5870 * 480..... Not a "vs" thread

Beitzel15

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Oct 14, 2008
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Ive been in a pickle about which card to get.... Sli 480's or Xfire 5870's........ I know, I know........ the 480's preform better, no doubt. They also run hotter and use a lot more power... Would need to go with a 1000watt psu for my 480 build...... 5870, would go with a 850watt and they also would cost almost $400 less total than SLI'ing 480s....... And From all the comparisions ive seen, while running a 2 card set up, in most games, over all... the 480's are anywhere from 3-13 fps above the 5870's....

That seems like a nice jump, but looking at each cards FPS's........ the 5870's are still getting over 45-60 in most games with maxed settings, on a 24" monitor, which is still pretty damn good.

Would it be better to run 2 5870's, save $375, and another $60-$75 for getting a smaller PSU or spend the extra cash and get the 480s
 

Chuckles_

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I would personally opt for the 2x5870 simply because the added performance isn't worth the $375 to me, and I'm not going to pay now for possible driver improvements down the road. Having said that, I think the anti-480 stance at sites like Tom's is misguided. The heat and noise issues issues are totally overblown. If I had unlimited resources, I would buy the Nvidias.
 

unholygregor

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the nvidia fanboy in me wants to say go with the 480's, but sli 480 is just a total waste of money, 1 is more than adequate for anything in the forseeable future.
but to answer your question, i'd go with xfire 5870's and use the cash saved to buy another monitor, then 1 more down the road, for eyefinity. as iswould be awesome, and thats really the only way your gonna use any of that rendering muscle.
 

Somebody_007

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nice pic man I should also get an nvidia fanboy pic like that :p.

btw 750 is enough for 5870's and 850 is enough for 480's(considering you're limiting yourself to 2 cards).

If you're comfortable with OCing and have decent cooling then Bob's idea is also a good option.

if not well just depends how much GPU performance is worth for you.
 
^

I tend to recomend a TX-950 to go with dual 480s.

Once you put a hardcore OC on the CPU, thats 250W, +the 480s get even more power hungery with OCs, Lots of fans to cool them, etc etc.

I think the 5970 is the best path to take here.
 

Somebody_007

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Well wether or not he wants to OC plays a big role here. If not then I don't think that a 5970 would be a good choice. Otherwise it's a very good one.

psu again depending on whether he wants to OC or not. Actually someone ran 4-way sli 480 with a slight overclock paired with a 980x also overclocked and it didn't consume more than a 1000w.

does the 5970 actually fit in the tempest?
 

coldsleep

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I don't think there's necessarily an anti-480 stance here. To be certain, there are some people that are anti-nVidia (or anti-ATI or whatever), but you get that everywhere...strongly-opinionated people will tend to stand out from the rest. :)

Posters on Tom's do tend to confuse "best value" with "best overall" pretty regularly.

I think that generally what you see is that most people here place a high emphasis on value rather than straight-up performance. In almost every case, the newest, best component is never going to be a good value buy. Most everyone in this thread has recommended CrossFire 5870s, as paying the price premium for SLI 480s isn't worth the added cost for most people.

EDIT: CrossFired 5870s perform better than a 5970, though it may be possible to overclock the 5970s to catch up.
 


Xfire 5870s are like 5% faster.

However, once you clock the 5970 to 5870 speeds they are tyhe same.

Go 5970 here.
 

Lamiel

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I'm not gonna' drag this out any longer than necessary by adding quotes from so many different posts, but there are a few counterpoints I'd like to make to some of the opinions expressed on this. First of all, dual 480's don't need a TX-950 at minimum. Any quality 850w unit will handle them fine, along with an OC'd processor and a bay full of HDD's. The amount of power needed for a high-end system is one of the most misunderstood things in the field of PC building. Sure, it never hurts to have more than you need, but trust me, 850 watts is more than you need. Factor in efficiency and you'll discover that most good units are actually much higher wattage than they're marketed as. That said, the TX-950 recommended previously is priced lower than many quality 850w units, and it is a fantastic power supply. For $150, you can't really go wrong, especially since it's a Corsair. So cast aside your PSU concerns. Personally, I'd go for dual 470's like another poster suggested. But if you're really hung up on 5870's vs. 480's, it comes down to whether or not you really want the 10 or so extra frames (on average - the difference can be much bigger in some games), how you feel about the differences in their drivers, whether you worry about power consumption (I wouldn't worry about the heat unless you have a poorly ventilated case), etc. In the end, both cards are great, and you'll have a fantastic build either way. Oh, and one other thing - to the guy who said a 5970 > 470 SLI... You're wrong.