ATI 5970 vs ATI 5870 x2

[adam217]

I was thinking about putting together a sick machine and wanted to get a few opinions on the ATI GPUs.

Which set-up, all else being equal, would yield better graphic performance:

ATI 5970

or

ATI 5870 x2 Crossfired

The processor/chipset will probably be an i7-930 or 960 on an x58.

Thanks!

[saintjimmy]

Well, since the 5970 is 2 5870's with a few things disabled and downclocked (yet not dual 5850's, since it has 3,200 stream processors), and that the 5870 X2 has yet to be released, I can only say wait for a 5870 X2 to be released, and then either get it, or get a lower priced (by then) 5970.

[ultima]

when in doubt go look at reviews

heres one to get you going

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3679&p=1

[aura_enchanted]

Well, since the 5970 is 2 5870's with a few things disabled and downclocked (yet not dual 5850's, since it has 3,200 stream processors), and that the 5870 X2 has yet to be released, I can only say wait for a 5870 X2 to be released, and then either get it, or get a lower priced (by then) 5970.

incorrect me amigo the hd 5970 is actually an hd 5870+5850 its actually a little worse than a2 hd 5870's (by about 3-4% preforamnce)

[-RK]

The 5970 is like two downclocked 5870s, it's a pair of fully enabled and downclocked GPUs, not a 5850+5870.

As for your question, the 5970 will be less powerful than a pair of 5870s. A 5970 will only take a single slot and will allow you to add another for quad-xfire later if you so choose. Having more than 2 GPUs in a system tends to scale poorly, so that probably wouldn't be worth the price. I'd go with a pair of 5870s.

[adam217]

Thanks for all the info and advice.. Looks like 5870 x2 is gonna do it.

:)

[Radiator]

P.S. you can overclock the HD 5970 to match the HD 5870 clock speeds ...
But you probably might have to invest in slightly better cooling . In any case , if I were you , I'd go for the HD 5970 .

[Radiator]

Dude stop posting stuff referring to your thread ... we will see the thread whether or not you refer to it in other threads ( which only serves to annoy us in fact ) .

[Steve]

Dude stop posting stuff referring to your thread ... we will see the thread whether or not you refer to it in other threads ( which only serves to annoy us in fact ) .

I totally deleted that post. It turns out I have Moderator powers on these forums!

Who knew!

[Steve]

Did you guys see the tweet I made about the Asus Ares HD 5870?

It has two full speed HD 5870 GPUs in one card!
http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=8621

[Radiator]

Asus Ares FTW! I say .

[Clarktastic]

Wow that Asus Ares is one beefy card. makes mine look so dainty. :)

I was hoping someone could tell me the benefits of having so much video power. I'm mostly into shooter games like COD-MW2 and Battlefield BadCo2. I just bought my first decent card, an HD5770 and it seems to meet all the maximum needs, plus it has DirectX11 for future games.

Are there any shooter games out that need DirectX11 support yet, or is it more of an up and coming thing?

I ask b/c I would like to get another to utilize my CrossfireX capabilities, but am wondering what exactly it will bring to the table. will it double all of my scores? for ex.. My current 3Dmark score is P10119 with a 9736 GPU score at 30/26 FPS. Will getting another this give me 60/52 FPS?

[Radiator]

Wow that Asus Ares is one beefy card. makes mine look so dainty. :)

I was hoping someone could tell me the benefits of having so much video power. I'm mostly into shooter games like COD-MW2 and Battlefield BadCo2. I just bought my first decent card, an HD5770 and it seems to meet all the maximum needs, plus it has DirectX11 for future games.

Are there any shooter games out that need DirectX11 support yet, or is it more of an up and coming thing?

I ask b/c I would like to get another to utilize my CrossfireX capabilities, but am wondering what exactly it will bring to the table. will it double all of my scores? for ex.. My current 3Dmark score is P10119 with a 9736 GPU score at 30/26 FPS. Will getting another this give me 60/52 FPS?
Uh... Metro 2033 and AvP3 support DX11 , can't think of any other shooters that support it .
And uh , same as DX10 , there is no real benefit from it ( save for AA performance in Metro 2033 ... without DX11 there simply is none as far as I know ) .
And games like MW2 and BC2 and so on ( console ports ) wont really require a particularly powerful PC , so if you're not into games like Crysis and Metro 2033 , then you wont really need a CF setup for a loong time .

[Clarktastic]

@Radiator.. Wow, just saw the Metro 2033 Trailers for the first time. Pretty impressive. I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this before. Thanks again for the tips , I'm looking forward to putting my new Card to work.. :)

[Radiator]

Uh... I just noticed that you're using 3 monitors ...
If you're going to play games , I'd suggest you use only one of them rather than all 3 .
The HD 5770 isn't that good at higher resolutions .