$700

[fonebone10]

So today, my GTX 295 crapped out on me, so I'm in search of a replacement - and fast.

So, I've got $700 to spend. If you had $700 to spend on graphics cards, what would you choose? Keep in mind, I can push the budget a little bit over, but not too much, so lets say, $700 preferred, $800 max.

Keep in mind I have air cooling.

Case: Mountain Mods Pinnacle
Motherboard: Asus Rampage III Extreme
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping Overclocked 4.2 GHz
CPU Cooler: Spire Thermax Eclipse II
Video Cards: ???
RAM: 12 GB Corsair DDR3 1600 mhz 8-8-8-24

I play games and edit videos on this build. I also do a bit of 3D rendering.

Sucks that it happened right after Starcraft 2 came out, but that's probably the reason why it broke... (24 hour gaming session FTW?

 

[wa1]

HD5970...

 

[jonpaul37]

Go with 3 x GTX 460 in tri-SLI, that will do the trick nicely, it will be more powerful than the 5970, produce less heat than 2 x GTX 480's in SLI and use less power, not to mention the overclocking headroom.

 

[jyjjy]

Go with 3 x GTX 460 in tri-SLI, that will do the trick nicely, it will be more powerful than the 5970, produce less heat than 2 x GTX 480's in SLI and use less power, not to mention the overclocking headroom.

That would have been a good answer but unfortunately the GTX 460 can only be used in 2 card SLI, not 3 or 4.
That said just two GTX 460s when OCed are actually very close in performance to an OCed HD5970 because SLI scales better in than crossfire. It would be a good choice for a good price. The only other possibility I would suggest is SLIed GTX 470s. Just make sure you have a nice power supply and good case airflow.

 

[alhanelem]

Go with 3 x GTX 460 in tri-SLI, that will do the trick nicely, it will be more powerful than the 5970, produce less heat than 2 x GTX 480's in SLI and use less power, not to mention the overclocking headroom.

you cant do a 3 way sli with gtx 460's ( at least not all of them, they may make one capable of 3 sli)
anyway i recommend getting 2 gtx 460's
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

 

[Petey1013]

SLI GTX 470s or if you can find 5870s on Super sale, grab those for Xfire.

 

[hythos]

hehe
CAN do 3x460's, but one would only be good for PhysX...

For an already OC'd system, I'd +1 the 5970 ... UNLESS...

You could get away with a $200 GTX460 for now, and play the waiting game for ARES The 460 will always be worth ~$200 if you sell it.

 

[Petey1013]

So many better/faster/more efficient options at 700 then a 5970. Only reason to get one is if you absolutely can only have 1 card.

 

[jyjjy]

hehe
CAN do 3x460's, but one would only be good for PhysX...

But why would you want to?

 

[Petey1013]

Plus, if you go SLI 460s or 470s, you can use AA in SC2.

 

[hythos]

Also, just to follow-up on the SC2 note:
"the $200 GeForce GTX 460 is all gamers will need to fully appreciate StarCraft II, as it was just as fast as the GeForce GTX 480 and Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards"
(if you want to believe the review at http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page10.html

2x SLI of GTX460 should treat you well
** Note - maybe even keep the GTX295 for PhysX - the GPU may still be good even if the GFX-output capability is cooked... That's my final answer

 

[wolfram23]

If you have $700 to spend, I'm not going to recommend a $500 SLI 460 solution. IMO get SLI GTX 470s, or a 5970 if it will fit.

And to the SC2 comments about the 460 being as good... well yeah, guess why... SC2 is not very GPU demanding.

 

[jyjjy]

or a 5970 if it will fit.

The HD5970 really isn't much better than SLIed GTX 460s, especially when overclocking is taken into account. If you have an SLI motherboard it is a rather poor choice for the money IMO.

 

[wolfram23]

That doesn't really make sense to take overclocking into account, since you can OC a 5970 as well as seen here:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/overclock-radeon-5970-guide/3

From stock 725/1000 to 935/1310

And again, SLI GTX 470s are far better than SLI GTX 460s. So are CF 5850s. And that's with or without taking overlocking into account, since all these cards can overclock.

 

[Derbixrace]

2 Palit GTX 460 Sonic Platinum and you're set

 

[jyjjy]

That doesn't really make sense to take overclocking into account, since you can OC a 5970 as well as seen here:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/overclock-radeon-5970-guide/3

From stock 725/1000 to 935/1310

And again, SLI GTX 470s are far better than SLI GTX 460s. So are CF 5850s. And that's with or without taking overlocking into account, since all these cards can overclock.

Just because all cards OC does not mean they do so to the same degree. I would actually be interested in seeing a comparison of fully OCed GTX 460s vs a fully OCed HD5970. I suspect that at worst the results for the two cards will mirror their relative performance at stock which is that the HD5970 is about 10% faster. In any case $200-250 more for a 10% boost in performance is not something a normal person would consider worthwhile.
GTX 470s are another matter. That would be worth the extra money if you are ok with the heat/power factor.

 

[wolfram23]

I'm not arguing what is the best bang for you buck here, if a 5970 is 10% faster and within budget, then that's the best card he should get, right? Or SLI GTX 470s, they'll be faster than a 5970, and CF5850s are very close...
You have a point about the heat and power tho, SLI 470s will take a good PSU and a well cooled case.

 

[fonebone10]

Well, my PSU is the Corsair AX1200, so I don't really think it's a matter of power, it's more of a matter of what I can do with the $700.

 

[AMW1011]

For $700 you can get 2 Zotac GTX 470 AMP editions, or two reference GTX 470s and two Geild Icy Vision coolers. Either one will destroy anything else in that price range, including the 5970 and 5850 crossfire.

 

[fonebone10]

For $700 you can get 2 Zotac GTX 470 AMP editions, or two reference GTX 470s and two Geild Icy Vision coolers. Either one will destroy anything else in that price range, including the 5970 and 5850 crossfire.

I would ose this, but it takes up 3 PCI slots and I need one slot for a RocketRAID card.

 

[AMW1011]

We can get around that:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127513&cm_re=gtx_470-_-14-127-513-_-Product

 

[fonebone10]

I kind of want to go with EVGA because of their lifetime overclocking warranty...

-_- What do.

 

[AMW1011]

Get the EVGA and deal with the extra heat and noise, its not that bad.

 

[AMW1011]

Besides your case has up to 10 120mm fans....

 

[OvrClkr]

I vote for dual EVGA 470's =)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550&cm_re=GTX_470-_-14-130-550-_-Product

650.00$ shipped, 610.00$ after rebates.

Nice case BTW, by the looks of that monster you wont be worrying about airflow..

Here is a nice review :

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/30999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review.html