What card should I grab?

[Shourisha1]

Hello,
Been looking into getting a new GPU for my rig. I was running a 5870, before financial stress forced me to sell it. Now I'm looking into getting a new card. I currently game on no higher a resolution than 1680x1050, might bump up to a 1920 monitor at some point. I've been planning on picking up another 5870, simply because I can pick up a used one on ebay for around $150. My budget can stretch to around $200. The games I'm looking to play will be Skyrim, and BF 3, for starters. I want a card I can max out my settings on(which the 5870 used to do for Crysis).

My rig
i7-920 OC'ed to 3.8
6 gb of OCZ DDR3 Ram
Radeon hd2400 pro(blech)
ASrock x56 Extreme 1366 Mobo
OCZ 700w PSU

Thanks!

 

[amuffin]

6870

 

[FtsArTek]

5870 is more powerful than a 6870, almost 6950. Get another, it will be the best option

 

[amuffin]

5870 is more powerful than a 6870, almost 6950. Get another, it will be the best option

it is?

 

[Helltech]

it is?

Yes. 5870 is 7 percent more powerful than a 6870.

 

[ilysaml]

@OP
$200 can bring you a brand new 1 GB HD 6950 which is better than a HD 5870, HD 5870 will run louder, produce more heat. Besides, the Tessellation & DX11 support is more superior in the HD 6K series.

 

[ringzero]

@OP
$200 can bring you a brand new 1 GB HD 6950 which is better than a HD 5870, HD 5870 will run louder, produce more heat. Besides, the Tessellation & DX11 support is more superior in the HD 6K series.

+1 to this. Because running Crossfire has the potential to cause you throbbing headaches. Stick to single card if you can.

But now that I'm thinking about it, a 6950 is not going to be an enormous upgrade. If you don't mind the potential Crossfire problems, get another or wait until you have more money or they introduce the next gen AMD cards next month.

 

[ilysaml]

As i understand from the first post is that OP had a 5870, not having one currently.

 

[ringzero]

As i understand from the first post is that OP had a 5870, not having one currently.

Oops, my bad.

Then definitely a 6950, hands down.

 

[Shourisha1]

Hate to revive this thread, but my PC's been down for a bit. So, a 6950 would be worth the extra cash? If so, should I run with the 1 gb form or the 2gb form? I've read that the 2gb can be modified to a 6970 more easily than the 1gb.

Also, as a sidenote, I'm thinking of upping the ram in this unit--From the current 6 gbs to, perhaps, 24 gbs of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231359

Figure I can sell the ram I have for around 50 on ebay, if I'm lucky. I'm going to have some cash to put into my PC, and am trying to think of some upgrades I may need before going head first into this 3D art major. Would this be a worthwhile investment?

 

[ilysaml]

If you wanna play 3D games, then wait for the new HD 7950. 3D, Eyfinity 3D, CF Support for 3D all of this will be greatly implemented on the new series, so better wait and see benches.

Normal user don't need more than 8 GB, 24 GB is pretty useless for you unless you're going to do something i don't know.

 

[Shourisha1]

I'm going to be doing a lot of 3D design as I enter into a Game design course, working with 3ds Max and Maya, so figured it might be useful to upgrade. As for 3d, I haven't really put a lot of stock into it, because of the high costs to play in 3d--And the fact that there don't seem to be a lot of games utilizing it.

 

[ilysaml]

All the current and upcoming games will utilize 3D Gameplay. There are already a punch of games support 3D such as Deux EX, BF3, Metro 2033, Crysis 2, and so on .......
Even all of this software won't need more than 8 GB.

 

[Shourisha1]

The new cards will be expensive, I have a feeling, well over my intended budget. In addition to that, the cost of 3d is a bit steep. Not sure if that is the route I want to take, just yet.

 

[azeem40]

Yeah, the 7970 ranges from $549.99 to $599.99.

 

[Shourisha1]

Uh, yeah. WAY out of my price range. And it would cost at least an additional $100 to go 3D. I think I'll go with the 6950. Should I go with the 1 gb, or the 2? Seams like more people are able to get the 2gb board to the 6970's standards.

 

[azeem40]

I would just get 1 GB as those games probably won't use more than the 1 GB VRAM.