A legit question about the 5970 for all you veterans

electroh0lic

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Dec 19, 2009
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Okay ive always been on the debate about the 5970 and the 5870. I was leaning towards the 5870 because of a couple of reasons. I guess it cheaper than the 5970 and i heard in some point of views that single GPU cards are better to overclock because dual GPU's like the 5970 run hot already and just witha few Mhz of overclocking even with cool case your temps will sky rocket. So i heard 2 XFIRE'd 5870 would prolly do some better damage. But im still wondering maybe i could just get a 5970. People say though that 5970 is just good if your going for like really super high mad 2000 something resolution. The most i would be interested in playing my games at would be normal HD or around there which is 1080. And now my question is. Is it also acceptable to get the 5970 even if you dont use Eyefinity and only play at 1080? I mean wouldnt your more demending GPU games run even smoother since im only going to be playin at 1080? And then i wouldnt need to ever get another 2nd card like i would do the for 5870 in a couple of years maybe. This time if games ever do require more than the 5970 its going to be a very very long time maybe ill get one in like 5 years. Please let me know guy if there is still Pros of having it regardless if you game as not so high reslolutions. Thank you
 

paperfox

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Mar 1, 2009
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Id say that a single 5870 will be the better choice because it is more flexible. by that i mean it costs you less up front and by the time you need a second one the price should have ben cut by half thus you will hopefully have spent the same amount (preferably less) as getting a 5970. thus saving you the price difference between the 5870 and the 5890 for awhile for you to use on other unexpected upgrades. sure your 5970 will play games smoothly on 1920x1080 but so will a 5870. the 5890 will have lots of its horsepower un-tapped/un-noticed in the beginning of its life and wont be taxed till the end. so in summation id save your money in getting a 5870 and crossfire when you feel the need.