Best GPU for new gaming rig?

[rooster7]

Im having a hard time choosing a card for my new gaming system.
Want to stay under 600.00

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GPU: ???

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Any and all suggestions appreciated
Thx

 

[FlintIronStagg]

for well under 600 you could sli 560Ti's and blow away any single gpu for the price.

 

[nottheking]

This brings up the question of whether you want to deal with a dual-GPU setup or not. If you do, something akin to a pair of 560 Tis (or 6970s if you REALLY want to go AMD, though they currently are more expensive) would be the best route. The alternative would be a single 7900-series card. (7950 or 7970; take your pick of whichever happens to still be in stock at the moment) The best performance, at least today, would come from the pair of older video cards, though the single more powerful one would be more forward-looking, and not just because it leaves the option to get a second one later.

Note that while the Z68 motherboard only supports 8-lane PCI-e slots in CrossFire or SLi, this likely won't hamper performance much at all, since it's PCI-e 2.0. And yes, *ALL* Sandy Bridge motherboards, of any chipset, lack support for dual-16-lane slots; for some reason Intel decided you have to shell out for Sandy Bridge-E to get that.

 

[rooster7]

This brings up the question of whether you want to deal with a dual-GPU setup or not. If you do, something akin to a pair of 560 Tis (or 6970s if you REALLY want to go AMD, though they currently are more expensive) would be the best route. The alternative would be a single 7900-series card. (7950 or 7970; take your pick of whichever happens to still be in stock at the moment) The best performance, at least today, would come from the pair of older video cards, though the single more powerful one would be more forward-looking, and not just because it leaves the option to get a second one later.

Note that while the Z68 motherboard only supports 8-lane PCI-e slots in CrossFire or SLi, this likely won't hamper performance much at all, since it's PCI-e 2.0. And yes, *ALL* Sandy Bridge motherboards, of any chipset, lack support for dual-16-lane slots; for some reason Intel decided you have to shell out for Sandy Bridge-E to get that.

Ok so if I went with a 7970 what brand would be best?

 

[hellfire24]

twinfrozer is not out yet,gigabyte 3x cooler or xfx oc 7970 will do fine.

 

[Memnarchon]

Ok so if I went with a 7970 what brand would be best?

At the moment I think this is the best (available) 7970:
R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC
Core/Memory
1010MHz Core
3072MB GDDR5 5500MHz Memory

But companies are going to release 7970 with better than reference coolers and more o/c.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 205.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.41 - $ 0.48
$ 340.00 570 (524/873) $ 0.65 - $ 0.78
$ 500.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.81 - $ 1.05
$ 450.00 7950 (603/NG*) $ 0.75 - ERR*
$ 550.00 7970 (675/NG*) $ 0.81 - ERR*

Asterisk indicates unable to complete significant number of games in test suite. Expected to be addressed w/ future driver releases.

So under $600 ......

-Twin factory OC'd 6950's gets ya 759 fps for $480 at a cost of 63 cents per frame

-Twin factory OC'd 560 Ti's gets ya 862 fps for $410 at a cost of 48 cents per frame

-Single 580 gets ya 616 fps for $500 at a cost of 81 cents per frame

-Single 7950 gets ya 603 fps for $450 at a cost of 75 cents per frame

-Single 7970 gets ya 675 fps for $550 at a cost of 81 cents per frame

The 560's give ya the most fps at the lowest cost per frame. The 560's and the two 79xx models can be OC's 20% beyond what they come set at "outta the box".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

 

[azeem40]

That cannot be right. There is no way SLI 560 is better overall. Not all games support it.

 

[rooster7]

At the moment I think this is the best (available) 7970:
R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC
Core/Memory
1010MHz Core
3072MB GDDR5 5500MHz Memory

http://www.msi.com/pic/product/five_pictures1_2516_20120131144054.jpg

http://www.msi.com/pic/image/vga/r7000_vga.jpg

But companies are going to release 7970 with better than reference coolers and more o/c.

Im going to want to run duel 7970's in the future, w the msi being that thick would my chosen mobo support 2 of them?

 

[Memnarchon]

Im going to want to run duel 7970's in the future, w the msi being that thick would my chosen mobo support 2 of them?

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 is great for SLI since it has 2 slots between the two PCIE 3.0. That can make it possible for even placing two 3-slot cards.

 

[azeem40]

Hey, that's the same motherboard I am getting!

 

[rooster7]

Best answer selected by Rooster7.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey