Wait for Nvidia's Fergie or go with 5800 series?

What are you going to do?

  • I'm waiting for Fergie.

    Votes: 154 23.8%

  • I'm buying 5800 series card, or plan to.

    Votes: 247 38.2%

  • Waiting for prices to come down.

    Votes: 145 22.4%

  • Who Cares, pick your own.

    Votes: 100 15.5%
  • Total voters
    646
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PS3 said:
5870 is impressive, when Fermit releases in the next 1-6 months it'll be interesting to see how much smoother and faster it is than the 5870.
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In next 1-6 months... That means i was playing for 3-9 months in that time on my HD5870 i bought for 319€, just to be beaten by a single chip card from NVIDIA for 499€. Do you still really think it is worth waiting ? :rolleyes:
 
faugusztin said:
In next 1-6 months... That means i was playing for 3-9 months in that time on my HD5870 i bought for 319€, just to be beaten by a single chip card from NVIDIA for 499€. Do you still really think it is worth waiting ? :rolleyes:
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Unless PhysX means that much to you, no. With GTX 285 cards still $359 and up, the 5850 at $300 is a steal. 'Nuff said.
 
faugusztin said:
In next 1-6 months... That means i was playing for 3-9 months in that time on my HD5870 i bought for 319€, just to be beaten by a single chip card from NVIDIA for 499€. Do you still really think it is worth waiting ? :rolleyes:
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Exactly. It isn't like 5870 owners expect our cards to remain the fastest GPU forever. I fully expect it to be outperformed in 9 months time. Either by nVidia or another AMD/ATI card. In the mean time, I'm enjoying every game I play at max settings, AA/AF and solid frames.
 
revenant said:
20% faster than my sli'd 192 shader gtx260s (if I had to put a number on it) and over all, just "smoother". Feels a lot like the time I upgraded from two 1950's in cf to a solo 8800GTX. :)
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Hey, well said.

IMO you can't beat single gpu "smoothness" with multi-gpu framerates
 
I had a great deal on the ASUS 5870 (< $CAN 400 incl taxes and shipping) and I decided that I would not longer wait for Fermi.
Historically, the products that got delayed ended up being deceiving. I just hope that it will not happen with Fermi. On the other hand, I would not mind if my 5870 could keep up its value over the next 4 months...
 
jaredpace said:
Hey, well said.

IMO you can't beat single gpu "smoothness" with multi-gpu framerates
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wut?

What "single gpu smoothness"? Framerate is frame rate, it's smoother because it just rendering more fps. 15fps from single video card is no different than 15fps from dual.
 
KVW said:
wut?

What "single gpu smoothness"? Framerate is frame rate, it's smoother because it just rendering more fps. 15fps from single video card is no different than 15fps from dual.
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Wrong
 
If you're going to imply someone doesn't know what they're talking about, you really should atleast know what you're talking about. You can continue to cement your ignorance or you can do yourself a favor and do a bit of research on how dual gpu's render frames. Google microstuddering and enlighten yourself.
 
If it's microstuddering you've been eluding to, why didn't you just say that from the get go instead of just calling it "single gpu smoothness". :rolleyes: I've seen and experience microstuddering. For example, you're talking about the visible hitching in an otherwise smooth pan from left to right even though fraps is showing you a consistant smooth 60 fps? If so, then yes I know and hate micro studdering - it bothers the hell outta me in oblivion to this day. But a long time ago I had concluded it's game engine specific and still occurs even when I pull out a videocard. The only way I was able to fix microstuddering in oblivion was to use a dx9 framerate limiter which cause other issues as well so I just live with it. But in Crysis for example, I experience no microstudder what-so-ever, dual cards or not. The gameplay only becomes significantly smoother once I add sli, why? Because my framerate increases dramatically. No hitching like oblivion when smoothly panning the screen.

Some people just simply hate muti-gpu. And I can see why, there's plenty of problems associated to it. But you can still get dreaded microstuddering with a single gpu.
 
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I haven't seen microstuddering with single gpu though I won't say it doesn't exist. It's been shown however, that there is added latency between frames with dual gpu cards, so the fact is your original statement is not accurate. 15fps on a sinlge gpu can infact feel different than 15 fps on multi-gpu setups.
 
RamonGTP said:
I haven't seen microstuddering with single gpu though I won't say it doesn't exist. It's been shown however, that there is added latency between frames with dual gpu cards, so the fact is your original statement is not accurate. 15fps on a sinlge gpu can infact feel different than 15 fps on multi-gpu setups.
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Perhaps. Honestly, I will look further in to this. Really, I never see the hitching, even in Oblivion unless I'm at a high frame rate (50-60fps). This is because at that frame rate, it's so silky smooth between hitching it exaggerates the glitch. The effect is it feels as bad as someone hitting pause/unpause for 1/4 second every couple seconds.

Maybe I'll do a fry's or Amazon rental and see what single 5870 feels like against my dual 260s. I've never had any luck with ATI in the past though. Nvidia drivers suck but but ATI's even worse. Hell, even our ati equipped laptops and thin clients here at work CONSTANTLY have a damn ATI control panel crash during boot up and I go through 100s of these (work in IT support like you). Nvidias have other issues like complete HW failure on our Dell laptops, I'm constantly having their techs replace the motherboards using Dell's gold complete care..

Another problem, back in the day is ATI didn't let me build custom resolutions to solve my HDTV v-sync capped @ 24fps issue with full screen DX10 games (easy work around for Nvidia) - perhaps things have changed... But really, it like choosing between verizon and at&t, your really just shooting for the 'lesser evil'. :(
 
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March 2010 is a date in the future thats still speculation. No specific date, no solid details, nothing.

Even if they ANNOUNCE something in march, you still won't see any physical cards available for purchase until next summer or even next fall.
 
Microstuttering freaked me out too when I first went Xfire on my 5850, I saw FPS hit 80+ on Unigene Heaven, but it looked like 25FPS to me. The benchmarks made absolutely no sense (great results, but poor rendering quality), but alas all I had to do was turn on the Vsync and everything was happy again. (I know benching with Vsync on is pointless.) I just haven't benchmarked anything since I Xfired.

I don't multi GPU for more FPS, but I do it to get higher AA settings and Eyecandy, while maintaining a better FPS over a single GPU. With all of that stuff turned on, you WILL get better minimum FPS than a single GPU of the same kind.

Otherwise the whole 5870 vs. 5770CF is a crapshoot, and I totally agree on single GPU there.
 
Makes more sense to buy a 5870 vs 5850CF, as it does to buy one 5850 vs 5770CF. A better overall gaming experience will be achieved with the best performing single gpu graphics card, vs. two inferior graphics card. This is the way it has always been. It really should be written in stone by now.
 
Flexion said:
Microstuttering freaked me out too when I first went Xfire on my 5850, I saw FPS hit 80+ on Unigene Heaven, but it looked like 25FPS to me. The benchmarks made absolutely no sense (great results, but poor rendering quality), but alas all I had to do was turn on the Vsync and everything was happy again. (I know benching with Vsync on is pointless.) I just haven't benchmarked anything since I Xfired.

I don't multi GPU for more FPS, but I do it to get higher AA settings and Eyecandy, while maintaining a better FPS over a single GPU. With all of that stuff turned on, you WILL get better minimum FPS than a single GPU of the same kind.

Otherwise the whole 5870 vs. 5770CF is a crapshoot, and I totally agree on single GPU there.
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I haven't seen any stuttering issue with 5970, even in Heaven Benchmark there is no stuttering at all for me.

there are some place in Crysis Warhead that stutters like crazy but shows a high fps, that does not exist in 5970 for some reason while it still exist for my old 4890CF..
 
If you keep waiting you'll never be happy. I just pulled the trigger on a Sapphire 5850. Came out to just over $261 after Bing cashback.
 
KVW said:
Maybe I'll do a fry's or Amazon rental and see what single 5870 feels like against my dual 260s.
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Wow. I just stopped by Microcenter and two different Frys, all were out of stock of a 5870s. Had plenty of 5850, but no 5870s to be found at all bay area frys and no eta. Really amazed. People are paying through the nose for these cards too. Some of the prices I saw on those empty shelves were 450ish. Isn't that 75 bucks 'over' msrp?
 
I'm beginning to have concerns with NVidia. They've been the only thing I've used since day one, but I don't even doubt that ATI is now the superior manufacturer. NVidia has some nicer deals on the low end now, but I'm a high mid range consumer, and that's just not where NVidia is anymore.
 
It would be a big blunder to speculate. We will just have to wait to see what nvidia offers in 1-6 months. Dare I guess - but their upcoming flagship single gpu card will be generally about 10-50% faster than the 5970.
 
PS3 said:
It would be a big blunder to speculate. We will just have to wait to see what nvidia offers in 1-6 months. Dare I guess - but their upcoming flagship single gpu card will be generally about 10-50% faster than the 5970.
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Their latest single GPU card (GTX285) is currently getting it's heiny whooped/wholloped by the 5870, is matched (at least) by the 5850, and it unlikely to get any better (due to the rapidly improving quality of ATi drivers).

AND the 5970 is two 5870 GPU's stacked in one card.
 
Yah but I was talking about their upcoming flagship single gpu card, which is going to be Fermi, not the gtx285. Fermi will beat the 5970 with one GPU. That is probably why it's taking Nvidia a bit longer than expected. To beat the 5970 on a single gpu is going to be an epic win for the green team once Fermi comes out. The tables will turn and amd will be playing catch up and slashing prices on their existing 5800 series cards.
 
PS3 said:
Yah but I was talking about their upcoming flagship single gpu card, which is going to be Fermi, not the gtx285. Fermi will beat the 5970 with one GPU. That is probably why it's taking Nvidia a bit longer than expected. To beat the 5970 on a single gpu is going to be an epic win for the green team once Fermi comes out. The tables will turn and amd will be playing catch up and slashing prices on their existing 5800 series cards.
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I'm seriously surprised you're still able to post. Every single one of your posts are potential flame bait/troll posts.

Like you said, "It would be a big blunder to speculate". :rolleyes:
 
PS3 said:
Yah but I was talking about their upcoming flagship single gpu card, which is going to be Fermi, not the gtx285. Fermi will beat the 5970 with one GPU. That is probably why it's taking Nvidia a bit longer than expected. To beat the 5970 on a single gpu is going to be an epic win for the green team once Fermi comes out. The tables will turn and amd will be playing catch up and slashing prices on their existing 5800 series cards.
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Right, and VIA's next GPU will magically be 4x the current processing power.

Because... that is what nVidia needs to do to get match-level performance with the 5970.

and VIA never stood a chance.
 
This is just what I think is going to happen. I really don't care who is on top really, as long as the prices come down.
 
If you need it now, get the 5800 series.
If you don't need it now, wait, and see what happens. Then make your decision.
 
RamonGTP said:
I haven't seen microstuddering with single gpu though I won't say it doesn't exist. It's been shown however, that there is added latency between frames with dual gpu cards, so the fact is your original statement is not accurate. 15fps on a sinlge gpu can infact feel different than 15 fps on multi-gpu setups.
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Microstutter doesn't exist with single GPU's otherwise this would've been an issue long before dual-GPU setups became common
 
KVW said:
Wow. I just stopped by Microcenter and two different Frys, all were out of stock of a 5870s. Had plenty of 5850, but no 5870s to be found at all bay area frys and no eta. Really amazed. People are paying through the nose for these cards too. Some of the prices I saw on those empty shelves were 450ish. Isn't that 75 bucks 'over' msrp?
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OK finally found one (jeez what a pain in the ass). Will be picking it up tonight. Going to have to eat a 15% restocking fee though if it sucks. But at least i can do a side by side comparison and see if all this "single GPU smoothness" talk holds water.


Question though: on newegg consumer reviews, alot of ppl complain at the size of these cards (length). Are these 5870s any longer than a EVGA Geforce 260? Because that will be a problem for me as my 260s barely fit in my case. When I look at the specs of a Geforce, it says the length is 10.5", but under all the 5870s on newegg, the fail to mention the dimensions for some reason. Everyone complaining about the length concerns me a little.
 
KVW said:
OK finally found one (jeez what a pain in the ass). Will be picking it up tonight. Going to have to eat a 15% restocking fee though if it sucks. But at least i can do a side by side comparison and see if all this "single GPU smoothness" talk holds water.


Question though: on newegg consumer reviews, alot of ppl complain at the size of these cards (length). Are these 5870s any longer than a EVGA Geforce 260? Because that will be a problem for me as my 260s barely fit in my case. When I look at the specs of a Geforce, it says the length is 10.5", but under all the 5870s on newegg, the fail to mention the dimensions for some reason. Everyone complaining about the length concerns me a little.
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I'd post a pic of my XFX 5870 but I'll miss people calling me a Fergie fan boy :mad:

And yes, the 5870 is smooth as silk.

P.S. Still waiting for Fermi.
 
PS3 said:
I'd post a pic of my XFX 5870 but I'll miss people calling me a Fergie fan boy :mad:

And yes, the 5870 is smooth as silk.

P.S. Still waiting for Fermi.
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Heh, It's ok to be a Fergie fan. I mean her face is a little wrecked but I'd still hit it. :D


Which would you choose, Asus or Sapphire - they're holding one of each so I can make my choice. Asus doesn't have a bimbo on the cover of the card which is kinda cool but in my past experience Asus' support is ridiculous. Been like that for as long as I can remember since the 486 days and nothing's changed. Bunch of non-engrish speaking folks who don't give a shit bout us dirty americans. Is Sapphire any better as far as quality or customer service?
 
KVW said:
Which would you choose, Asus or Sapphire - they're holding one of each so I can make my choice. Asus doesn't have a bimbo on the cover of the card which is kinda cool but in my past experience Asus' support is ridiculous. Been like that for as long as I can remember since the 486 days and nothing's changed. Bunch of non-engrish speaking folks who don't give a shit bout us dirty americans. Is Sapphire any better?
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Both techs sit in the same cubicle...
 
KVW said:
Heh, It's ok to be a Fergie fan. I mean her face is a little wrecked but I'd still hit it. :D


Which would you choose, Asus or Sapphire - they're holding one of each so I can make my choice. Asus doesn't have a bimbo on the cover of the card which is kinda cool but in my past experience Asus' support is ridiculous. Been like that for as long as I can remember since the 486 days and nothing's changed. Bunch of non-engrish speaking folks who don't give a shit bout us dirty americans. Is Sapphire any better as far as quality or customer service?
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I'd only go XFX personally. Think resale value, and lifetime transferrable warranty.

But if you must go another route, just get whatever is cheapest. I haven't had issues with sapphire or asus, but then again I have never bought a dud card from them either.
 
I believe the 5870 is a bit longer than the 295 FYI @ 11", so if a 260 barely fits...
 
Kowan said:
Both techs sit in the same cubicle...
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lol aint that a bitch. :eek:

PS3 said:
I'd only go XFX personally. Think resale value, and lifetime transferrable warranty.

But if you must go another route, just get whatever is cheapest. I haven't had issues with sapphire or asus, but then again I have never bought a dud card from them either.
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They only have those two brands in stock and I have the patience of a 2 year old when these kinds of things get in my head. Hence me willing to eat restocking fees if need be. :p

PS3 said:
I believe the 5870 is a bit longer than the 295 FYI @ 11", so if a 260 barely fits...
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Hmmm... Might be an issue. I'm pretty handy with a dremel but I'd like to avoid that if possible. Maybe I should bring my case to the store...


Thanks for the info guys. :cool:
 
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