Trifire 5850 or gtx 480 sli

nizz42

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Apr 25, 2010
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trying to decide on keeping my 2 5850's and adding another,which will need a mobo upgrade because im using 1156 platform.maybe a classifed 200 or evga ftw 200 will be ok with tri-fire?eyefinity is great i just dont get the best fps with options cranked to max in some games.was thinking of selling the 5850's and going gtx 480 sli possibly.i could possibly avoid the mobo upgrade then? im using a gigabyte p55 ud4p,with a i5 750.give me some advise,please,i cant decide what i want to do.
 
Why do you need this much graphics horsepower? What games are you running and at what setting that 2 5850s cant keep up with them?

If you need more power, a cheaper option that switching to 480's in SLI would be to swap one of your 5850s for a 5970, it would cost less, give you a nice boost, and generate less heat than a 480. According to the ATI crossfire chart it should work without issue
http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/images/crossfirex/CF_combo_chart.jpg
 

nizz42

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i have the 5850's on water also,so the rads and stuff are all ready installed,maybe be able to keep same mobo then if i just go the 480 route.rosewill 1000w enough for sli 480's?
 

nizz42

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to be honest i just cant stop obsessing over upgrading this computer.i know its not necesaary,i just keep trying to up my vantage score,which means nothing really
 

nizz42

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thanks for the reply evryone,im def leaning towards the 480.microcenter has 3d setup there and its pretty sick,so maybe nvidia is way to go.5870 is also on radar,time will tell i guess.i dont need professional help,lol,but thanks for concern
 

inspector71

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Just get 2 good old 8800 gtx's you can bring them back to life when they die.
 

AMW1011

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5970 is 2 5870s underclocked to 5850 performance.



No, you will need a bigger power supply. That power supply shouldn't even be used to power your current system, it sucks.

I recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371012

This is what happens to a bad quality PSU, though yours is likely a little bit better:
http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=622747



If this is based off of Vantage scores purely, you need to stop looking for an upgrade and seek immediate mental help. If you are dissatisfied with performance in a game or future performance then go ahead and upgrade, 2 GTX 480s will rape future heavily tessellated games and everything in-between.

Since you are on water you should get 2 GTX 470s and not 2 GTX 480s, the only real-world advantage of the GTX 480 is a better air cooler. Clock for clock they are less than 10% away from each other, an unnoticeable amount, for far less money. If you can't afford waterblocks for 2 GTX 480s, getting GTX 470s instead will give you the ability. Also, GTX 470s are infinitely easier to obtain. Remember, the GTX 470 has a 6-7% decrease in SPs, TUs, and ROPs, they performance difference is only because of the clock differences. The only time a GTX 480 will justify itself, even slightly, is when using high amounts of AA at resolutions of 2560x1600 or higher because of the extra memory.
 

werxen

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People are honestly thinking about going 480 over radeons....?

You DO realize how much power those cards consume? You will pay MUCH MUCH MUCH more in the long run having those 480s in your rig than having a radeon while only sacrificing minimal performance. Bad call on your part.
 

nizz42

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the power supply was a bargin price so i picked it up after i bought the second 5850,i plan on getting a better one eventually but i doubt its as bad as the one in video.as far as needing mental help,thats ridiculous,i enjoy buying parts and upgrading my pc while still paying my mortgage and other things.i have 3 monitors so im getting lower fps then i would like in certain games.the 480's are sounding like my best best,now to decide to stay 1156 or go 1366.thanks for all your comments,i appreciate it
 

jennyh

Splendid
You should be aware that there is no nvidia eyefinity at the moment, and it could be months away yet if it ever gets released. Also, early indications are that nVidia's eyefinity will probably be inferior to ATI's, but that came from an ATI engineer so it should be taken with a grain of salt.
 

AMW1011

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Your right, he might have to pay a whole FIFTY EXTRA DOLLARS of a year, assuming he pays horrendous rates.

He can get a 10-20% gain in DX10 and another 20-25% lead in tessellated DX11 by doing this with GTX 470s. Yes that is not worth it for many, but for some it is.
 

nizz42

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hey do you leave your 5850's at 1000/1245 24/7? i also use afterburner and wasnt sure if those speeds were ok for 24/7.i run them for benchmarking at the same exact settings but usually drop them down to around 900/1200-1150 while gaming.on water they barely reach 48 and idle they're around 28-32.at those speeds and temps if i go tri-fire do u think they can hang with sli 470's or 480's? thanks
 

AMW1011

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Jenny is correct, the nVidia equivalent of Eyefinity is subject that we have very little information on.

You must understand that in DX10 and in Vantage you won't see a very big difference as these cards run any game out there pretty damn well. It is when tessellation becomes a factor that the GTX 4xx series will pull away, but that is about a year or so away.
 

AMW1011

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You must understand that the GTX 4xx series overclock VERY well, but are limited by heat. If you put them on water they will overclock by the same margins, ie 20%+, as the 5xxx series and the GTX 4xx series gains more performance per clock than the 5xxx series. Because of this, you should expect the same leads.
 

nizz42

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eyefinity is nice sure,but if i go nvidia i will sell my monitors and buy one 120hz model and maybe go the 3d route and eventually get 2 more to go surround.thanks again amw1011,you seem to know your gpu's.as far as mobo is concerned,do u think i would be ok with my ud4p with the 470's?i was going to upgrade to 1366 but with 2011 coming out possibly first quarter 2011 im ok with the platform im on for now
 

AMW1011

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EVGA tends to be the prefered brand, along with XFX, but they are not distributing the cards for some reason. Your motherboard supports x8/x8 SLI and crossfire, which shows no tangible or clear performance hit over x16/x16 with single GPU cards:

perfrel.gif

http://techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_PCI-Express_Scaling/24.html

Also remember my 20-25% figures are for heavily tessellated games, where tessellation will make a, likely very, noticeable visual improvement. This is about a year or so off. All told though, if you want to spend the cash and you are itching for some new powerful PC tech then go for it.

Also let me recommend that you demo some 3D gaming before purchasing an expensive monitor like that, many people will find it unbearably headache inducing. To be honest I think Eyefinity is a great feature and the future for extreme gaming. nVidia will release their version soon though, and worst case scenario it will require two cards instead of just one which wont be a problem for you.
 

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