Hd 6850 crossfire or gtx 570?

[robbiep28]

I can get the hd 6850s for about £20 cheaper and I am planning to get a xfx 750w psu

 

[nforce4max]

Wow dude what a wealth of information that you have given us.

You might as well post in the same language used in texting to save space. :lol:

If you want some actual answers then you need to post the rest of your system specs.

 

[jay2tall]

Read this sticky first.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/290969-33-advice-choosing

 

[robbiep28]

lol sorry ,
the rest of my planned build is coolermaster haf 922,i5 2500k(planning to oc), hyper 212+,xfx black edition psu 750w, msi p67a-gd53 Motherboard,4gb of corsair vengeance RAM,Crucial c300 64gb and wd caviar blue 500gb hdd and a benq 22inch led monitor (1080x1920)

 

[geekapproved]

I wouldn't go for 6850's, I'd at least go 6870's. Or better yet, just get one 6950 2gb and get another one later when you actually need one, for cheap. 6950's (2gb) in Xfire are as fast or faster than GTX570's and over $50 cheaper for each one, so you save over $100. But buy the second one later, you'll save even more money over buying a second one now.

I don't think you'll need a second one for quite a while.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161355&cm_re=6950-_-14-161-355-_-Product

This one can be unlocked to a 6970.

 

[beltzy]

6850's in crossfire are going to provide you with higher performance than the GTX 570, but do you need that much power? At that resolution a 570 or 6850's in in crossfire would both be plenty. I am a fan of using two cards to get more performance for your money (above a certain performance point). However, be aware that there is the potential for hangups and/or issues when using multiple cards. A lot of the people that provide advice here will recommend going for the most powerful single card in your budget/performance range to simplify.

If you do go with a GTX 570 you have the option of getting a second one down the road to further improve your performance. If you go with the 6850's, you don't have an upgrade path for your graphics without starting over (they are limited to 2 cards in crossfire- not a big deal since not a lot of folks go 3+ cards).

It's up to you to determine what's important to you: better value with the potential of having to deal with multi-card problems or getting a little bit less of a value and having the simplicity/ease of just one card (+ having a great upgrade path if you want to double up on that 570). Also, you will need a bigger monitor for that monster rig you're building !

 

[jay2tall]

My $.02 would be to get the GTX570, unless the 2 6850's are significantly cheaper. While the 6850's in CF would best a single GTX570 in almost every scenario you also take on the potential headaches of a dual card setup, as beltzy said. You can still OC a GTX570 pretty well. In any case, at 1080P resolution, both of those choices will run anything you throw at it.

 

[geekapproved]

I agree. 1 6950 2gb or 1 GTX570. The GTX570 is faster, but it's also at least $50 more and the 6950 can be unlocked to 6970. 100% chance with that model I linked.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I agree. 1 6950 2gb or 1 GTX570. The GTX570 is faster, but it's also at least $50 more and the 6950 can be unlocked to 6970. 100% chance with that model I linked.

Although you linked to a site in the US and the OP is in the UK.

 

[robbiep28]

One of the reasons i think the xfire hd 6850s would be a better choice is because I would like my rig to be somewhat 'future proof' and I don't really plan on upgrading in the near future. Also, If I were to get a gtx 570 which model is the best for overclocking? I can buy a pair of hd 6850s for £250 and a gtx 570 twin frozr II costs £280. The website I plan to buy from is http://www.scan.co.uk/

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the only problem with 6850 xfire is that some games do not support xfire so you would be limited to 1 card in those situations. take a look at the games you will be playing and if they support xfire, or there is an xfire profile for them, then get the 2x6850's.

 

[robbiep28]

What games don't support xfire though?

 

[MMclachlan]

If you have a 1900x1200 or 1080p monitor then 6850 x fire is a sweet setup - my brother has it on 1080p. He's just played through all of Metro 2033 in Very High DX11 and AAA and they hummed along beautifully with 35-60fps. You will use that horsepower in the top games!
All 6850s can be o/c to 6870 performance, 6870s will obviously go higher still, but not by as much. This means that two 6850s is the best value/performance option.
I'd say go 6850s without a doubt. After all the more people that do the quicker AMD will sort their x-fire profiles out!

 

[robbiep28]

Best answer selected by robbiep28.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey