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Ok, I got the new monitor in last night and after fiddling with it I was able to sample a couple of games over several hours. Here are my impressions with the 5870.
Starcraft 2 - running at highest settings @ 2560x1600 I noticed no slowdowns over the course of a couple of missions. FRAPS reports lower framerates down into the 40s but still very playable.
BC2 - same as above. Very playable at highest settings with 4xAA.
Metro2033 - Not playable at native resolution on anything higher than normal quality settings. I had to bump down to 19x12 to be playable at very high.
I think I want to make the move to upgrade to be able to play Metro2033 at native resolution. I tried moving the 5870 to the second slot and it most definitely will not fit. A 5970 will, but it's going to cost me. Let's do a little price comparison for several upgrade scenarios.
1) 5970 - requires selling the 5870 for market value of around $350. New 5970 is around $700 for an xfx unit that I prefer. Total upgrade cost is 700 - 350 = 350. Advantage is single slot that will work in x16.
2) 5870 + 5850 CF - $300 for a new 5850 for roughly similar performance as a 5970. My motherboard reverts the pci lanes to x8 when in xfire so there is that to think about. There is also added heat due to the added card. Due to case limitations I cannot crossfire two 5870 so this is the most powerful two card solution for ati for me.
3) GTX 460 1GB SLI - sell the 5870 for $350 and purchase two 460s for no more than $250 each. Total cost = $500 - $350 = $150. Should be comparable to 5870 + 5850 cf for half the price. Still have the same limitations as the aforementioned cf option.
Anything I'm missing? It really looks like the best bang for my buck right now is option 3.
Starcraft 2 - running at highest settings @ 2560x1600 I noticed no slowdowns over the course of a couple of missions. FRAPS reports lower framerates down into the 40s but still very playable.
BC2 - same as above. Very playable at highest settings with 4xAA.
Metro2033 - Not playable at native resolution on anything higher than normal quality settings. I had to bump down to 19x12 to be playable at very high.
I think I want to make the move to upgrade to be able to play Metro2033 at native resolution. I tried moving the 5870 to the second slot and it most definitely will not fit. A 5970 will, but it's going to cost me. Let's do a little price comparison for several upgrade scenarios.
1) 5970 - requires selling the 5870 for market value of around $350. New 5970 is around $700 for an xfx unit that I prefer. Total upgrade cost is 700 - 350 = 350. Advantage is single slot that will work in x16.
2) 5870 + 5850 CF - $300 for a new 5850 for roughly similar performance as a 5970. My motherboard reverts the pci lanes to x8 when in xfire so there is that to think about. There is also added heat due to the added card. Due to case limitations I cannot crossfire two 5870 so this is the most powerful two card solution for ati for me.
3) GTX 460 1GB SLI - sell the 5870 for $350 and purchase two 460s for no more than $250 each. Total cost = $500 - $350 = $150. Should be comparable to 5870 + 5850 cf for half the price. Still have the same limitations as the aforementioned cf option.
Anything I'm missing? It really looks like the best bang for my buck right now is option 3.
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