3x HD 6970 VS. 2x HD 5970

The 5970 is already internally a dual GPU card, where each portion/half has 1 GB of memory (not enough for some of newest DX11 titles at highest 2560x1600 res with enthusiast level AA/AF above 4x)...; the 5970 already supports three monitors.

I've not seen any reviews of dual 5970's, effectively Quad-Crossfire, and am not sure it is even possible...

SOme X58 boards for sure support 3/4 way SLI....; is there even a 3 way X-Fire?

Dual GTX580's, however, are quite a formidable pair!

The board im using now supports 3way xfire and im currently running 3 hd 5870 on a asus p6x58d-e

A pair of 6950's in Crossfire is at an excellent performance level, not quite equaling SLI 580s, but, at $600 total, excellent performance for the money!

Is your goal simply 3 monitors? WIll it even be used for games?

As to if it will be $900 worth if improvement , will of course be your call....

True thats my biggest concern though if i were to try a tri fire config with 3 hd 6970 would i be bottle necking them?

ONce you have so much gpu power that the video is not the bottleneck, then the cpu typically becomes the bottleneck; if you lower the resolution and your framerate increases, then the gpu is still the bottleneck. With three monitors of decent size, depending on AA/AF settings (I'd use no AA/AF if running 3), I'd imagine the gpu is still the bottleneck.

My question for you ketsuri, why would you even spend that much with Antilles coming out? Also, not only Antilles but both cards run hot, I'd just wait for a non-reference design of the 69xx series.

Also.... 6950 Crossfire is already ALOT of firepower, why on earth do you need tri-6970's? or even 5970 quadfire.

wait for 6990, in the waiting period donate money to an animal shelter (save a dog from being euthanized)

Best answer selected by ketsurui.