5970 vs GTX 480?

I'd just get the HD5970. While it is multicore unlike the GTX480, it delivers much more performance.

However, the nVidian release is only two weeks away. Might want to wait and see.

Probably the faster is the 5970, but if you aren't in a hurry, wait 2 weeks and see the GTX480;)

I didnt realize they were coming out so soon! Think Ill wait for toms hardware to do some benchmarking between the two. Thanks for the input  

While they might come out in two week you may not be able to find one. The 5970 which came out months ago still have availability issues because the 40nm fabrication process have low yields.

It's not a yield issue I believe, rather just availability.

well the 5970 are just the cypress xt chips on the 5870, the only difference is they take the top tier chips ( the one that can run at higher clocks) and use those for the 5870, and use lower quality chips that can't reach those same clocks for the 5970, and amd has made it clear that yields are getting fairly close to that of the 4xxx series. it's simply they're in such high demand, they can't churn them out fast enough

^actually they bin low power chips (chips that need a little less power) for the 5970. In that sense they are higher quality. The reason they are clocked lower is because of heat and power issues.

Back to the point of this topic, if you want to wait then wait. If you want a card now then get one now. AMD is likely to spoil Fermi's launch with super overclocked 5870s (some at 950 vs 850) along with limited edition higher clocked 5970s that were all shown at Cebit. I got tired of waiting and just got in my Gigabyte Ultra Durable 5870, which I will be installing tomorrow  

well i was aware they, were clocked lower for power savings so it can stay in the limits of pci-e 2 limits, but i wasn't aware that they reserved the most power effiecient for the 5970

I'd wait till the gtx480 is released atleast.

Yes If you are looking out for powerful card 5970 is the one at present. Yes, its only 2 weeks to go so its worth the wait.

Also, after reading a no of news articles, they are going to have a serious availablity issue for the GTX480

Im having the same issue aswell, although I have almost completely settled on the 5970... although it is worth the wait and who knows,,, ATI and Nvidia may get into a huge war and lower their prices for their cards.... xD

I have also been an Nvidia man all of my life, I had the 8800gts forever. I have recently switched between GTX 295 in Quad SLI to Radeon 5970 in Crossfirex. Two reasons for the switch. (1) Coudn't run Crysis at desired frame rates and Mass Effect 2 scenes with the Illusive Man were choppy with maxxed out settings on both games. (2) Price mark of GTX 295 was close enough to the superior 5970. When I recieved my 2 Sapphire oc 5970's, I was worried that without physx the games wouldn't have a more realistic feel and that ATI Drivers would suck. To set your mind at ease I can tell very little to no difference in Physx with the fps going so fast I didn't give a damn and have had no problems with driver (10.2). The 5970's cured both problems which is what I really wanted as the end result. I have no loyalty to green or red, just want the desired performance. As far as Fermi GTX 480, I hear that it is on par with the 5870 with some Tess. advantages, and if I was choosing between the 5870 and the GTX 480, I would go green. Like I mentioned before I have achieved what I set out to do, get great performance with high quality. I hope this helps. Now when they come out with a dual chip GTX 480 that won't melt, I might be seeing green again.

P.S. The 5970's need some definite room as they are long as your ruler to measure them with.

SAMSUNG 58" Plasma
MSI X58 Pro-E
i7 950 3.06 GHZ@ 3.50 Ghz
12GB 1600 MHz RAM
Antec 1200watt PSU
Thermaltake SpinQ "Razorwire-ouch" CPU Cooler
OLD:2x evga CO-OP GTX 295 in Quad Sli
NEW:2X Sapphire OC 5970 in Crossfirex
7 Case fans front intake - rear out
HDD WD 2TB Green
24x DVD RW Drive

7 case fans, lol.

If were you Marshall, I wouldn't go green. An HD5970 OC is equalto 2xHD5870, which equals a 2xGTX480. 4x GTX480 uses 1100Watts on their own, by the way, and 3xGTX480 won't outdo 4xHD5870 (2xHD5970).

+1 to waiting a couple of weeks, though I'd be waiting those couple of weeks just to see if the price of the 5970's would come down a couple of bucks since the GTX480 (by everything we've seen) will not be close to it.

I thought the GTX 480 was going to be priced at around 700 dollars. It should be the equal (in terms of card series) to the 5970 right?

Well, that is a rumored price point, but may or may not be real. What we DO know for SURE is that the GTX480 is a single GPU card and will be the flagship for the Nvidia lineup when its released. At this point, it seems that Nvidia is comparing it to the 5870, not the 5970, since its a single GPU board, but if its priced at $700, it will be a very hard sell against the 5970 unless it can actually keep up with the 5970, which is EXTREMELY unlikely.

I don't think the card will cost that much unless it is incredibly rare. Otherwise, games in which Crossfire works well it should be beaten by the 5970.