The wait is over!

[rstm88]

Hi I have been waiting to buy a card for almost a year, yea no kidding. I build my rig last year but used my old gfxc so now the new 68xx are out and Im finally gonna buy a new card. 1-2 months back I made a post asking what card I should buy and whether i should wait for new cards. Majority of you told me to wait and fortunately I did cause I was getting a bit restless to buy something! And now as the prices have gone down I feel its the right time.

So the thing is I cant decide between 2 cards gtx 470 and 6870. Now I have been browsing the net for few days and still cant decide on what to get. It seems gtx has a slight better performance and overclocks better and has things like cudo, physX and other cool stuff that I like, while ati has eyefinity which I dont think I'm ever going to use and 3rd which im still not sure about but it comes 12euro cheaper, which isnt a factor since I been waiting for so long 10-20euro doesnt make a big difference.
On downside 470 consumes more power and heats up, the single fact that my room will get hot doesnt bother me but will the performance go down? So by now you think 470 is obvious choice for me but I was considering to go crossfire in a year or two when my needed a boost, cause my mb only supports crossfire.

Well now you see my dilemma, please check out my specs and let me know your thoughts. I would be very grateful for some thoughtful input.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz 8MB AM3 Black Box
Antec Midi Tower Three Hundred No PSU
Antec Voeding Earthwatts 650W
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX, SATA2 RAID
Chieftec Casefan AF-1225S 120mm, Sleeve Bearing
Fractal Design Casefan Silent Series 140mm
Nexus Fan 120mm Silent Fan Blue LED
Noctua Processor Koeler NH-U9 AMD & Intel
OCZ 2x2GB DDR3 SDRAM PC8500 CL7.0 Gold Edition
Western Digital 640GB SATA300 32MB, WD6401AALS
Zalman Speed Controller ZM-MFC1 PLUS (zilver)
samsung xl2370 monitor 1080p

gtx470
http://www.4launch.nl/shop/#p-4-productid-090608

ati 6870
http://www.4launch.nl/shop/#p-4-productid-099985

 

[Rustyy117]

they both perform very similarly, I believe the GTX470 is 3% faster overall.

I personally don't care about any of the features either comapny offer (E.g Cuda, physX, eyefinity, 3D ETC...) so I would choose the card that overclocks best.

If your not bothered about the heat and power usage of the GTX470 then I would go for that, espcially if you plan on overclocking as it overclocks well.

So I guess you have to decide if your bothered about which features if any... and if your bothered about heat/power usage/ noise blah blah blah.....

 

[mosox]

I would get the 6870, with the new drivers ahead it will be even better than the 470. Also much quieter, less power hungry and cooler.

But most of all you have a crossfire mobo there and you won't be able to add a second Nvidia video card on that, only an AMD one.

 

[flowingbass]

Yeah 6870 seems to be cooler, less power hungry and about the same performance...

 

[rstm88]

ok thanks guys, ordered 6870.

 

[yesitsmario]

congrats, you can get another 6870 down the road and do crossfire, they scale well.

 

[rstm88]

congrats, you can get another 6870 down the road and do crossfire, they scale well.

I wonder if I'll need a new psu for xfire.

 

[mosox]

Your PSU has a max of 540W on the 12V rail, you are fine.

 

[rstm88]

2x 6870 need 4x 6pins, im not so knowledgeable with psu's. does mine have so many?

 

[axipher]

The 6870 recommends a 500 W power supply. If you make sure your power supply is an efficient one, at least 80%, you will have no problem running a single 6870. The card is rated for 2 6-pin connectors which is about 150W so for a second 6870 in crossfire, You'd probably want at least a 650 W 80%+ efficiency power supply from a well known brand.

Also remember it never hurts to go a little bigger than you need with the power supply. Then you can allow for more upgrades down the road.

 

[rstm88]

The 6870 recommends a 500 W power supply. If you make sure your power supply is an efficient one, at least 80%, you will have no problem running a single 6870. The card is rated for 2 6-pin connectors which is about 150W so for a second 6870 in crossfire, You'd probably want at least a 650 W 80%+ efficiency power supply from a well known brand.

Also remember it never hurts to go a little bigger than you need with the power supply. Then you can allow for more upgrades down the road.

ah I see. Well my psu is pretty good actually, it is 80%+ and was highly recommended by everyone when I was first building my rig. So i guess Im safe for a while.

All there is left now is to thank everyone for your thoughts and advises.

 

[ares1214]

ah I see. Well my psu is pretty good actually, it is 80%+ and was highly recommended by everyone when I was first building my rig. So i guess Im safe for a while.

All there is left now is to thank everyone for your thoughts and advises.

I would have gotten a 6850, but good buy! Hope you enjoy it! Post your performance/OC if possible