Need help choosing a new GFX Card

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Sammells

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Hey guys!
I'm unsure of what to do, I am making a brand new pc and choosing a GFX card. I will be playing games such as BF3, Rage ect on a maximum on 1080p, 60Hz. I want a good quality card. I quite like the HD 6970, i hear numerous good reports about it, but how will it run BF3 Full HD on DX11?
The way i see it is am prepared to pay $500 for a card. The GTX 580 also seems like a good pickup, but seems very overpriced, in some benchmarks the 6970 is more powerful, less power consuming and quiter. The only downside i "hear" about AMD is bad drivers. SLi / CrossFire is a definite down the track. I want a powerful card, but which is the better pick of the two?
Feel free to leave opinions :)
 
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Onus

Onus

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There will always be fanboys on one side or the other moaning about the other guy's drivers. Take any overall remarks about one vendor's driver quality with a sack of salt.
Other than games, are there any other factors you need to consider? Do you care about PhysX or applications that take advantage of CUDA? If so, nVidia is your choice. Will you be bitcoin mining when you're not playing games, or do you want to run three monitors on one card? If so, then ATi is your choice.
Consider power usage. Under typical 3D load, the GTX580 needs 244W, and the HD6970 needs 198W. For a pair, it becomes 444W for nVidia vs. 368W for ATi. Barring an exceptional difference in a relevant benchmark favoring nVidia, I'd choose the HD6970 for the power savings alone. Less power also means less heat, and likely less noise from fans.
Power usage: http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.php?showtopic=264

Edit: Going by that chart, once you add the second card, if you are overclocking you may hit the nominal limit on a 750W PSU (although good units are underrated) with GTX580 SLI; but you'd be fine with a pair of HD6970's.
 
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Onus

Onus

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That's why I made my remark about "relevant benchmarks." Some games heavily favor nvidia or ATi. For example, Civilization V so heavily favors nVidia that a GTX460 beats a HD6950; no one in his right mind would assert that the GTX460 is the more powerful of the two.
I read through your thread, 384-Bit. Interesting; looks like BF3 really stresses cards, but is actually quite playable with less than top-of-the-line hardware.
 
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Sammells

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Sammells

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I have the MSI™ P67A-GD53 and is the same layout as the GD65.
You can fit 2 triple slot cooled cards on both of these boards with no problems.
Click to expand...
What about the other mobos? The only thing about the Asus is it is not a large mobo compared to the others. What are the pros and cons for the AsRock one? <--- Compared to the MSI. I am unsure of MSI products.
 
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Sammells

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So that rules out the Asus board as i want to go SLi down the track, that's a shame. :(
AsRock and MSI. Have a look through the site. I won't really touch many features.
All i need is good memory speeds, socket 1155, easy bios, CFX / SLi compatible, and other small things. AsRock i hear are quite good.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I have always had good results from ASRock (and Asus) boards.

Sammells, if you read through his BF3 thread, you'll see that a GTX580 is not required to play the game well, furthermore at least one person claimed the last released nVidia beta drivers caused problems for him, despite being optimized for BF3. Especially if you're thinking of multiple GPUs, I'd suggest getting a single HD6970. You could fit two of those on the Asus mobo.
 
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Sammells

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The beta isn't running DX11 though, is it? Also a heard the beta doesn't support ultra it is 'Just there' sort of thing. With the AsRock one, i know it supports SLi / CFX but at 2 x 8? and 1 x 16? This PCI 3.0 is confusing. It says it has 1 x16 slot and that's it.
I don't need a small mobo, i am getting a tower / mid tower, side isn't a problem so i am just limited of what is on the site really.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I have not bought any Z68 boards myself. If I wanted a good one though, I'd probably choose ASRock. For the money, they seem to have the most features, including a PLX chip to multiplex the limited number of PCIE lanes provided by Sandy Bridge.
 
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Sammells

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Just reading a guy using that Asus II super cooled card maxed out is gettig 50. Mate, look like a 6970 is the MINIMUM for a ultra BF3 experience. Plus when you're ina jet or helicopter your FPS' will drop no doubt.
 
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Sammells

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6970 is not minimum.
I do not see where you are getting this info from but it sure is wrong.
Click to expand...
People are getting 40fps maxed one a GTX 580. Anyway not to worry, would you reccomend this card?
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1178&products_id=16939
Also with this card, when i go down the crossFire track, will an i5 be able to cope with two of these?
I am thinking of getting this mobo, will it manage to of these big cards on this?
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_1183&products_id=17937
Is it better to get a i5 2500k or the i7 2600K? I fear the i5 might bottleneck on CrossFireX of the 6970's.
Any reports of the HD 6970 fps' on BF3 beta?
 
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