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[Solved] Suggest a Card

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - [Solved] Suggest a Card

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Best answer from jerreece.

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lithium123   10-17-2009 at 09:24:07 PM

I'm building a new gaming system (seen below), and I'm having a hard time deciding on what card I'm going to buy. From what I've read, the Radeon 5870 is the best single gpu around. However, some articles still feel that Radeon 4870s in CrossFire are exceptional, and less costly. My question to you: What's the best card for gaming on a resolution of 1650x1050? My mobo and PSU support SLI and CrossFire, so Nvidia's still an option.

Build:
Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail
ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Note: I'm looking for something under/around $400. Thanks!


Message edited by lithium123 on 10-17-2009 at 09:25:50 PM
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Best answer from jerreece
I'm a fan of single card solutions. Less chance for trouble, less driver issues, and less/no compatability issues. If you're building a brand new system right now, and want to game, I'd definitely do a 58xx GPU. The DX11 ability will be really nice once DX11 games come out in the future. In a year when you want to do Crossfire (if you do) the 5870 will be quite a bit cheaper too. You still have room for upgrade. Where as if you Crossfire 2 4870's now, you have to replace both to upgrade any later on.

A single 4870 or 5870 will play anything well at your desired resolution though. Really not much need to Crossfire or SLI at that resolution with most titles. Only real exception is Crysis.
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Bronze Graphics badge coozie7   10-17-2009 at 09:42:15 PM

Get the 5870, true, it's not exactly cheap, but it looks forward, not back and although DX11 is still in its infancy when it's here you will be able to take full advantage of it, something you will not be able to do with the 4870 Crossfire setup.

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jerreece   10-17-2009 at 11:55:55 PM
Best answer

I'm a fan of single card solutions. Less chance for trouble, less driver issues, and less/no compatability issues. If you're building a brand new system right now, and want to game, I'd definitely do a 58xx GPU. The DX11 ability will be really nice once DX11 games come out in the future. In a year when you want to do Crossfire (if you do) the 5870 will be quite a bit cheaper too. You still have room for upgrade. Where as if you Crossfire 2 4870's now, you have to replace both to upgrade any later on.

A single 4870 or 5870 will play anything well at your desired resolution though. Really not much need to Crossfire or SLI at that resolution with most titles. Only real exception is Crysis.

------------------------------ i5-750 @ 2.66Ghz / Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P / Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (Waiting for Bracket)
2 x MSI GTX 260 Core 216 SLI (655Mhz) / 4GB GSkill DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 @1.5v
2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB / Thermaltake Armor BWS8003
Win 7 64bit / Antec TPQ-850
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