Budget of $1400 for Graphics Cards. Expert advice appreciated

So I am purchasing Graphic cards for my son for doing a stellar job graduating college. I need some help deciding what to buy. I see so many arguments advocating for so many different types of cards so I am still at a loss as to which ones to buy. My son is a major gamer and he plays games like Crysis and other really graphic intensive games. Keep in mind I have a budget of $1400-1500 for these cards. I would like to hear an argument and some reasoning as to why I should purchase whatever cards you recommend because nothing I have heard so far has set my mind on any particular model so far. Your expert knowledge is appreciated


Here is what I have built for him so far:


Thermal Take case
Intel i7 975 CPU
EVGA 3X SLI Classified Mobo
12GB Kingston Hyper X 1600 Mghz RAM
300 Gb Velociraptor HD
1100 Watt PSU


Pretty Much the same as my own system

2 radeon 5970's in quad-crossfire.

/thread

well w/ that kind of budget why not go w/ three GTX 470/480's

I have heard that to but Im not sure why I would go with that option. Most people say that 2 HD 5970 would wax 3 gtx 470/480 s. Can you elaborate on that?

I have 2 GTX 295's and they get really hot but they aren't to bad. They havnt over heated with the fans on Max ....YET

also w/ the extra money you save not getting the 5970's you could put that money into water cooling

The ONLY reason why I would ever recommend a (3) gtx 480's is because quad-crossfire does not scale very well. Look at this! http://www.legitreviews.com/images [...] 0_3way.jpg

There IS no airflow!

Take a look at this... This will help you make your decision

(1) gtx 480 beats (1) radeon 5870 by a decent margin, which is the GPU used in the 5970, and quad crossfire does not scale well.

However, you also have to consider power consumption + heat. a 5970 beats gtx 480 in that category.

1100 Watts should do the job I hope

I suggest just going regular crossfire or sli and just get (1) 5970 or (2) gtx 480's. Anything more will be overkill and you could just save that money for future upgrades. No point in splurging over 1k for graphics when in a few years it will become out of date.

I think Im leaning towards 3 GTX 480's. Like I said he worked really hard to get through college and a stellar gaming system is what he has always wanted and he has never had one quiet like the one I am building him

if you want a stellar system look into getting three monitors, heres some links of what it looks like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Bu1LA_Hss&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpkF1jDkQ6w

Oh man could I do this with my 2 GTX 295's I have?

What monitors were those? Also, is it possible to run 2 GTX 480's with a GTX 295? I have way to many cards and not enough knowledge lol. I wish I had more time to read about these things

That is because the GTX 295 is Direct X 10 and the GTX 480 is Direct X 11 right? or wrong

Not really. The architectures, or how they process data, is different. Basically, you need cards from the same architecture family to sli/crossfire. gtx 295 and gtx 480 are from two different generations and families.

what screen will your son be using?

3D monitors and glasses are way too expensive IMO, but might fit into OP's budget. Eyefinity itself is just breath taking btw

I see something wrong here...

3d glasses from nvidia cost about $100 each. don't know what you consider expensive...

I like this package with 3 GTX 480's

http://promotions.newegg.com/ASUS/072010/index.html

just pointing out the hypocracy of dipankar2007ind's statement...

Does anyone still love the GTX 295's in SLI? How do they compare to the new graphic cards on the market

Whats the res? Were they able to play games at a decent framerate with decent settings?

not yet, ati has yet to release a 3d technology, but rumors say they are developing it