Ati ( 2 x 5870 or 4 x 4870's )

[pipeandwire]

debating the cards to buy. my choices for ATI are endless. so any feedback is appreciated. my options that i have thought to best suit me are the 5870 and the 4870. I definitively want HDMI. Will be running evga classified board with 920 oc' to 4.0 with 12gb of 1600 mem. Do u think 4 4870s are = to or better then 1 or 5870's?
thnx

 

[paperfox]

4870 crossfire would be on par with a 5870. 4870 quadfire would be less than 5870 crossfire because of poor scalablility with 3 and 4 GPUs. Plus 5870 crossfire will use less power so you will save on getting a smaller PSU. Then other things like DX11, eyefinity, less heat perhaps trifire 5870 in the future since youve got 4 pcie slots.

 

[SpinachEater]

100% agree with paperfox. It is best to go with fewer cards if you are talking about the same performance level. Plus, why not go with DX11 cards if you have the opportunity?

 

[pipeandwire]

i havent really done that much investigating. from some site those were recommended
as ati's better hdmi models. i will look into the dx11. obviously just cus i work there doesnt mean they are free but a very good discount nonetheless. thnx for the input

 

[ragsters]

Are those the only two cards that are available to you? What about the 5970 or 5770?

 

[crosko42]

Yeah get 2 5970 and be set for the next 5-10 years.

 

[pipeandwire]

i will have a look this week. if im not mistaken those are the mac daddy cards and not sure how much of a deal i can get on em

 

[pipeandwire]

i would love the 5970's but not sure if they are out yet

 

[Dougx1317]

Yeah get 2 5970 and be set for the next 5-10 years.

As sad as it is, that's not true. Ten years ago, the Geforce 2 series launched. I don't think there's many of those around any more.

 

[shubham1401]

Yeah get 2 5970 and be set for the next 5-10 years.

10 years!!

That's like centuries in Computer world!!

And what about DX13 or 14 which should be out by that time? :lol:

 

[crosko42]

10 years!!

That's like centuries in Computer world!!

And what about DX13 or 14 which should be out by that time? :lol:

I was being sarcastic lol.

It will be fine for the next 3-4 easily though.

 

[bystander]

I was being sarcastic lol.

It will be fine for the next 3-4 easily though.

Anyone experiencing the raw power of two 5970's is not likely going to be happy with the performance it has compared to cards 3-4 years into the future.

 

[cpp214]

Just an observation: I can only imagine the amount of heat produced by 4 4870's
It would melt your case
Sorry for the interruption.

 

[crosko42]

Anyone experiencing the raw power of two 5970's is not likely going to be happy with the performance it has compared to cards 3-4 years into the future.

Well lets think for a second. Right now a Crossfire x 5970 setup is overkill for any single monitor setup, I think we can agree on that. Lets say a year from now they start to really harness that power and test the cards. Yes, 3 years from now you wont be running at max settings and res, but it will surely be acceptable for the next 2 years minimum, and the couple years depends on your willingness to lower your settings a bit.

Look at the card released 3 years ago: 8800 ultra. Look at what amounts to buying 4 of those (as this is ~4 5850's or ~3 5870's.) Im not looking at any benchmarks but I can assure you those cards would still run current games just fine.

I understand what you're saying, but you can't argue with the fact that buying 2 of these now will set you up for the next few years unless you have ~$1500 to drop on a set of new cards every 12 months or so.

 

[OvrClkr]

Anyone ask the OP what games and res he plays at?

 

[pipeandwire]

in COMPLETE honesty.. dont pc game at all. but im building a monster cuz i have over 700 Wii games that i #$$^ trade with as well as lots of game and movie downloading.
920 oc 4.0 12gb 1600 2x32 ssd raid 0 for OS 2 1tb hdd raid 1 - 13 120mm fans, 3 200mm fans, 1 140mm fan with mcr320 rad and 655 pump

 

[pipeandwire]

the 5970's are no way gonna be an option. they dont even have them on the shelves. so thinking the 2 5870's. heat i dont care about, my case will have frost on it with all the fans and the external wc'ing

 

[pipeandwire]

Heres a link to the case so far. I have since removed the rad from the back and went with overhead rad and push pull setup.

http://img29.imageshack.us/g/img1137d.jpg/

 

[microterf]

pipe, kinda off topic, but I saw that you had the 655 pump, I got two of these, have you been able to switch the pump speed? mine is at 2 stock, the second pump I went to change the speed, and the red knob broke off, I used a small screwdiver (only thing that would fit in there.)

 

[pipeandwire]

i have the pump but still building , should be up in a week or two. with the hardware i have i expect to hit those numbers well within cooling limits. i will let u know about the pump, but as of now it does turn to the different speed selectors

 

[microterf]

turns it easy? hmm

 

[pipeandwire]

Best answer selected by pipeandwire.