Rafyn

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I have just placed an order for a high end gaming rig. As part of the spec I opted for 3 x GTX 285 cards in SLI. Just as I was about to confrim order the new ATI cards came out. The guys building my PC suggested that I go for 3 x ATI Radion 5870's instead as these are DX11 cards. I will be using this PC for gaming and 3d art rendering. My question is which is the better option. the ATI has the DX11 support, but the Nvidia cards have the Physx etc. I have spent a lot of time web looking for an answer to no real conclussion. Any constructive advice would be gratefully recieved.
 

whemian

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Imo physx isn't worth getting into. There are so many games that uses it's own physics and are better then hardware accelerated physx (Crysis etc)

3x5870 is basically %35 faster then 3xGTX285

not to mention 5870is : dx11, 40nm, idle temp awesome, great overclocker etc.

Get the 5870, make the smart choice! If you really wanna play nvidias physx games just get a gts250 for the 4th slot on the motherboard (evga x58classified recomended)

So thats the recommendations i can give you atm. Look theres a guy at EVGA forums called Luv2increase and he uses 5870trifire setup. He crushes any game
included crysis at the highest setting!

 

howardp6

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You cannot run ATI graphics drivers and NVidia graphics driver together unless you are running Windows 7. The latest versions of the NVidia driver disables Physx if there is a ATI card on the system, so if you are going to a older drivers the NVidia cards will not give you the benefit you want.
 

Rafyn

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system will be windows 7. Intel core 7 and 12 GB ram.
The only issue I have is that ATI are not making enough cards for demand at the moment in the UK. So if I stick with the 5870 cards then I will have to wait untill the supplier can get them in. They can stick in the GTX285s now. They will also offer me a "upgrade assurance" which means they will buy back at market value the GTX 285s and stick on the new Ferma GT300 when it becomes avalible....... ??? Do I wait and be patient or get my machine now now now!!!! :D
 

whemian

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Upgrade Assurance? You mean step up! Well you can do it but as i said physx definately isn't worth it. DX11 brings tesellation to the industry and imo it is much
more promising then physx.

Ofcourse theres a shortage of 58xx products due to TMSC's horrible yields and strong demand. It's your choice mate!

 

Rafyn

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Thanks for all the help and advice. They have told me I would probibly get machine over the christmas period if I hold out for the 5870's. Which is not soooo bad.

Is there any news on the new GT300 from Nvidia?? are we looking at end of next year? I am guessing the crown will return to them when that one comes out?!
 

whemian

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well crown always goes to ATI then Nvidia then ATI .... goes on like this.
5870is about 30-40% faster then gtx285 so ATI has done quiet well with this series.
Nvidia might be delaying gtx380 as it may not be as fast as people expect. If it
fals behing gtx295 in the tests then it will be a WIN for ATI.

GT300 will probably arrive in the last week of February or March. We will see!
There's not a single bencmark or image around so it is amystery.

On the other hand ATI has full line up of dx11 cards. The only problem is that they
cant fulfil the insane demand for these cards.

By the way you can buy 5850/5870 cards from ebay or newegg!


Ps: I forgot to add that you can also buy a 5970 which is a graphical monster.
 

Rafyn

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can you three way crossfire the 5970? or is it like the GTX295 which already has two GPU's so you can onlu SLI link 2?
 

whemian

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TonicX

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i THINK YOU BETTER OPT FOR ATI. they got better quality sold @ best price.
Plus i think Nvidia does not support the latest DX version where as ATI does support.
Go for RADEON 48xx SERIES if the 58XX aren't available! though 58's are excellent in the line for Extreme gaming