

So in conclusion get urself a pair of 580's either 3gb or 1.5gb versions (if I had the $$$ I'd do 3gb for future proof) and be done with it.

 

[Cyanide89]

^ What he said. Nvidia all the way. I've had Radeon cards most of my life and just bought a GTX590... Best card I've ever had. Solid, quiet, stable, great performance.

 

[daniSAUR]

Well I only went with the 580s because they offer physX as well

and I'm finding that to be amazing playing batman.

Oh man, those new cards are taking there time coming.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

Well I only went with the 580s because they offer physX as well

and I'm finding that to be amazing playing batman.

Oh man, those new cards are taking there time coming.

Flipping right they are taking there time. My x79 build is being held up something shocking by them

 

[daniSAUR]

Flipping right they are taking there time. My x79 build is being held up something shocking by them

Awh man that really sucks :/ in sure youll get it all sorte though mate.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

oh yea ill get er up n runnin eventually. half of my bits will be out of date tho lol like the force 3 ssd or bluray drive

 

[badtaylorx]

you make valid points.....but ill stick to my recomendation....smoothness is what matters.....and smoothness results from not big fps' but a smaller difference between the average and the minimum fps's.....op wants to which will provide the best gaming exp......and my 2 setups arent far from what he's askin

me 2 6970's cfx

other rig 2 460's sli.....

thats fairly relitive to 3 6970 tri-fire vs 2 580 sli

fair??? not exactly.....but im no fanboy

and ill still take the higher min framerates

quote

"I want to know which set of cards are better.. not listen to fanboys arguing.."

and last but not least.....will you be 3screen gaming.....if you are...AMD case closed...if someone tries to argue that 2d surround is just as good thats just wrong....cause it not

 

[LukeDaly]

you make valid points.....but ill stick to my recomendation....smoothness is what matters.....and smoothness results from not big fps' but a smaller difference between the average and the minimum fps's.....op wants to which will provide the best gaming exp......and my 2 setups arent far from what he's askin

me 2 6970's cfx

other rig 2 460's sli.....

thats fairly relitive to 3 6970 tri-fire vs 2 580 sli

fair??? not exactly.....but im no fanboy

and ill still take the higher min framerates

quote

"I want to know which set of cards are better.. not listen to fanboys arguing.."

and last but not least.....will you be 3screen gaming.....if you are...AMD case closed...if someone tries to argue that 2d surround is just as good thats just wrong....cause it not

Yes I will be gaming/working on 3 Dell u2410 Monitors

 

[S_I_N]

its 3d surround and yes its da shitz havent seen AMD in person but I have seen Nvidia in person and its amazing. I still stick with my origional reco. and say 2 580's nice and smooth 3d surround and physics to ice the cake.