whould love some input - need a GPU

[crawlerz246]

my GPU was never top o the line. especially for gaming. my setup is...
case: 932HAF, CPU: i7 920 @ 3.6GHz w/HT, mobo: ASUS P6X58D, sucky GPU: ATi 4890, crap HDDs, 1000W power & cooling PSU (huge and nonmodular, in retrospect a bad choice), 26" samsung monitor, etc.

playing BF3 alpha I nearly melted my card (later saw it hit 100C because my fan was auto and it doesn't tune for sh*t.) then I started tuning up my GPU fan up some (to about 40%) while gaming. well now the thing started crashing. freezing. so I checked the power, cleaned it all out. still some freezing. so I figure I need a good GPU this year. this is my only PC and EVERYTHING I have is backed up on it. so I need it working. I need something good for gaming.

I asked around and they said well get a new card and an aftermarket HSF (sry I cannot afford a WC loop and being a cripple I really wouldn't want to). then someone pointer out the 6970 MSI with aftermarket fans. Newegg.com - MSI R6970 Lightning Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card well I could probably afford that accept IDK why but I've never been an ATi fanboy (having this current ATi is gut wrenching). I suppose they have improved over the years but they don't have PhysX and man do I want to try that! then something hit me and man has it hit me Newegg.com - MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card and now I cannot get it out of my mind! help! I mean yes that is overkill at 3GB for my 1920x1080 but holy mother of god that looks good! and cool!

~so um... what do the pros say?

[Rikan S-087]

I say it comes down to your budget. I have been a long-time Radeon fan. Its safe to say that Radeon is on top these days--they out-perform NVIDIA in a lot of benchmarks and are generally more affordable. Your simply suffering from a badly outdated GPU; not the cards fault especially given the fact it was barely mid-range when you bought it. I lol'd when I read you tried BF3 on it.

The 6970 is your best bet. I am buying a couple for crossfire for my eyefinity setup. I can't promise you will be able to max out BF3 (I read it is the next 'crysis' i.e. most modern systems will struggle), but the 6970 is a solid choice. As a multi-monitor gamer, I can vouch for Eyefinity--it is just amazing. Particularly for FPS games, the peripheral vision is awesome, wouldn't go back to one screen. More and more games support Eyefinity. However, you'll have to go multi-gpu if you want high settings/AA in eyefinity.

One screen? I recommend the HD Radeon 6970 2Gb card. My Radeon 5870 1 GB maxed out Crysis on one screen, so the 6970 will serve you well both today and tomorrow. Or at least until the Radeon 7000 series arrives in the coming months (I`d wait for benchmarks). I definitely want a bigger leap than the one we saw between the 5000 and 6000 series cards....

[crawlerz246]

Originally Posted by Rikan S-087

I say it comes down to your budget. I have been a long-time Radeon fan. Its safe to say that Radeon is on top these days--they out-perform NVIDIA in a lot of benchmarks and are generally more affordable. Your simply suffering from a badly outdated GPU; not the cards fault especially given the fact it was barely mid-range when you bought it. I lol'd when I read you tried BF3 on it.

BF3 actually ran like fun >>>here Hunter Killer - a BF3 knife mini-tage - HD - YouTube see? and that's with FRAPS.

I don't want to buy another GPU for 2-3 years. so I want something to be able to cool itself and run consistently for about 12 hrs a day. nearly every day.

about Radeon being on top? uh....how's that? perhaps price-wise? it still gets beaten in most benchmarks by the green N. oh and BTW I can't even begin to play cliffs of dover. WTF were they thinking?!

p.s. I also forgot to list my 6GB corsair dominator RAM.

[Rikan S-087]

GTX 580 offers little more performance over the 6970. Its also $100 more. Nvidia vs Radeon? I'll take the Radeon, thanks.

[GT7R]

Personally I would have chosen the 580, but the 6970 isn't a bad choice by any means.

[upcoast604]

If history repeats its self a gtx 570 ($280 now and then) should do well but bf3 is still not released so it's anyones guess (alpha benches floating around the net).

Yup the gtx580 is way over priced for what you get.

[Spikemaul]

Newegg.com - MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Yeah.......But this is one Sweet looking card!

[crawlerz246]

Originally Posted by Spikemaul

Yeah.......But this is one Sweet looking card!

+10000!

but is it $600 sweet? I mean hell! $600?

but the fans and not gaudy colors, thank superman, and the spinning backwards for 30 sec and seemingly very cool - do they maky that card in less VRAM? cuz if they do that's good, I prolly don't need 3GB with one screen at 1920x1080

[yycraven]

Why do you want the 3gb card, why not a 1.5gb card there a little cheaper and perform well. Since you only have one monitor.

[Addictedtokaos]

I had a 5850 for a while and loved it. Been trying a 570 HD. not a fan, overclocks like crap and already had to RMA one. Get the best AMD you can afford.