Upgrading from 4870 CF. Need help choosing: 6850 CF, 6970, GTX570

[soo-nah-mee]

I currently have (2) 4870s in CF and I’ve been unhappy with their performance for some time now. I’d like to be able to max out F.E.A.R. 3 and Dead Space 2 at 1920x1080 and run BF3 with close to max settings. Obviously I don't want to dip below 30 fps.

I want to keep it under $350 so my choices are between an HD6950 (2GB), HD6970, GTX560ti (2GB) or GTX570, with consideration going toward a crossfire setup with two HD6850s. I mention the less expensive 6950 and 560ti because if they will accomplish what I want, I will settle for one of those.

I’m leery of a CF setup because my 4870 CF setup has been a bit of a headache (sometimes literally), but the 6850 CF setup is very tempting.

Relevant System Specs:
-CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955
-Mobo: Asus Crosshair III Formula (no SLI)
-RAM: 8GB @ 1600
-PSU: Corsair HX750
-OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-Rez: 1920 x 1080

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[rolli59]

2x HD4870 would be damn close to the performance of a single HD6950. Out of your options the 2xHD6850 would be the most powerful followed by the GTX570 then HD6970.

 

[sharpbrick]

2x HD4870 would be damn close to the performance of a single HD6950. Out of your options the 2xHD6850 would be the most powerful followed by the GTX570 then HD6970.

+1 i just built a xfired 6850 set up for a friend and it is deathly fast... that being said the new 7000 series cards from amd are coming out soon and they are sounding like they are going to be great bang for the buck

 

[soo-nah-mee]

Thanks for the replies.
My current 4870s are very tired, so they need to be replaced. So its not a question of whether it is worth it or not - just to be clear. This also means that there is no waiting around for the 7000 series unfortunately.

Like I said the crossfire option makes me nervous because my 4870s always had problems with odd screen flashing and micro-stuttering; problems that went away when I turned CF off. That said, with a little reassurance from you guys, I may go with those 6850s.

I'm leaning toward the GTX570. Never had an Nvidia card before other than the Quadros in my workstations.

 

[sharpbrick]

ya the 570 is much better than the old 400 series. they have the heat under control now and the cards as always are fast. i can not say about the flashing or stuttering because i have never xfired personally however the i have heard good things about xfire now(i also have heard some bad). but one of the great things with the new xfire is that the scaling of the cards is great.

 

[rolli59]

There have been reports of micro stuttering on the HD68xx cards in CF so I personally would go with a single card solution myself. The GTX570 would be a good choice.

 

[sharpbrick]

rolli seems to know more about it then me so i would agree with him. like i said i have built xfired systems ran them for a bit saw that they where very fast but have never used them for long.

 

[rolli59]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

 

[soo-nah-mee]

Ended up ordering a Gigabyte OC'd 6950 1GB. $210 after rebate.
Maybe I'll crossfire in the future. This should give me all I need for now at my resolution.

 

[soo-nah-mee]

Best answer selected by soo-nah-mee.