5870 or 5970?? Which one should I keep

AthlonXP

AthlonXP

Fully [H]
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Oct 14, 2001
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Well I have both cards and was wondering which of the 2 I should keep?? I use a Dell 3008WFP monitor and play the following games:

1. Wow
2. MW2
3. COD 4
4. COD WAW
5. LFD
6. Serious Sam HD
7. Batman Arkum Asylum
 
Can you afford to keep the 5970? Or would you rather have the extra money over the 5870?
 
either I can do just fine for, just wondering which will benefit more?? The 5870 is an XFX while the 5970 is a Diamond model.
 
5870

After gaming on 5970, i change my mind and you should keep 5970 and sell 5870. Atleast for the next 1+ year you would not have to worry about any Video Card upgrade.
 
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If you can afford a 3008WFP, a 5970, and a 5870...I don't think you should be worried about the small savings of the 5870 over the 5970. Keep the 5970 and sell the 5870 to an [H] member at a discounted cost :) . Nice hardware btw.
 
Hmm, Diamond? They have crummy warranty (2 years). Honestly, i would get rid of both of them and get an XFX 5970 if you can find out. If you're not going to keep the 5970 for more than 2 years, then i'd keep it, otherwise, personally, I wouldn't spend all that money, and have no security.
 
sure, I think I will hold onto the 5870 for now and dump the 5970.
 
lockheed2266 said:
Hmm, Diamond? They have crummy warranty (2 years). Honestly, i would get rid of both of them and get an XFX 5970 if you can find out. If you're not going to keep the 5970 for more than 2 years, then i'd keep it, otherwise, personally, I wouldn't spend all that money, and have no security.
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Crummy warranty? are you joking the guy had 5870 and he got 5970 and you talking about security?
He basically got new card in matter of 1 month and you talking about years lets all be real are we in Hardforums?
Who ever keeps there video cards for more then 6-8 months the most unless we have another 8800GTX and even the mighty 8800GTX did not have more then 1.5yrs life before was obsolete.

Just keep the 5970. warranty Lifetime??? I always lol at Lifetime warranty with computer hardware and people that fall for that.
 
So you think since I have a 30 inch to stick with the 5970??? How is your overall gaming experience??
 
The 5970 will give you the best performance for your 30 inch monitor, so that's the one that I'd keep. OR you can sell your 5970 and buy another 5870 to crossfire with the current 5870. But then your Eyefinity support with 5870 CF won't be there. But if you're not going to do Eyefinity then 5870CF is faster than a single 5970. It all depends on what you want to do with your system.
 
I went with a 5870 just because I was afraid of microstuttering. Have you tried the 5970 yet? Can you notice any microstutter? If not I'd keep the 5970.
 
I have a 850w Corsair PSU.

dsc0154my.jpg
 
In 6 months the 5970 will be old news, and so will the 5870. I'd keep the 5870 just because it runs cooler and quieter, and will be easier to get rid of than the mammoth 5970.
 
PS3 said:
In 6 months the 5970 will be old news, and so will the 5870. I'd keep the 5870 just because it runs cooler and quieter, and will be easier to get rid of than the mammoth 5970.
Click to expand...

In 6 months everything in his computer will be old news.

You're the one who has both of the cards man, you should be telling us which one you think you should keep instead of having people guess about which one is better for you.
 
I'd stick with the 5970. I have a 30" as well and the 5870 wasn't enough to drive some games at native res imo, so I went with the 5970 and I am very happy so far, barring the odd driver issue here and there.

Although.. from looking at the games you play, a 5870 would suffice for all those.
 
Hmm, well its about a 200 dollar difference, I wonder how much I could get for the 5870 straight up then... hmm...
 
whats the bing discount right now?? Might end up throwing it up on ebay to help sell this faster.
 
ofcause keeping the 5970 then just do some mild overclock to 5870 speed..

then now you have a setting as fast as 5870 crossfire.

and it only take one slot..
 
yeah I am thinking of keeping the 5870 and selling the 5970, based on the games I play.
 
I also have both a 5970 and 5870 home. If I had to keep only one, it would be the 5970.

Do like me, ditch the crappy 5970 air cooler, put a good waterblock on it, and OC the crap out of it. :D
 
Sort of off-topic, but somewhat meaningful -- didn't want to start a whole thread on it

Is spending the extra $40-$50 on a XFX worth it for the warranty or going with a Sapphire/MSI/InsertOtherBrand for cheaper a good idea?
 
Dark Shade said:
Sort of off-topic, but somewhat meaningful -- didn't want to start a whole thread on it

Is spending the extra $40-$50 on a XFX worth it for the warranty or going with a Sapphire/MSI/InsertOtherBrand for cheaper a good idea?
Click to expand...

There's no $40-50 premium for an XFX card. You have to be looking at the Black version or a price gouge.

I would keep the 5970. You won't need another card until the 6800 series.
 
I'd keep the 5970, there are some games and settings which the 5870 wont deal with at 2560x1600

I'm powering my 3007 with a 5970 and it deals with 2560x1600 very well, plus overvolting and clocking to 5870 speeds is a sinch.
 
So has either of the posters in this thread that have both cards experienced micro stutter with the 5970?

Do you run with vsync on or off?
 
k1DBLITZ said:
So has either of the posters in this thread that have both cards experienced micro stutter with the 5970?

Do you run with vsync on or off?
Click to expand...

I have experienced zero micro stutter with my 5970. Played the following games on it in the month that I have had it:

Quake 3
UT3
NOLF1
NOLF2
Crysis
Resident Evil 5
World of Warcraft
UT99
UT2K4
DIRT2
Jedi Outcast
Jedi Academy
Crysis Warhead

Never have I experienced any micro stuttering. There are a few games that gave me issues with the original drivers, but the majority of those issues went away with the DIRT2 hotfix drivers.
 
k1DBLITZ said:
So has either of the posters in this thread that have both cards experienced micro stutter with the 5970?

Do you run with vsync on or off?
Click to expand...

So far the only games I've been able to notice microstutter in is Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. Turning on vsync eliminates it, so I'm sure updated drivers will fix this if you want to run without vsync.
 
Like many directx 10 games, Far Cry 2 microstutters with everything unless you vsync or frame limit to a frame rate less than the minimum your card can manage. Doesn't seem to have a problem in dx 9 mode.
 
Thanks for the good news guys. I always run with vsync enabled, tearing drives me nuts.

I've been on the fence about a 5970 due to the microstutter that usually plagues dual gpu boards. So if enabling vsync fixes the problem, I'm ready to hit the purchase button..... if newegg ever gets them in stock...
 
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