GTX 260 216 Core SLI or HD 4870 X2?

I'll be ordering my new system monday and it will be composing of... Intel Core i7 920 OC 3.6ghz, 6GB 3x 2GB Corsair Dominator 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600, CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W, Asus P6T Deluxe, and a Antec Twelve Hundred case. I've always been an nVidia fan and this will be my first time leaving nVidia if I went with the ATI HD 4870 X2. I'm looking at getting two of the XFX, or eVga, or BFG GTX 260 216 Core cards that are OC'd quite a bit. Two of any of those or one of the HD 4870 X2. How much of a performance gap is there between these two options? Or are they pretty much equal? I've tried researching benchmarks regarding these two options but have yet to find any reliable ones. -Thanks

Forgot to add. If I went with the two GTX 260 216 Core I'd ether get the BFG OCX Maxcore one or the EVGA FTW Edition one. Both are OC'd a very good amount as most of you know.

Awesome dude thanks for this detailed response! I love nVidia to death and would hate leaving them. After seeing this it has really helped me in my decision. Not really important, but who did you go with for your GTX 260's? I'm going with either EVGA, BFG, or XFX obviously. All the nVidia cards I've had though have been BFG and never once had any problems with them.

i bought from newegg.com and they were EVGA. i would get either EVGA (1st choice always) or XFX (2nd always). also remember to install/download the EVGA precision tool to overclock/change fan speed.

my pc is a dell XPS 630i but i have stripped all the dell parts and put my own in so i have the case of a XPS 630i which only has 2x 120mm front intake fans, no exhaust fans but i did put a 90mm pci slot fan to help that issue. the temps are great for these cards. at idle/surfing the web they idle around gpu 1: 43C and gpu 2 : 44-45C (that card is right under psu which blows air into case so card intakes already warm air but it stays cool amazingly) and under load like after i play crysis for 1-2 hours temps are gpu 1: 65C and gpu 2 (because of psu): 67C and thats crysis at all very high settings and i only have my fan speed set to 50%. one thing to inform you on is when your not playing a game or doing any 3d intense apps, the card(s) half there clock speeds to consume less power/produce less heat. so if you have your core clock at 600MHz, at idle it will drop to 300MHz and then auto raise when you play game/3d app. these cards run very cool.

Holy crap dude I just found a deal for an EVGA X58 motherboard and 3x GTX 260 216 Core Video Cards. The only thing though is that would mean NO audio card. How is the stock audio on the motherboard? The main things I'd be using it for are music and gaming. Would I be able to turn sound quality on high for games using the motherboard audio? -Thanks

Now the thing I'm concerned about is the PSU. That Corsair 1000w is rated as one of the TOP PSU's but now that's really going to be pushing it with all the fans in my case, the i7 920 OC'd and then 3 GTX 260 216 Cores that it has to power. Do you guys think it will power all my components without any hiccups or do I need to upgrade the PSU now?

yeha nice system build, if you would have mentioned you wanted i7 i wouldve told you to jump all over the EVGA bundle/deal they have right now. you should be golden with the 1000W psu, good luck with this build and enjoy the hell out of it. you'll crush anything with 3 TRI-SLI GTX 260-216. jebus. i believe the EVGa program only works for EVGA products, you could call or email customer support and ask. and they are quick even with email questions, EVGA has the greatest customer support.

see thats where your wrong.

Past doesn't affect present. If its not there don't complain

Go for the cheapest setup bud

both perform almost the same, with the 260 GTXs ahead most of the time lately, even with the 8.12 driver.

Please stop this none sense about OMG the company did this did that. Its not there, don't b!tch.

They did a far cry 2 comparison on image quality, no difference btw, I think it was at anandtech

Just remember, when you go with 4870 X2, you get single slot card, which can leave more room for airflow, and other extra hardware. But I believe that that comes at a cost. plus Dx 10.1 would do some benefit to some.

Either way. your good.

I went with the 4870 X2 in my secondary to save room and Star craft 2 has dx 10.1

You are nothing about facts are u? Just assumptions

Japan is US's direct Rival from WW2, lets not buy their cars they might do it again..


.....


Instead of judging Current GEN cards, that have been proven to be the same, on the older cards means that in your book God forbid any1 makes a mistake

Moving on...

they are called indirect comparisons, but your too young to figure it out.

Leave the forums u scrub, no1 takes you seriously anymore.

Mr "I have my sources"

PLease leave the name calling for kinder garden little boy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'ma go play Mirror's Edge

Love the language.

Good luck with ur life.

Peace

not giving up, but we're both thick headed.

Its a lose lose situation.

We'll both end up looking like idiots if it continues.

So I'll end it.

yeah well I am a charmer

Either way off topic I'd def recommend Mirror's Edge for PC when it comes out

Apparently its going to use physicx (the option can be turned off) but from the previews I saw it using that stupid system, the lag will be terrible.