[Solved] GTX 570 vs 2x 6850, planning new build

Hello all, and thanks for your advice. I'm planning to build a new gaming rig in about 2-3 months and keep going back and forth on video cards..

I was originally planning to go with this card:

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 2GB ($280 after rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127575

Then I started reading that 2GB isn't really necessary for single display 1920x1200, and that the GTX570 is a step above the 6950 in performance.

After researching the 570 and seeing these BFBC2 benchmark comparisons I was a bit a shocked:
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 06-11.html

Are two 6850's in crossfire the way to go over a single 570? Should I worry about micro-stuttering, extra heat, additional power consumption?

The GTX570 I am considering is this:

ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 ---$320 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121432

The 6850 I am considering is this:

2xGIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB ---$300 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125353

Below is the rest of my relevant info:

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: December/January BUDGET RANGE: $250 ~ $350 (for the video card) After Rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming: BFBC2, BF3. Photo-editing/Adobe CS5 work for design & architecture work, Autodesk REVIT, AutoCAD, etc

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Dell Studio XPS 16 (1645) laptop with AMD Radeon HD6570M/5700 series

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

Planned build includes:

**Video card TBD $250 ~ $350

Cooler Master HAF 912 case $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119233

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 motherboard $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128512

i5 2500k $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

XIGMATEK Gaia heatsink/fan $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233082

SeaSonic X750 Gold power supply $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151087

Crucial M4 64GB SSD $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148441

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 64MB cache $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136533

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB $52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231428

ASUS DVD burner $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204


PREFERRED WEBSITE FOR PARTS: newegg COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: whatever is the best for BF3 gaming and above mentioned Adobe CS5 / Autodesk software

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 single display

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: looking for something a step above the average; something with excellent cooling and performance

Let's swap around a couple of your parts.

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. It's just as fast as a Caviar Black and was on sale for $50 on Newegg last weekend. I own 3.

DVD: Newegg has an ASUS DVD burner on sale for $17. I suggest that one.

RAM: Any 1600CL9 will do, you could spend $45 instead for 1600CL9 or $50 for G. Skill 1600CL8 if it comes back on sale.

PSU: I'd be happy with a Corsair TX750, but that's me.

GPU: Here's some info on micro-stuttering: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2995.html
You can decide if you're worried about it or not.

At your resolution, you need more than what 6850's can handle. I'd go for 6950 2GB's or maybe a single GTX 560Ti for $180. The 6950's will tie a GTX 570 once you SLI them and thoroughly trounce SLI'd GTX 560Ti's. And the 2GB frame buffer will matter at that resolution. Even if Newegg doesn't have those prices I just quoted at this very moment, you can sign up for their email list and you'll see the prices in the next week or two. Slickdeals had the 6950 2GB at $20 a couple days ago: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3346094

Go with the single GTX 570 for stability, convenience, and Nvidia goodness.

best choice is GTX 570.

Going with the MSI 6950 Twin Frozr III ($280 after MIR) is what I had originally planned. BUT, I'm paying a premium to have 2GB vs. 1GB, and am having a hard time deciding if it's worth it. For just a little more money I could go with the GTX570, which people say is more powerful.

What 2GB 6950 have you seen for $200. I don't want to spend my money on bottom shelf parts. It's worth the money to me to have quality parts, efficiency and excellent cooling.

OP

yes the asus dc2 models are damn nice I have the gtx 560ti variety, I would def not go with 6850/70 crossfire it is garbage and has terrible microstuttering, forget the raw power difference the gtx 570 will be much more stable and enjoyable, also you will be able to oc the dc2 model to high hell!!! have fun

I had 6870 crossfire and the micro stuttering was unbearable...

Original Poster----->>> thats you buddy!

Double thanks, JJB. I see you're using a 650W PSU. How does it hold up with what you have? I was going to go with a 750W PSU, but can see that if I go with a 650W I can save about $30.

I would either go with this 750W:
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139021

Or this 650W:
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 17-139-020

I don't see myself going SLI anytime soon if I buy the ASUS 570 do you think 650W is enough with the i5 2500k and other parts I listed in the original post?

okay now bro if you want a gpu then the GTX570 is quite better than the 6850 because the gtx is single and the 6850 is sli it will also cost you alot and if you compare the gtx570 sli and the 6850 sli so you will see that the gtx 570 is much better than the 6850

very good choice - the asus DCII is a GREAT card.

true true, although there will be a significant leap in tech and performance with the new series, the 570 is a beast, and will perform nicely for a long time

good choices all around a 650w will do just fine like many have said, you will have plenty of room for ocing that way, and then some.... If you ever do go sli it will run that as well

52Amps on a 12v rail is a lot! and the TX actually delivers what it promises unlike some less reputable psus

Lol.... 6850 in sli?
I'm going to be doing 6850 in crossfire. I've never done it, but for someone like me who's on a budget. I would say do it! But for you it seems that isn't the case as much.
If i were you; i would get the most badass one you could get. Which is the 570.

^Hmmmmmm...... maybe your right. The 6850 by itself is pretty much on the same level of the 460. And that will get me by for a while. And then i'll upgrade. Prob to a 7xxx card.

^ i got that one right now. It's a really nice card for the price. I can max out bf3 1080p.
I'm just worried about the future what i'm going to upgrade to half way through 2012.

dont worry by that time there will be a new round of gpus available from Nvidia and AMD hopefully...

yeah its a decently powerful card but by no means will max out the full version of bf3 at 1080p, maybe on medium but its all just speculating,

But overall I wouldn't worry to much you have some decent hardware and there will be many options available down the road

Have you oc'ed your current 6850 yet?

^sorry to hear that, hopefully things will look up for you, and at least you have a nice rig to look forward to

^just sell it on ebay and upgrade, get a job and save your money

Good luck, thats a world that I do not know much about so all I can say is work hard when you can!

@tisue001--That TX650 is a great deal right now (w/ promo code & rebate). The XFX Core Edition PRO650W is the same price right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817207014
I mention that XFX because they're a great brand and I have a couple things for you to think about...

1) Is it an issue that the ASUS GTX 570 you picked above uses 3 expansion slots? That messes with PCI-e spacing on some motherboards.

2) Are you going to want to do SLI in the future? Because that PSU cannot handle two GTX 570's.

3) Have you considered saving cash and getting a single GTX 560Ti? They overclock better than anything else...AND a 650W PSU can handle two in SLI.

4) The XFX PSU I linked has 2x 6-pin connectors AND 2x 6+2-pin (8-pin) connectors. That allows the hookup of two GTX 560Ti's without using those 4-pin molex to 6-pin adapters.

Gigabyte GTX 560Ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125401
Does anyone really think this Gigabyte won't cool well enough? Really, I'm curious why anyone needs the Asus DCII/MSI Twin Frozr III's when their cases have good cooling.

Yeah, but my [more or less] reference GTX 470 is awesome. I was hoping you could explain the actual benefits beyond a card like that Gigabyte I linked that should have great cooling in its own right.

Btw, I think all new GeForces GTX 560 Ti's come with Batman Arkham City, but that's not showing up on that Gigabyte page. Considering shipping is not free, that only makes it $15 cheaper, which isn't worth it if that means no free games.

Oops, I meant Arkham City is supposed to be free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Arkham_City
It comes out Oct. 18th. I think I'll wait 'til Steam has it for $7.50 next fall. I won't have time to play it anyhow.

dalauder - Thanks for your thoughts. I certainly wouldn't consider doing SLI with the ASUS DCII, it's obviously a beast of a card, taking up 3 slots. For a single GPU setup I don't foresee it's size being a problem. In regards to going with the 560ti and perhaps getting two for SLI, I think I would be looking at over $400 for two cards, and would have the potential headaches of an SLI system including more heat, more space taken up inside the HAF 912 case I want to go with, additional power consumption and potential micro-stuttering issues. Additionally, I don't think a single 560ti is going to satisfy my desire for high-end gaming with games like BF3. I am leaning towards a single card setup, and want the most for my money. I am sure that a reference 570 card would be ok, but I think it's worth it to spend a little more for an above average card like the ASUS DCII - not only getting improved cooling but improved board engineering and higher quality components, too. I'd rather spend a bit more for quality when I'm dropping ~ $1200 on a new system, then be satisfied with average parts to save a few bucks.

Yes, unfortunately I am also budgeting for the OS... so knock the $425 down to $325. Otherwise, you're spot on with your parts list.

That's a very good point to plan on purchasing during Black Friday; I am certainly going to keep this in mind now.

I won't be able to start buying parts until I secure a job. Without divulging my entire life story: I've been living in Korea for the last year teaching English, and am returning to the States beginning of November, at which point I hope to continue working at the architecture firm I interned at prior to coming to Korea. So, if that goes through I'll have a steady salary, and be able to build this computer. If it falls through, however, I think I'll have to keep making due with my Dell laptop...

In regards to your inquiry about the BF3 beta- yes I have been playing it a little, but it only seems playable if I set everything to LOW and drop the resolution from 1920x1080 down to 1600x900. Then I can get about 25-30 fps average... But not playing at the native resolution looks pretty crappy.


What you're proposing with buying the 560ti now (or rather when I plan to build, perhaps on Black Friday) and then adding a second card after the new generations come out is an interesting one... I did look over that chart with the 560 in SLI... Seems like it doesn't suffer from micro-stuttering as bad as others, but what about power consumption/electric bill, heat, etc.

You think that two 560ti's in SLI will outperform the ASUS DCII 570? Seems like a risk to buy one now, and then bank on the price dropping enough in the near future to make it worth it..

Well look at the GTX 460 1GB to guess where GTX 560 Ti prices will go. It launched at $200 and is now $120. The GTX 560 Ti will do the same over the next year. And two GTX 560 Ti's will handily outperform a GTX 580--don't even worry about the GTX 570. The question is whether a single GTX 560Ti gets it done for you. If it doesn't drop in price a bunch and you end up needing to get by with a single one for a year, would you be okay with that? You'll have to make that decision.

Also, I apologize for sounding grim but...you should probably move back to Korea and teach English. I'm in Structural Engineering and Architecture is subject to the same rules--if nothing is being built, there aren't any jobs. That's why I moved to Guam--it's the only place in the U.S. building stuff (Military build up to move out of Okinawa). I sat around with an engineering degree for two years (class of 2008) before I found my first real job (okay, I was a Bag Boy at a grocery store too). I suppose you could always join the protests if you don't find a job.

Anyhow...good luck to you. Nice website linked from your profile, btw.