Is it worth getting an SSD?

[Cuddles_1]

Hello, i am building a gaming computer soon and was just wondering if i should drop the ssd in favor of better gpus, i am currently going for 2 6950s and 1 120gb SSD but if i were to drop the ssd i could get 2 6970s and be more future proof. Half of the people say ssd other half say better gpus. What do you guys think?

 

[geofelt]

I don't think you will notice the fps improvement from 6970's as much as you will notice the quickness of a SSD.

Can you save elsewhere, and get both?

 

[toneekay]

I would recommend the 2 6950s with the SSD as well, like geofelt said, youll notice way better performance with the SSD.

You'll still blaze through games with the 6950 crossfire even without an SSD. I mean, what game is really going to utilize the full potential of the 6950s?

 

[Cuddles_1]

Thanks for the replies so far i think i'll go with the ssd unless someone has something to add.

 

[boiler1990]

I agree with the SSD recommendation, but I would say get a 6970, rather than 2x6950s (since you can't afford the SSD and 2x6970s).

I haven't played a game yet that my 6950 2GB can't handle on max settings, max AA, max anisotropic filtering, etc. @ 1920x1080. A single 6970 will be plenty until you can afford a second one.

 

[wenqi]

you know what i think, IMO i say get the Nvidia GTX 570, or maybe an old geforce for physics, are you going with AMD or intel? if you've got an intel board with two x8 slots then i would say go for the 570. but looking at the information above, get the 6970 and then later on another one. BUT i still think you should look into a 570 as it gives similar performance to your 6970 http://www.hwcompare.com/9020/geforce-gtx-570-vs-radeon-hd-6970/ but will also give you physics.

 

[toneekay]

6970 has potential to be overclocked to a 6990... This sounds like an awesome opportunity to give it a shot!

 

[boiler1990]

you know what i think, IMO i say get the Nvidia GTX 570, or maybe an old geforce for physics, are you going with AMD or intel? if you've got an intel board with two x8 slots then i would say go for the 570. but looking at the information above, get the 6970 and then later on another one. BUT i still think you should look into a 570 as it gives similar performance to your 6970 http://www.hwcompare.com/9020/geforce-gtx-570-vs-radeon-hd-6970/ but will also give you physics.

PhysX doesn't make that much (if any) of a difference in games. I tried a 9800GT as a dedicated PhysX card with my 470s, and A) saw no difference (got maybe an extra 5-10 FPS) and B) the 9800GT only ran at ~10% usage. A CPU can handle the amount of information that PhysX handles.

You're better off with just flat out better GPUs like the 6970.

 

[geofelt]

6970 has potential to be overclocked to a 6990... This sounds like an awesome opportunity to give it a shot!

Don't think so. The 6990 has dual chips vs single on the 6970.

 

[boiler1990]

Don't think so. The 6990 has dual chips vs single on the 6970.

I'm guessing he meant the 6950 -> 6970 unlock? Dual 6970s would rock a 6990 though...

 

[bora63]

Maybe get a smaller SSD in conjunction with a Z68 motherboard for SSD caching??

Wont be quite as fast as a SSD for booting but will be so much faster than a standard HDD

 

[toneekay]

Don't think so. The 6990 has dual chips vs single on the 6970.

Sorry I left out the "s" after 6970s...

I'm guessing he meant the 6950 -> 6970 unlock? Dual 6970s would rock a 6990 though...

I was thinking the same about dual 6970s hitting 6990 and higher levels.

 

[wenqi]

physics doesn't improve gaming speed, it just adds eye candy which makes the game look nicer, look up some screenshots with it turned on and off. CUDA might help some 3d editors though.

 

[mdd1963]

Dual 6970s are already faster than the single 6990s core and shader clocks, due to the dual GPUs heat/thermal concerns...; ergo, a pair of 6970s in Xfire is faster than a single 6990.

 

[Cuddles_1]

Best answer selected by Cuddles_1.