5970, is it enough for what i want?

[sx3boy]

So today I was on newegg and found out their black friday sale was starting and the 5970 was on sale for $300, the same price as a 6970. I'm looking to upgrade to an Eyefinity setup and have been googling all day and unable to come to a viable conclusion on this.

By eyefinity I simply mean able to run games at 5760 x 1080 on medium settings no AA and able to hold about a 30fps average, possibly having dips into the 20's as well. I know that the VRam limitations can be an issue at that high of a resolution, but without AA and at medium settings, would it be possible? Also keep in mind I'm not planning on playing crysis 2 or metro 2033 at this resolution, just those games which I would find it to be enjoyable with, such as Dawn of War II and sins of a solar empire, maybe with a bit of battlefield 3 if thats possible. Anyways it just seems like I can't find the right benches for this anywhere, but what I was originally going to do was crossfire 6950's although this seems like a much better deal, and I would prefer not to go with the 6950's right now although I'll keep it in mind as an option.

So in the end my ultimate question is well, can a 5970 handle this? Or am I going to have to dish out more money?

Anyways,
Thanks for any help

 

[sosofm]

If the 5970 is at the same price with 6970 ,then buy an 6970.

 

[Mudit Sathe]

HD 5970 is faster but HD 6970 has newer technology...

 

[zakattak80]

well performance wise the 5970 is more powerful. also since the 5970 is a duel gpu set up it get hotter and can cause microstuttering.

5970 faster, more power consumption, more heat, possible microstuttering.

6970 cooler and less power, better for xfire, more vram for multi screen set up

 

[hellfire24]

i am also confused with the same question

 

[sx3boy]

I understand the differences here, I also understand it would be better to compare the 5970 to the 6990 than to the 6970 I've done my research, and from my understanding the 5970 is the 3rd fastest single pci-e slot gpu on the market, I know it uses 2 gpu cores and everything. My point here being is that I'm simply wondering if the 1GB of vram is really such a huge limitation that I wouldn't be able to play games in eyefinity? I'm not asking for a comparison between the video cards themselves. I am aware that more than 1GB of VRAM is better once you get up to 1920 x 1200 or above, but I'm just wondering if the 5970 would possibly meet my needs for what I want.

Anyways thanks again for the help.

 

[beltzy]

The 5970 is about $300 on newegg right now. While it's much lower than previously offered, it's really not a steal when you look at performance for the money. Playing at resolutions like your 5760 x 1080, you really ought to look for a setup with more video memory. 1GB was the standard for high end cards about 2 years ago. Anything high end these days has at least 1.5GB .

Does it mean the 5970 won't perform well? No, it's a very powerful card. However, I'd suggest that this good deal on it will not look as good the morning after (a couple of months from now when you can get a lot more performance at all price points).

Last comment is that you always want to balance what's around the corner with what you need now. If you have a setup that you can live with for a little longer, waiting isn't a bad choice. However, if you really are ready to make a purchase, finding a good deal and pulling the trigger isn't wrong.

 

[ms5555]

I was considering buying the 5970 off newegg but didn't realize the 5970 was a double gpu. So it's basically running like a crossfire setup and you'll see micro stuttering in higher resolutions with the most demanding games. Doesn't seem worth it.

Also the 5970 is a power hog compared to a 6970, which I did know. Would a 600w psu be enough? This is my psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Rest of my setup is a i5-760, 4gb gskill ram, 7200 rpm hd. Right now I use a gtx60. Just wondering if my psu can even handle the 5970, since it says it needs a minimum of 650 watts.