Ok, so I've tried both ATI and nVidia

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joeynuggetz

Limp Gawd
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I don't want to start a ATI vs nVidia thread but I'm really trying to decide what my next purchase is going to be. I'm waiting for Gulftown before I build an i7 machine. I've RMA's the (2) 8800GTX Ultras that I've been running for years and its be tough without a PC for a while. Yesterday I decide to head over to Fry's and pick up a GPU to get me by until my RMA gets sorted. The highest end card they had in stock was a Diamond 5850 that I picked up for $300.

Few things I noticed compared to my 8800s... It seems like the image quality in games was better. The fan is super loud when cranked all the way up and I've never heard my 8800's do this even when I forced 100% on the fan manually. I wonder if I had bad fans all along on the 8800''s as I've read that those were supposed to be loud but I could barely hear them.

Anyway, I'm getting sick of nVida and I'm really going to give AMD a good hard look this time around. How much faster will a 5970 be than this 5850? The game I'm really building my rig for is Arma2 which is CPU bound. Although the game ran the best it's ever played with the 5850 I picked up, I was far from impressed. Granted I'm still running my old quad core Q6600 at stock speeds so maybe my CPU is truly the bottleneck now since the speed of the game improved but isn't where I'd like it to be.

Looks like the leaked fermi numbers are bust and I feel that ATI is the way to go this time around. What do you guys think? ATI or nVidia? I'm ready to do Crossfire or SLI as I think a single card isn't going to cut it. I'm running a 30 inch panel at 2560x1600.
 
I had a 8800gts 320 before I got my 5850, and yes, 5850s are just louder. Changing the fan speed curve with MSI Afterburner made it bearable. A 5970 would be about twice as fast as a 5850 assuming it actually works with your game.
 
Well, I actually like the fact that the ATI fan actually appears to move some air. If you crank it up, you can feel the air coming out the back of the card like a hair dryer which I think is cool. Like I said, my 8800GTX Ultras weren't that loud so maybe that's why they both started failing/artifacting. If a 5970 is that much faster, I think I'm going to crossfire them for sure. Seems like GPU tech can't catch up with 2560x1600 gaming. As games get better, high end cards still struggle. Of course, this isn't true for all games. A Source engine game for example can be maxed out no problem at that resolution as so do 90 % of the other games. However, I play mostly realistic games like racing sims, flying sims, and army sims. Not a big fan of your typical FPS and such...
 
Get a 5850 vapor-x if you feel the fan is too loud. It might be a good opportunity to do so, given that Diamond has been notorious for being an RMA hell-hole
 
Well, I actually like the fact that the ATI fan actually appears to move some air. If you crank it up, you can feel the air coming out the back of the card like a hair dryer which I think is cool. Like I said, my 8800GTX Ultras weren't that loud so maybe that's why they both started failing/artifacting. If a 5970 is that much faster, I think I'm going to crossfire them for sure. Seems like GPU tech can't catch up with 2560x1600 gaming. As games get better, high end cards still struggle. Of course, this isn't true for all games. A Source engine game for example can be maxed out no problem at that resolution as so do 90 % of the other games. However, I play mostly realistic games like racing sims, flying sims, and army sims. Not a big fan of your typical FPS and such...

A 5970 will be fine for such things. Grab one, try it out, and if you need even more power grab another one. I'm pretty sure that a 5970 will handle it, but you never know.

Either way, cheers. I'm jealous.
 
With ATI cards I always set fan for fixed speed - for example my 4870 is almost silent with fan at 30% but GPU keep good temps even after hours of gaming.

 
Yeah, so far the 5850 runs really cool. I'm not going to keep this card since I was expecting more performance and it's clearly not going to cut it. If I can save a PCI slot or so without going crossfire, I maybe opt for the 5970. Anyone know where I can get one? No one has them. I mainly picked up the 5850 to test performance on it. No restocking fee so it's going back as soon as I get my 8800's back from EVGA. Then I'll wait a bit for gulftown to surface and try and get my hands on a couple 5970's if they're available that's unless more fermi benchmarks show better results.
 
regarding fan speed, the 5850 fan has a higher RPM ceiling than the 8800 fan.

regarding Arma 2, I believe it stresses the GPU and CPU pretty hard. OC the Q6600 if you can.

if you feel like it, you can setup a custom fan profile in ATI Tray Tools' Overclocking app

rgfdgsfdgsdf.jpg
 
fermi numbers are bust?

that was enough to prove that you're full of it
 
I had a 8800gts 320 before I got my 5850, and yes, 5850s are just louder. Changing the fan speed curve with MSI Afterburner made it bearable.

Just get an aftermarket cooler. Their are loads of amazing $50 aftermarket air coolers for the 5850 and 5870 that produce almost no noise have amazing temps and give you serious oc potential.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185081

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887024

Even with neweggs practically nonexistant supply of aftermarket vga coolers it still has three that fit it that are in stock. Remember that any aftermarket cooler that fits the 4870 SHOULD fit the 5850 but double check online first just in case.
 
fermi numbers are bust?

that was enough to prove that you're full of it

I'm not an ATI fan boy. I've run nVidia all my life. Show me a link so I can check out the fermi benchmarks compared to 5970. Like I said, I just want the fastest card. What I've read so far is that fermi isn't performing any faster. If that's not the case, please post a link cuz I haven't made a decision either way yet.
 
ignore dual own, he lives in his own world :p

a 5970 should be a good upgrade for a 30"

Anyway, wait a couple of weeks, maybe when fermi comes out you have a few options, or at least lower pricing on the ATI parts
 
Personally, I'd grab a second 5850 over a 5970; you have a lot more flexibility and stability with two cards over one. Also, the stock fan profile should be relatively quiet and keep the card more than cool enough, you really don't have to crank it manually.
 
fermi numbers are bust?

that was enough to prove that you're full of it

lol you gotta be feeling pretty butt hurt right about now, I mean after all Where exactly ARE the nVidia numbers besides the cherry picked ones? That's right they are a bust.......
 
How is the transition to the ATI catalyst?
I have an 8800gtx 768mb, it's a relic of the old war, lol, but this card has lasted me a long time, and surpassed my expectations. I always owned Nvidia, but I been tempted to try ATI.
Only thing I am afraid of is those games that Nvidia locked some features out such as Batman arkam, Cuda for video processing and playback, also for photoshop.
Did you have any hiccups on your transition?
Have you tried eyefinity?
Does it get along with CRT? I still have a lovely Sony FW900 that refuses to be dethroned, would cost quite a bit of capital to find an upgrade on the lcd camp. I would love a 30 incher int he future.

Btw can the 5970 run 5870's clocks peeds without hassle and advanced cooling?
Been waiting for the Fermi to come out, it will either be slightly better or ATI's new cards will blow em outta the water with the newer 2gb and 4gb variation, and 6 monitor slotters, either way you would win because competition would drive prices down.
 
Whether you go ATI or nVidia, we are close ( I hope :rolleyes: ) to a release of a new GPU, not just a refresh so prices are bound to be affected. If you can hold on for a couple more months I would.
 
It kind of sounds to me like you want to be a power-user, based of wanting to get a gulftown and considering two 5970s. My advice would be possibly wait another week or two after Gulftown to look into the 2GB 5870s/4GB 5890s. Apparently, if you end up going with an eyefinity setup to a high resolution display, they make quite a difference at high AA levels.

1gbvs2gb.gif


@DualOwn
Stop being so 'butt hurt' as others have already put it. He wants the fastest card available when gulftown is released from the sounds of the Original Post. Read it? The GTX480 right now is competing with the 5870 +/ - 10 and maybeee 20% even in heavily cherry picked benchmarks which means its performance is no where near a 5970. There's no guarantee it'll beat the release date of the gulftown even with its 'April' 'ish' 'release date*'

*May be paper launch.
 
Just get an aftermarket cooler. Their are loads of amazing $50 aftermarket air coolers for the 5850 and 5870 that produce almost no noise have amazing temps and give you serious oc potential.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185081

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887024

Even with neweggs practically nonexistant supply of aftermarket vga coolers it still has three that fit it that are in stock. Remember that any aftermarket cooler that fits the 4870 SHOULD fit the 5850 but double check online first just in case.
Yeah, I'm planning on getting either an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev. 2 or an Accelero Twin Turbo Pro :)
 
Vf1000 can handle a 5870? i had 1 on a 4870 and it wasnt great so wouldnt think it could handle 5870.
 
I leave 5850 fan on auto. never goes above 30%, temps stay in 60s playing mw2. Not noisey at this level.
 
It kind of sounds to me like you want to be a power-user, based of wanting to get a gulftown and considering two 5970s. My advice would be possibly wait another week or two after Gulftown to look into the 2GB 5870s/4GB 5890s. Apparently, if you end up going with an eyefinity setup to a high resolution display, they make quite a difference at high AA levels.

1gbvs2gb.gif


@DualOwn
Stop being so 'butt hurt' as others have already put it. He wants the fastest card available when gulftown is released from the sounds of the Original Post. Read it? The GTX480 right now is competing with the 5870 +/ - 10 and maybeee 20% even in heavily cherry picked benchmarks which means its performance is no where near a 5970. There's no guarantee it'll beat the release date of the gulftown even with its 'April' 'ish' 'release date*'

*May be paper launch.
now we are comparing a single gpu VS $700 dual card 5970? LOL?

For TC: you better off getting 2 different 5870(2gig) cards and use them in crossfire, because you're not going to find a 5970 for the next 6 months.

But i would still wait and see what Fermi offers, dont forget that these ati cards are extremely erradic, they might reach high fps here and there but they also sky dive to very low fps in most games.

Fermi on other hand is not just about reaching that high fps for few seconds, it is designed to stay away from low fps and at the same time keeping a very high avarage fps.
 
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^^^
in addition, fermi image quality spanks the holy hell out of ati cards right DualOwn?
 
^^^
in addition, fermi image quality spanks the holy hell out of ati cards right DualOwn?

with Fermi there will be more room for af, aa and other things in dx11 games so yes, better image quality.
 
with Fermi there will be more room for af, aa and other things in dx11 games so yes, better image quality.

that makes sense, since we have been pretty much maxxing out AF for the last what, 4 years? and where is this better IQ coming from? Fermi is supposed to be 1.5GB, how will that allow for more AA then a 2GB 5870 or 4GB 5970
 
i run a 28" monitor and a 5850. i play cod waw,codmw,bfsbc and i have no issues. i think 2x5850 would be a pretty rockin system. i just switched to ati myself. no complants for me.
 
that makes sense, since we have been pretty much maxxing out AF for the last what, 4 years? and where is this better IQ coming from? Fermi is supposed to be 1.5GB, how will that allow for more AA then a 2GB 5870 or 4GB 5970

lol, thanks viper.
 
that makes sense, since we have been pretty much maxxing out AF for the last what, 4 years? and where is this better IQ coming from? Fermi is supposed to be 1.5GB, how will that allow for more AA then a 2GB 5870 or 4GB 5970

are you saying that a 1gig 3000 series ati can run high aa and af at high res just like the 5870 because of the same amount of ram?

joke post?
 
are you saying that a 1gig 3000 series ati can run high aa and af at high res just like the 5870 because of the same amount of ram?

joke post?
Kind of like every one of yours, amirite? If the GTX480 has performance similar to that of the 5870, never mind the 5970, and comes with less RAM, how is it supposed to max out games better? And where is this magical "better image quality" bullshit coming from? Is NVIDIA somehow improving AF over the 5xxx series' practically perfect AF? Did Fermi somehow improve over the 5xxx series' amazing SSAA? Where are your sources or backup?
 
now we are comparing a single gpu VS $700 dual card 5970? LOL?

No, we are comparing 2 $700 cards....the comparison is apt.

BTW I moved from a 8800GT in SLI to a Radeon 4870 (years ago)and it was pretty painless. In fact, I noticed my frame rates were much steadier and the video quality was much nicer on the 4870. I still have that 8800GT SLI system running strong with an E5300 @ 3.46 Ghz on an MSI 750i board, and even with all the driver updates it still isn't as nice as my single 4870. This is one reason im a little apprehensive to doing crossfire as the microstuttering was/is annoying on my 8800GT SLI.
 
No, we are comparing 2 $700 cards....the comparison is apt.

BTW I moved from a 8800GT in SLI to a Radeon 4870 (years ago)and it was pretty painless. In fact, I noticed my frame rates were much steadier and the video quality was much nicer on the 4870. I still have that 8800GT SLI system running strong with an E5300 @ 3.46 Ghz on an MSI 750i board, and even with all the driver updates it still isn't as nice as my single 4870. This is one reason im a little apprehensive to doing crossfire as the microstuttering was/is annoying on my 8800GT SLI.

nvidia hasnt priced their products yet.
 
No matter the performance level of the GTX480, finding one in stock at whatever the MSRP is is going to be tough.
 
Definetely overclock that stock Q6600 that you have to make the most of your 5800 or 5900 series choice.
 
I have an 8800gtx 768mb, it's a relic of the old war, lol, but this card has lasted me a long time, and surpassed my expectations.

I'm using one of those "relics" too (OC'd with an Arctic Cooling Accelero on it). Had it three years and three months and it exceeded my expectations as well (and considering the price I'm glad it did!). I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer until some solid reviews on Fermi come out. I don't plan on short-changing myself by jumping the gun before all the cards are on the table.
 
I'm using one of those "relics" too (OC'd with an Arctic Cooling Accelero on it). Had it three years and three months and it exceeded my expectations as well (and considering the price I'm glad it did!). I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer until some solid reviews on Fermi come out. I don't plan on short-changing myself by jumping the gun before all the cards are on the table.

Same here my two evga 8800 gtx's were great buys; but, If I had to choose I would go with ATI for a change.
 
But i would still wait and see what Fermi offers, dont forget that these ati cards are extremely erradic, they might reach high fps here and there but they also sky dive to very low fps in most games.

Qft. I've been making the same point for 2 generations. Everyone seems to focus on maximum fps, while at the same time ignoring the massive frame drops.
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But i would still wait and see what Fermi offers, dont forget that these ati cards are extremely erradic, they might reach high fps here and there but they also sky dive to very low fps in most games.

Uhm, care to link some benches to demonstrate, cuz all the benches I look at show pretty much equal min fps when comparing equivalent cards. Not seeing this "erratic" behavior you're hung up on.
 
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