5970, 5870...what to do, what to do

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

garpizzle

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2008
87
0
18,640
I just got 2 u2410 Dell Ultrasharp monitors to go with my 2408wfp and I am seriously considering going with eyefinity.

My problem is deciding on which route to go. Currently my system is an 8500@3.8 ghz, 8gb ddr, 780i ultra mobo, 1000 watt silverstone psu and 2 bfg gtx 280s in sli. I understand that the 780i's don't support crossfire, which sucks....because the e8500 is still a decent cpu. I would love to go with a 5970, but to enable crossfire I would have to replace my mobo, cpu and ram...A 5870 may be the best option but since I will be gaming at 5760x1200 it may not have the horse power I need. Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated as always.
 
Solution
jay2tall
This article is an interesting read. If shows charts of certain games and how they stack up with certain combos of CPU's and video card. Some game DO benefit from a Quad core CPU, or i7, however many have no performance gain what so ever regarding the different CPU's. You can draw your own conclusion. In my opinion, a CPU is not necessary yet. If you have a budget, a 5970 with your current CPU is far better than a 5870 with a CPU upgrade on an LGA775 socket. If you are going to upgrade CPU's you may as well go for an i5 or i7. BUt I don't think you need that yet unless you have the cash to spend.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469.html
Sort by date Sort by votes
Honestly If you had the cash for those displays I'd go for a 5970. It will push all 3 displays MUCH better than a single 5870. The 5870 is awesome for a single display, and a 5970 is kinda a waste unless you are driving more than 1. So if you have the bones to spend, go long. A single 5870 won't really gain you anything again the (2) 280's. Just read the documents to get the 5970 voltage and clocks up to the 5870 speeds. They cranked the voltage and clocks down to stay with the 300w PCI-E max power spec.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
What they mean is the 5970 is a dual GPU (2x5870), so it is like having crossfire 5870s. That should work but you cannot crossfire 2x 5970s, which I'm sure you know. :)

And if I was you I'd go the 5970 route.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I was asking if a 780i mobo will allow the 5970 to use both of its gpus. .....it doesn't allow for regular crossfire since it's a crappy nvidia chipset and I'm not sure how that will affect the performance of a single 5970. Crossfiring 2 5970's is a little out of my budget atm lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
2 5970 are useless unless you run 3 + monitors not worth it. Yes, with the 5970 both 5870GPUs will work regardless of the chipset as long as you have a 16x pci-e slot and it wont affect performence. Its been a day Im experimenting with the 5970 and I am hitting 950Core with 5870 default voltages, I wonder if the 5870 can do that? Because according to AMD, 5970 GPUs are cherry picked and are higher binned to be able to feet the most performance possible in a 300w envelop.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well that is GREAT news!! I was concerned that I would only be able to use one half of the card because of the mobo....but since it doesn't appear that that will affect it....Looks like 5970 here I come!! Now if I could just find one in stock lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ATI cards tend to be more driver dependent, where as Nvidia card love fast CPU's. I have never had an issue putting a newer ATI card in an older machine and have it run poorly. A 8500@3.8 ghz will run a 5970 fine. Sure an OCed i7 will run it better, but only marginally and probably only in high CPU demanding games that support multi-threading.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Keep your mobo and upgrade your CPU to prevent bottlenecking. You don't need crossfire to use a dual GPU card. Only one pci-e 16x slot is required, that's all you need.

But you defintely need to pair that 5970 with a C 2 Quad 9650 or a Core 2 Extreme 3.2ghz. Find one cheap and get it, you don't need an i7, keep your motherboard and get that 5970 to power those monitors.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
This article is an interesting read. If shows charts of certain games and how they stack up with certain combos of CPU's and video card. Some game DO benefit from a Quad core CPU, or i7, however many have no performance gain what so ever regarding the different CPU's. You can draw your own conclusion. In my opinion, a CPU is not necessary yet. If you have a budget, a 5970 with your current CPU is far better than a 5870 with a CPU upgrade on an LGA775 socket. If you are going to upgrade CPU's you may as well go for an i5 or i7. BUt I don't think you need that yet unless you have the cash to spend.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469.html
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Yes, that is a very interesting read. Judging from those numbers it appears that quads do free up the GPU quite a bit in some of the more graphically intensive applications (crysis / stalker). I'm really not quite sure how that translates to an overclocked 8500...Meh, I think you and I are from the same school of thought Jay...The E8500 is still one hell of a cpu when it's got a good OC.....I think I'll just wait for the card to be in stock and I will give it a go.

Just curious though.....If I were to start buying a new cpu / mobo / ram.....what would you recommend? I'm thinking the Foxconn Bloodrage or an asus p6, 6gb of some ocz ddr3 and a 920. Not saying I'm gonna buy that stuff...Just curious what you think.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes the e8500 is still a good chip. Especially at higher clocks. When games start using the other 2 cores in a quad core, that is when those systems will perform better than yours.

Honestly, it depends on what kind of system you are looking for. The 1156 sockets have the i5 and i7's. Although in my head if you are going for an i7 you may as well go for the 1366 socket and run 3 stick of RAM in parallel. The i5 is a GOOD value, but if you want the higher end the 1366 is the way to go. They will have the 6 cores for the 1366 socket as well, so it gives you an upgrade patch.

Honestly my setup was the best, most cost effective setup I came up with. The I7 920 I have is the D0 and hits 4GHz without much effort. At the time the DDR3 1600 G.Skill super Pi 3module memory kit was $99, and the Asus P6T (non deluxe) was being used by alot of review sites to test overclocks and performed very well. My buddy had bought the Gigabyte Extreme super duper deluxe board for like $400 and has had so many issues with it. I knew I was getting a solid board. He actually gave me he thermalright U-120 cooler when he went to water which was nice.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I like Asus motherboards. I have never had a single issue with one. I have used them for years in my own rigs. I have the ASUS P6T right now. The board you links is nice. You just have to make sure you are willing to may the $300 for it. It does have USB 3 which might come in very handy in the future. It supports Crossfire AND SLI which is handy depending on what video card solutions to go with now and in the future. I like getting a motherboard with ALOT of options. I usually keep my mobo, cpu, mem combo for about 3 years and go through a few video cards. So paying an extra $50 for a motherboard is sometimes a good investment. Its not usually fun or worth it to swap out a motherboard just for a single or few features.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Board is an absolute ripoff. MSI produces an amazing 169.99 dollar X58 mobo that's as good as there 250 dollar boards.

The last E8500 i had ran at 4.75Ghz daily with a Coolit Eliminator. JACK THAT CHIP UP
Click to expand...

Not sure what MSI board you are talking about. The only MSI x58 Full ATX board around that price-range is the Pro-E and it does not stand a chance vs. the P6X58D Premium ....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah....calling a mobo that comes with USB 3.0 / SATA 6, Solid Caps w/Ferrite chokes, Japanese Mosfets and support for the new 6 core Gufftowns that aren't even out yet "A total ripoff" seems like a silly statement.

In other news... I FINALLY FOUND THE CARD and got it ordered!!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161311&cm_re=5970-_-14-161-311-_-Product

I also happened to stumble across one of the single greatest websites for new, hard to find items during my quest for a hemlock.

It was last night after a google search entitled "I am *four letter word* tired of clicking refresh every hour to find this 5970!!!! aaaaaaaaaarggghhhhh!!!" when I noticed a website called http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/ati-radeon/5970/

I entered my Alert criteria and low and behold....around 8 an alarm goes off in my office from my PC Speakers...I sleepily walk into the room and notice a java message on my desktop saying "Your item is in stock" with a handy little link. I clicked it and sure enough....I have a 5970 HIS on its way to the house as we speak! I highly recommend that site for every one who is looking for something nice to give someone (or themselves) for christmas.

Card should be here by Tuesday...I'll post the results / pics of it in 1980x1200 and 5760x1200 :O

<3 <3
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom