6970 vs. 580gtx

[tjosborne]

ok im thinking about getting
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130655
how will it compare to
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127581&Tpk=r6970%20lightning
how big a difference will i see

 

[avieor]

I have two questions:

Will you be using SLI/Crossfire?

and

What resolution are you going to be gaming at?

 

[tjosborne]

well i will sli eventually. i game at 1920x1080 and i just sold my twin frozr. i was just wondering how much better the 580 would be

 

[tjosborne]

or is it faster at all? i know the 580 has 1gb more memory but it looks like the clocks are all lower than a reference 6970 so would it be a downgrade for me and if so what should i get? i would prefer nvidia for physx and 3d but i dont know much about cards, the 6970 was the first one i purchased.

 

[mdd1963]

The GTX580 is faster than the 6970, no questions asked.....

For that matter, normally, so is the GTX570.....

 

[JackMomma]

The 580 is a whole lot faster, don't compare by the clocks. The 580 is the best single card you can get right now, and SLI would scale past everything else as well, but with a ridiculous price tag.

If you have the money, go with the 580. If you're trying to save at all, go with two 6950's or 6970's. I just upgraded and am running two 6870's in CFX and am actually maxing everything at 1920x1080 with my i7 (Crysis 2 DX11, Metro, etc). 1GB of memory is enough for 1080p, but if you ever want to go higher, get 2GB.

 

[Gman450]

HD 6970 > GTX 580

The HD 6970 is more of a competitor for a GTX 570.
GTX 570 is about 10-15% slower than a GTX 580. So would be the HD 6970 as well.
Since you're thinking of Sli-ing or X-firing the cards, and if you are not going for an eyefinity setup, then I'd get a GTX 570. It costs a bit more than a Radeon HD 6970.

But, overall, I'd get the HD 6970 and not get the GTX 580.

 

[Deeks]

I would say unless your going for multiple monitor setup, id go with the 570 considering its 50$ less then the 6970, plus Nvidea has a way better reputation for drivers! between the 6970 and the 580 i dont think you can really compare those two because the 580 is worth a additional 130$ and beats the 6970 in almost every benchmark. If money is not a issue and your a enthusiast gamer then 580 if u want your bang for your buck for a high end card go with 570 is you want to cf or run multiple monitor id say 6970 as they scale much better then Nvidea.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

get a 570, bang for buck sucka!

 

[tjosborne]

at the top of the thread theres a link for the 580 i was looking at. is it a good one, and are there full waterblocks for it, and in a year or so i will sli so will my coolermaster silent pro m 1000w psu power them and a 2500k? also will my cpu bottleneck that card?

 

[FlintIronStagg]

at the top of the thread theres a link for the 580 i was looking at. is it a good one, and are there full waterblocks for it, and in a year or so i will sli so will my coolermaster silent pro m 1000w psu power them and a 2500k? also will my cpu bottleneck that card?

Its hard to bottleneck with a 2500k

 

[tjosborne]

ok one ? answered. will 1000w power 2 in sli and is evga a good brand and are there full waterblocks? im sorry, its just $600 is more than i make in 2 weeks and i dont want another card like twin frozr which was a waste of money for me. i want a good card that is upgradeable in every way so options are not limited. i didnt reserch last time, im trying to this time.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

yes to 1000w, and you are fine this time, if money is the issue, then maybe the 6970 CF or a 570 SLi

 

[tjosborne]

money is no issue i want a future proof rig for at least till end of 2013. so i want a 3gb card and i want watercooling for OC and once watercooing is running i dont want to tear it apart for a while. i dont want to dip below 45fps for 2 yrs with everything maxed. i guess feedback on card from newegg answered if its a good card or not i just want to know if it has a full waterblock for it for me to make my decision.

 

[phishy714]

money is no issue i want a future proof rig for at least till end of 2013. so i want a 3gb card and i want watercooling for OC and once watercooing is running i dont want to tear it apart for a while. i dont want to dip below 45fps for 2 yrs with everything maxed. i guess feedback on card from newegg answered if its a good card or not i just want to know if it has a full waterblock for it for me to make my decision.

I don't think anyone has ever mastered the art of knowing what the future will bring. Honestly, trying to make a system that will last you for 3 years a quite dumb. I understand that you want to water cool this stuff and don't want to keep going back in to change stuff out, but you will have to do maintenance on it cause its part of having a water cooled system. There is no such thing as "future proof", so stop trying. All you can do is get the best performance for your money and hope that it lasts more than a couple months and doesn't blow up in your face.

Also, if money isn't an issue, why not get 3x GTX 580, with the $1000 processor that is going to be coming very shortly from Intel and a $600 motherboard with a 1500W power supply on a $500 case all water cooled? I can bet you that this will last longer than a single gtx 580.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

there is no such thing as future proof, but if you want something to last a couple years, an xfire build or sli will last you for a while

 

[tjosborne]

I don't think anyone has ever mastered the art of knowing what the future will bring. Honestly, trying to make a system that will last you for 3 years a quite dumb. I understand that you want to water cool this stuff and don't want to keep going back in to change stuff out, but you will have to do maintenance on it cause its part of having a water cooled system. There is no such thing as "future proof", so stop trying. All you can do is get the best performance for your money and hope that it lasts more than a couple months and doesn't blow up in your face.

Also, if money isn't an issue, why not get 3x GTX 580, with the $1000 processor that is going to be coming very shortly from Intel and a $600 motherboard with a 1500W power supply on a $500 case all water cooled? I can bet you that this will last longer than a single gtx 580.

i said future proof not a dumb waste of money and im sure 2 580s will last 3 years sure i might need to scale down shadows and AA but ill be ok. and yes i know i need to refill the fluid

 

[tjosborne]

Best answer selected by tjosborne.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey