Purchase advice: 6950 2 gb vs direct cu 570

[chedderslam1976]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: tonight or tomorrow, needs to be there by Christmas...

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Battlefield 3

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

motherboard - Asus M4A78-E
Ram - GSkill PC2 8500 - Model #: F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
CPU - AMD Phenom 2 x4 940
Video- ATI Radeon 4870 x 2
Power Supply - Silencer PC Power and Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V



PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Amazon(mom's affiliate account ), or the egg

PARTS PREFERENCES: it is between these two cards:

ASUS GTX570 DirectCU II graphics cards with dual-fan cooling performance, ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5

XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, and maybe we can unlock the 6950?

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, approx one year down the line according to him...

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, not sure but it is a newer 24 and probably 1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: like the xfx double lifetime, like the awesomeness of the directcu, but REALLY concerned with the 3 slot design... Also, does the 2 gigs of the 6950 give it an edge over the 570 in sli?

For my friend's system. After a few posts here and talking to him, these are what I want to go with.

He will be upgrading system to probably 2500k and mem and mb in a couple of months.

Really my question is how do these two do in sli/xfire in BF3? Will the heat of the 570 in SLI be problematic? What about noise?

I am really leaning towards the 570, but I am a huge ati fan. Also, anywhere I can find a BF3 chart showing the two in sli/xfire to see scaling and so forth?

thank you.

 

[monsta]

My preference would be the 570, its a great perfromer and it also SLI's very well.
You will only have heat problems if the cards are sandwiched together. The problem that you will encounter with the Asus card is that it does takes up three slots and I would not recomend it for SLI especially on your mobo as it only has two slots and they wont fit. Consider going with an MSI Twin Frozr 570 , the cooling on them are excellent and they only take up two slots. If you only want one card and don't plan on SLI the Asus will be fine but I wouldnt limit myself by getting it.

 

[chedderslam1976]

My preference would be the 570, its a great perfromer and it also SLI's very well.
You will only have heat problems if the cards are sandwiched together. The problem that you will encounter with the Asus card is that it does takes up three slots and I would not recomend it for SLI especially on your mobo as it only has two slots and they wont fit. Consider going with an MSI Twin Frozr 570 , the cooling on them are excellent and they only take up two slots. If you only want one card and don't plan on SLI the Asus will be fine but I wouldnt limit myself by getting it.

thank you, monsta.

I am just about there on pulling the trigger... I REALLY want to order today, as i assume my amazon prime would get it there by Friday, Saturday at the latest, but I am REALLY cutting it close.

SO...

this card:

ASUS GTX570 DirectCU II graphics cards with dual-fan cooling performance, ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5

assumming a 2500k build, and sli down the line, what issues will this cause?

- loss of pci x1 slot, which negates the ability to use a OCZ RevoDrive RVDHY-FH-1T PCI-E 1TB Hybrid Solid State Drive PCI-Express 2.0 x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) or similiar device. it is something i want for his system, and he might never use, but who knows. yeah silly, i know.

- two in sli would require a board that would allow because of the triple slot design. how much are we adding to the cost? I hate to stick him with additional cost if it is not worth it. what Mb's and price range are we talking vs a dual card design?

- some egg reviews show it does not oc well, but i guess that is how it goes, luck of the draw...

- REALLY concerned it will not fit into his case, BUT he says he will be getting a new case, so what case will guarantee a fit? any case recommendations?

EVGA choices:

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Double Shot 1280 MB GDDR5 PCB PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card 012-P3-1577-KR

- better cooling, but not lifetime warranty

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Superclocked 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Dual DVI/HDMI/Display Port SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 012-P3-1573-AR

- super clocked; i know you can oc yourself, but are these binned higher, and thus more likely to oc?
-lifetime warranty

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI-I/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 012-P3-1570-AR

- $10 cheaper, so i would just get the superclocked, i guess...

 

[chedderslam1976]

another thought:

go with the dircectCU now, and then maybe a evga superclocked with the HD down the line... Can you put a 3 slot card in the lower pci slots w/ max space for cooling? That would also give the benefit of the display port is needed...

 

[chedderslam1976]

Best answer selected by chedderslam1976.