Need advice on deciding between Nvidia or ATI cards

[shoosta]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This month BUDGET RANGE: 400-450

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming... All blizzard games...Crysis, metro 2033, farcry, call of duty, etc. Also watching movies

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Currently building a comp...850W power supply. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg,com tigerdirect.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: dont really have a preference
OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: would like to play on highest resolution

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I cant decide if i want a nvidia card or an ATI card. My friend is an nvidia fanboy and is trying to convice to me get a 275 or 285 gtx or even the Fermi cards. The ati 5800 series is also nice and makes this decision very hard for me...any help would be appreciated. The cooler master HAF 932 and the Corsair Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler is the only cooling i have.

 

[rolli59]

Fermi cards are powerful but power hungry(you got that covered). The HD5870 is the best card in your price range followed by GTX470 and HD5850.

 

[RazberyBandit]

To h*ll with your friend's fanboyism. The last-gen nVidia cards are getting spanked on an hourly basis by the ATI 5800 series, and you can barely find them anymore anyway, which drove their already too-high prices even higher.

Rolli's right. The 5870, 5850, and GTX470 are the 3 single-GPU options at the top-end of your price range. Dual-GPU options include 2x5830, 2x48x0, 2xGTS250, and a few others if you can find them.

In a single-GPU application, the ATI offerings are very solid cards. The pre-launch reviews show that the GTX 470 cards are as well, despite their higher thermal temps and power reqs.

Cooling shouldn't be an issue in your HAF case. It's got enough airflow to cool a bus full of people in the Mojave desert at 3pm in August. OK, maybe not, but it's more than enough to keep fresh (and hopefully cool) air flowing in and hot air flowing out. The Corsair H-50 CPU cooler will actually vent CPU heat out of the case directly on it's own.

 

[aethm]

5870 for your budget range. They have dropped to more reasonable prices this month. I think it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to get your hands on a Fermi card this month. (And you'd likely be limited to the 470)

Buying a GTX 275 or 285 makes no sense at all unless you want to upgrade again in the next year.

 

[shoosta]

Best answer selected by shoosta.

 

[Truhls]

stick to nvidia ati card and there bullshit driver are riddled with problem.common problem with 5800 series vertical lines on monitor,gsod aka grey screen of death,crashing in games,ati power play downclocking gpu during 3d games.search google with term vertical lines with 5800 series.and see the list of problem

Or you can go with nvidia who released a driver that LITERALLY KILLED YOUR GPU, all of a month or so ago i might add.

To each their own though