GTX 570 vs 2x 6850, planning new build

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tisue001

tisue001

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Sep 14, 2011
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Hello all, and thanks for your advice. I'm planning to build a new gaming rig in about 2-3 months and keep going back and forth on video cards..

I was originally planning to go with this card:

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 2GB ($280 after rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575

Then I started reading that 2GB isn't really necessary for single display 1920x1200, and that the GTX570 is a step above the 6950 in performance.

After researching the 570 and seeing these BFBC2 benchmark comparisons I was a bit a shocked:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-570-gf110-performance,2806-11.html

Are two 6850's in crossfire the way to go over a single 570? Should I worry about micro-stuttering, extra heat, additional power consumption?

The GTX570 I am considering is this:

ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 ---$320 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121432

The 6850 I am considering is this:

2xGIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB ---$300 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353

Below is the rest of my relevant info:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: December/January BUDGET RANGE: $250 ~ $350 (for the video card) After Rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming: BFBC2, BF3. Photo-editing/Adobe CS5 work for design & architecture work, Autodesk REVIT, AutoCAD, etc

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Dell Studio XPS 16 (1645) laptop with AMD Radeon HD6570M/5700 series

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

Planned build includes:

**Video card TBD $250 ~ $350

Cooler Master HAF 912 case $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 motherboard $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512

i5 2500k $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

XIGMATEK Gaia heatsink/fan $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

SeaSonic X750 Gold power supply $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

Crucial M4 64GB SSD $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 64MB cache $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB $52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

ASUS DVD burner $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204


PREFERRED WEBSITE FOR PARTS: newegg COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: whatever is the best for BF3 gaming and above mentioned Adobe CS5 / Autodesk software

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 single display

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: looking for something a step above the average; something with excellent cooling and performance
 
Solution
dalauder
I was thinking $200 for graphics today and $120 in six months (after Radeon 7000 and NVidia's Kepler come out) for a second GTX 560Ti. That gives you 95% of the performance today (assuming you OC either card) while saving you $100 today and leaving you the option of an upgrade with much greater performance, should you chose it. Also, it appears that NVidia doesn't have the same issues with micro-stuttering: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-5.html
That's with the GTX 560 (non-Ti) and it's fine.

Like I said before, look into whether the 2GB frame buffers with the Radeons matter. It might not, but it's worth looking into.

Have you played the BF3 beta? I have no issues playing on Ultra on all...
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Grim is a pretty good way to describe the career outlook for anyone in the design and construction industry in the US... unfortunately. Luckily the firm I have previous experience at just kicked off a number of new projects, so my chances of being hired full time seem fairly hopeful! Keep your fingers crossed for me. Good idea moving to Guam to find work. Moving out of the country was about all I could do as well to keep from defaulting on my loans right after graduation... Thanks for taking a look at my website; first one I have ever designed and coded.

I'm going to look into your suggestion of the 560ti's in SLI.. It does seem like a pretty powerful duo. Maybe there will be large enough sales on Black Friday that I could afford to buy two right off the bat, otherwise I could wait until the next generation is released for a price drop.

Thanks, dalauder, and good luck in Guam! If you ever feel like being a teacher in Korea let me know and I can tell you who to get in touch with, haha!
 
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jjb - how well does your ASUS 560ti DCII run the BF3 beta, and BFBC2? If I just go with a single card, I think I would go wit the DCII or maybe the MSI Twin Frozr III. Do you think I'd be happy sufficing with just a single 560ti until I go SLI with another?

Also, can you shed any light on the tangible benefits of the upper-shelf cards like the DCII? You said before they rock :)
 
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the 560ti will perform close to a stock 570 when OCed. You will be fine with one until you get another. The non reference cards that you mentioned need good case airflow as the hot air from the gpu is partially exhausted in the case, but will offer much better cooling for the card itself rather than the reference design. The dcII and twin frozr models are extremely quiet comparedto reference
 
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So the difference is primarly in noise for the DCII and Twin Frozr? I'm not surprised and I'm sure that would make a huge difference with the 400 series. But the 500 series Fermi are quiet enough and I game with headphones anyways--it really depends on your personal noise preference then?
 
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Call me crazy, but to buck all the other posts here, I like the 2x 6850 option.

The 570 is about 25% faster than the 6850, and 2x 6850 i about 75% faster than 1 6850....

2x 6850 is about the same price as a single 570.

I'm running 2x 6850 and I can detect no micro-stuttering.

2x 6850 is more power for the same price. 1x 570 is less power for the same price, but with the advantage of only taking up one slot, so expandable to 2x 570 SLI in the future in theory (if your PSU can drive both of them and your case can cool them--the 570 uses much more power than the 6850).

Myself, I'm very happy with my dual 6850's, and when I upgrade, it will likely be to another SLI or XFire configuration, as it looks like 2x medium high end is going to be more power for less money than 1x high high end for the foreseeable future, if like me you can't visually detect microstutter.

I'm running the BF3 Beta at a decent framerate with no stutter on Ultra with the 11.10 Preview driver--the 11.9 driver did have bad stutter.
 
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BFBC2 it runs flawlessly , BF3 is too buggy to tell but for max settings at 1920X1200 my minimum fps is around 40, mostly in the 50s and inside 60+ fps, I have mine oc'ed to 1 ghz core and I can tell no difference between it and a stock 570... overall it is pretty impressive for a single card, especially when oc'ed it really takes off, the msi tf2/3 are really good too but I have no personal experience with it... hope this helps either the MSI or Asus models rock just depends on what kind of deals you can find

also when heavily oc'ed (with a proper fan graph) my card stays very cool 63C max on BF3 and ive never seen it go above 70C in any extreme benchmark tes when highly oc'ed to give you an idea
 
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wow, calm down ......
Read my entire post those cards offer much better cooling than reference as well as noise reduction. The only con is they exhaust the hot air inside the case and needs proper airflow to not fill the case with hot air
 
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dual 560ti's will blow away dual 6850's. You might not suffer from the 6850 micro stutter but that doesn't mean that still isn't a risk when using that setup. Your eyes cant detect microstutter? Well mine can and I've seen/ heard bad things about the 6850x2
 
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Dual 560ti = 4x power connectors vs 2x for dual 6850, and an extra $75/card.

When I say my eyes can't detect micro-stutter, I mean I see no micro-stutter with my set up--it might technically be measurable, but if so its below the level at which I can visually see it.

I have no dog in this fight, I'm not arguing anything is better than anything else.

But, if he's looking for the cheapest option that will play BF3 smoothly at Ultra settings, my experience is dual 6850's do that well with lower power consumption and heat for $300 vs $450+ for dual 560ti's.

Dual 560ti's may well be better, but he indicated price was a big factor.

And dual 6850's definitely beat a single 570.
 
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just because you aren't having that particular issue doesn't mean that this problem doesn't exist or isn't common. There are a few people on the forums in fact that went to a single card solution because of the headache it was with the 6850/6870 xfire microstutter
 
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6870 crossfire was absolute crap for me, microstuttering is unbearable, I have reiterated this numerous times throughout the forum... I paid over 400 at the time for GPUS to have this piss poor experience that was absolute garbage, never again

It is not even worth considerign trust me, anyone that cannot see it might as well be gaming on an NES
 
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The 560ti doesn't out perform the 570 in any case. An overclocked 560ti performs close to a stock 570, and an overclocked 570 performs right around a stock 580... The 560ti even with an overclock wont outperform a 570
 
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Oh...I was basing that assumption on my friend's OC'd GTX 460 768MB outperforming a stock GTX 470...but maybe that's an unusually good overclock that I was assuming was standard.

No question that an OC'd GTX 570 can stomp a GTX 560Ti--overclocked or not. I merely meant that if a GTX 570 is said to be able to play BF3 on Ultra, then an OC'd GTX 560Ti should be at about that level.

Also, if he doesn't have the budget to see to it that his PSU can handle two GTX 570's then he may as well save a little cash and get a 650W and a GTX 560Ti now--then at least he has a cost effective and viable upgrade path.
 
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Agreed
 
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Thank you, all, for all of your replies!

I've decided to definitely stay away from anything like a 6850 or 6870 in crossfire based on the bad experiences people have had.

I think dalauder has the best idea with aiming for two 560ti's in SLI. My plan now is to purchase my parts on Black Friday and hope for some awesome deals. With two GTX560ti's in my cart I'm about $175 over my budget (after rebates), so if I can get that down with deals on Black Friday I'll go ahead and get the two cards right away. If the deals aren't good enough to keep me on budget, I'll get a single 560ti and see how it does, but still get a PSU that allows for SLI. If the single card doesn't quench my thirst for high-ultra gaming, I'll either spend more $$ for another 560ti soon to SLI, or wait to see if the prices will drop in the near future.

The card I want it this:
MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (currently $245 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578

I think two of these is SLI will easily stomp an OC'd 580, and will give me plenty of GPU power for at least a couple years to come.

Thanks again everyone for all of your suggestions!
 
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