Dual Card Suggestion for 5760 x 1080 Gaming

[_dangtx_]

very interesting. at high resolution the extra ram should be good.

still, i dont see them being a better banger per bucker than teh radeeons.

[The RealRollo]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

Hmm well I was hoping/planning to try and go big so I could stave off being an early adopter of the next gen graphics cards. I don't know if I've seen any 2.5GB GTX570 reviews around the net at all. I may have to look more carefully.

Looking more carefully I don't know about the 2.5GB cards just for a price point as its a fairly stock heat sink on it for around 420$ whereas a 2GB 6970 can be had for much less and typically (or from what i've seen) better frame rates

In the US, they're $359 AMIR at newegg. I live in the US so I'm only familiar with pricing here.

[The RealRollo]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

very interesting. at high resolution the extra ram should be good.

still, i dont see them being a better banger per bucker than teh radeeons.

They're a more flexible solution. The Radeons can't do 3d on PC monitors, 3d spanned across monitors/projectors, or PhysX, so while they're a little cheaper they lack some functionality that has value.

The other day I walked into my rec room and my son was playing Just Cause 2 with a buddy at 57X10 in 3d. The next day when I came home he was playing Street Fighter IV in 3d. Last week he told he played through Metro2033, which has Physx effects.

If I had the Radeons he (and I) couldn't do this stuff.

[Arinoth]

I have absolutely no interest in the gimmick that is 3D gaming, as I also quite despise 3D movies as well. This was never a feature I mentioned I was looking for so the edge that Nvidia had in that department is completely mute to me. I have not noticed enough difference in physx enabled games (and that list is mighty short) to make it a deciding factor in buying from red or green.

Its nice to hear you saw your son playing those games at 3 monitor resolution in 3D however I and you probably as well, have no idea what the detail levels were set at for any of those games as well as what the average frame rate was. I believe 3D at times can distract the gamer to think frames are higher then they are with the focus of the 3D content rather then everything else going on in the background.

Perhaps in the states they are priced reasonably, however up in the frozen north the cards are more expensive then their 6970 counterparts with better heatsinks and actual reviews of them as well beating the standard 570 and at times the 580. Seeing as the 580 has more computing power then the 570, I can't see how the 570 with extra ram could beat the 6970 constant due to it having less computing power.

[Aix]

Here's how I break down Surround/Eyefinity setups:

SLI GTX 580 3GB cards offer the smoothest and most powerful experience. I have owned both Crossfire 6970s and SLI 580 3GBs and the 580s have been the only setup that has provided a truly fluid gaming experience under extremely demanding conditions (i.e. Crysis on very high @ 5760x1080). No, I'm not someone that sits around benching Crysis, but rather I've been waiting for a setup that could allow me to play it smoothly. The 6970s are okay in that regard, but the difference between the two setups is night and day. Unfortunately so is the price, since the 3GB 580s go for $600 while the most expensive 6970s go for $390ish.

The 6970s aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but SLI does seem to be implemented a lot better than Crossfire in many titles. My favourite game is TF2 and Crossfire is a stuttery mess no matter what I do, but SLI was flawless; luckily a single 6970 is more than capable of running TF2 smoothly in Eyefinity. Whether it's just the raw horsepower of the 580s, I don't know, but it plays smoother.

Currently I'm using Crossfire ASUS 6970 DirectCU II cards (using 3xDisplayPort) but I may eventually change to EVGA 580 3GB cards (likely with Accelero coolers).

[Arinoth]

That indeed is the big problem the price point of the 580 and then the 580 with 3GB which has me hesitant in buying in it new (i'd probably jump at a used opportunity if they were priced reasonably) due its quit larger cost compared to the 6970s. Hell i wish the 590 or the 6990 performed better then their dual card rivals.

Cost breakdown
580 3GB at 553$ each, x2 = 1106$ before tax, 1250$ after tax
580 1.5GB at 484.78$ each before 40$ MIR x2 = 969.56$ before tax, 1095.61$ after tax, 1015.61$ after MIRs

6970 2GB at 340$ each, x2 = 680$ before tax, 768$ after tax

590 3GB at 688.34$ before tax, 777.82$ after tax (on back order)
6990 4GB at 690$ before tax, 779.7$ after tax (on back order)

Performance from what I've seen on the net in descending order of best performance for 5760 x 1080 resolution
580 3GB in sli
580 1.5GB
6970 2GB in crossfire (sometimes ties with the 580 1.5GB)
590 3GB
6990 4GB.

Performance with their cost to put perspective
580 3GB in SLI 1250$
580 1.5GB in SLI 1015.61$ after MIR
6970 2GB in xfire 768$
590 3GB 778$
6990 4GB 780$

It would seem that the 6970s would be the cheapest/best bang for your buck route to get mostly the same performance of the 580 1.5GB cards.

Used prices not taken into consideration as it seems the market is rather dry right now for buyers.

[JJThomp]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

That indeed is the big problem the price point of the 580 and then the 580 with 3GB which has me hesitant in buying in it new (i'd probably jump at a used opportunity if they were priced reasonably) due its quit larger cost compared to the 6970s. Hell i wish the 590 or the 6990 performed better then their dual card rivals.

Cost breakdown
580 3GB at 553$ each, x2 = 1106$ before tax, 1250$ after tax
580 1.5GB at 484.78$ each before 40$ MIR x2 = 969.56$ before tax, 1095.61$ after tax, 1015.61$ after MIRs

6970 2GB at 340$ each, x2 = 680$ before tax, 768$ after tax

590 3GB at 688.34$ before tax, 777.82$ after tax (on back order)
6990 4GB at 690$ before tax, 779.7$ after tax (on back order)

Performance from what I've seen on the net in descending order of best performance for 5760 x 1080 resolution
580 3GB in sli
580 1.5GB
6970 2GB in crossfire (sometimes ties with the 580 1.5GB)
590 3GB
6990 4GB.

Performance with their cost to put perspective
580 3GB in SLI 1250$
580 1.5GB in SLI 1015.61$ after MIR
6970 2GB in xfire 768$
590 3GB 778$
6990 4GB 780$

It would seem that the 6970s would be the cheapest/best bang for your buck route to get mostly the same performance of the 580 1.5GB cards.

Used prices not taken into consideration as it seems the market is rather dry right now for buyers.

Honestly the 6970's are better than the 580's in bang per buck, and in some games performance as well so to me it is a no-brainer... Unless you want to fold like a beast in which case grab the 580's.

[Arinoth]

No, no folding right now on GPU as it puts too much heat into the apartment and apparently even though its inclusive power in the rent our first 2 months electricity here were extremely high for them and asked us to cut back.

[Aix]

Originally Posted by JJThomp

Honestly the 6970's are better than the 580's in bang per buck, and in some games performance as well so to me it is a no-brainer... Unless you want to fold like a beast in which case grab the 580's.

Yeah, if money is no object and you only want the very best...580 3GB SLI. I don't think you'd be upgrading for quite awhile if you bought at 580 3GB SLI setup, and honestly it was the first time I'd ever had a setup that didn't have me thinking "I wonder if the next series will have the little bit more that I want" power-wise.

If, however, you want a similar experience but for $300+ less, 6970 CFX is still very good, and the option to run Eyefinity in single-card mode is nice too. You will have an extremely difficult time getting a 6990 these days due to the current popularity of Bitcoin, and there are currently no custom coolers other than water cooling, so noise could be a factor there as well.

What monitors are you using? The main reason I chose the DirectCU cards was because they sported 4x DisplayPort outputs, which all of my monitors support. I became somewhat annoyed with a screen-tearing issue that is introduced when you mix DVI and DP inputs at the same time.

[GT7R]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

no love for 6950's? :)

Hmm not sure they will be much of an upgrade from his OC'ed 560s...

As others have said - 6970's will give the best performance per buck, but personally would invest in 570's/580's just to avoid the headache of CF drivers. You'll get much more satisfaction for your money with the 580's.