Gtx 260 sli vs single radeon 5870

[ripper2020]

Hello,
I'm looking to upgrade my graphics performance without spending a ton of money. My current gpu is gtx 260 superclocked. My mobo is 780i. I'm wondering a: is there any compatibility issues with running a single radeon 5870 in this motherboard? Everyone seems to have a different opinion on this. I definitely want my system to be stable.
b: is gtx260 sli faster or slower than single radeon 5870? Everyone seems to say the 5870 is faster but I can't find any actual comparisons. Any advice would be appreciated. BTW I like to runs my games at 1920x1080.

 

[rolli59]

There are no issues running an ATI card in your board. GTX260 SLI would be about equal to HD5870 in performance

 

[ripper2020]

I appreciate you feedback but does anyone have any personal experiences they could share??? I asked an evga support person (because its an evga mobo) and they said this:
You would want to contact ATI about the drivers on their side of things. I can tell you the Nvidia chipset will probably fight/conflict with the ATI drivers. If you can get them to play nice there should be no problem, but it might be a struggle to get them to cooperate.

Most people have been telling me there are no issues, but I've read a few posts saying it's buggy. Has anyone actually done this?? I just don't want to spend $400+ on a 5870 and have it be unstable or worse. And I really don't want to buy a new mobo, ram, and cpu to switch to a more compatible chipset for ati.

 

[roachmotel]

I would not suggest getting another GTX 260 right now. There is a confirmed bug with those cards in SLI and certain motherboards. Specifically, the P5n-t deluxe and the Striker extreme. That's 2 different chipsets...680i and 780i. I do not have confirmation that it is the entire chipset line for both, but I can confirm those specific motherboards.

The bottom line is the GPUs will not take load in SLI over about 50% each, and you will not get solid performance at all. Not until it is fixed. I know NVidia is actively working on the issue, but I have no timeline at this time as to when it will be fixed. If you can wait, when it is fixed, the 2 260s will be slightly less powerful than the one 5870, but not much. It's a close call. And as stated, there is no issue running a 5870 in a 780i chipset board. no conflicts should occur. But you would not be able to run 2 of them in crossfire on that chipset if you were thinking of purchasing another down the road.

 

[rolli59]

EVGA customer support is trying to sell you in on Nvidia products, That is their business, they don't sell anything made by AMD.
I have had ATI cards on nvidia chip set boards and nvidia cards on AMD chip set boards and had no conflicts at all.

 

[ripper2020]

Ok I guess I'll pull the trigger on the ati. Any recommendation on a good vendor that WILL take the card back if there is a problem??

Also any brand suggestion for an ati card...My last 3 or 4 cards have been nvidia so I'm out of the loop.

 

[rolli59]

Newegg.com If you want to play it safe XFX offers double lifetime warranty.

 

[ripper2020]

Thanks for all your info! I'm ordering today