5870cf, 5970, 6950cf, or 6990?

T

tory

Limp Gawd
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Jan 31, 2011
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well right now Newegg has the Sapphire Radeon 5870 EyeFinity 6 edition for 280$. I was lookin to upgrade GPUs and get either the 2 5870s and CF them or 2 6950s and CF them. Then i saw that the 6990 is "possibly" getting released on the 8th, so that made me look at 5970 prices which will (cross my fingers) drop with 6990 release.

So i am wondering would it be a better deal to get the 5870s for 280 ea, or get 2 6950s? Or wait till the "8th" see what the 6990 brings and either snag one of those or watch the prices on 5970s drop and make a move?


Current Setup is 3 dell 23in monitors in suround with my 460s. and have a plan of 5 in portrait later on.

"top of the line" is NOT a must for me all i want to be able to do is max out all settings and have at least 2 or 4x AA in games and the 460s cannot do that at 3240X1920 or 5760X 1080.

Let me know what you would do or what you think!
 
For $280, I wouldn't go with the 5870s. They were on sale for $180 last week. That's a deal.

From what I understand, because of better crossfire scaling in the 6xxx series, crossfired HD 5870s are only as good as crossfired HD 6870s, even though a single HD 5870 is faster than a single HD 6870. By extension, crossfired HD 6950s should be a noticeable improvement over crossfired HD 5870s, and they can be found cheaper than $280, and they unlock shaders.

As for HD 5970 and 6990, I'm not sure. No price has been confirmed for the 6990. I've seen used 5970s drop below $400, which is a good deal. The only downside to that is the HD 5970 is 2x1gb, which will hurt at high Eyefinity resolution. I'm not sure how much a 2x2gb HD 5970 costs.
 
nalc said:
For $280, I wouldn't go with the 5870s. They were on sale for $180 last week. That's a deal.

From what I understand, because of better crossfire scaling in the 6xxx series, crossfired HD 5870s are only as good as crossfired HD 6870s, even though a single HD 5870 is faster than a single HD 6870. By extension, crossfired HD 6950s should be a noticeable improvement over crossfired HD 5870s, and they can be found cheaper than $280, and they unlock shaders.

As for HD 5970 and 6990, I'm not sure. No price has been confirmed for the 6990. I've seen used 5970s drop below $400, which is a good deal. The only downside to that is the HD 5970 is 2x1gb, which will hurt at high Eyefinity resolution. I'm not sure how much a 2x2gb HD 5970 costs.
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well you have to remember i am coming from 460s so even a 5870 would be an impovement. and the 5970 im looking at is the efinity 6 Black edition XFX5970 which is 2x2gb so that would be good for 5 monitors and the standard 5970 only supports 3x1.

Also i should have stated that i do not plan to get new GPUs for 1.5 to 2 years.

BUT if the 5870s drop again to 180 or 200 that would be a deal to jump on then upgrade next year since they would be so cheap?


EDIT: Also Perfect CF scaling is not important i just want a GPU that will work with 5 monitors and will play games and at my Req. Settings.
 
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ATI dropped the ball with the 5870's and CrossfireX. They had a full year to tweak drivers and get better support for the above mentioned cards.
 
HD6950CF or the HD6990. The HD6990 will be much more expensive for not that much gain though. If you can fit two GPUs as two cards, go with the 6950s. Nothing better for the price.
 
due to shitty crossfire scaling on the 5800 series i'd go with 2 6950 2GB or 2 6970's. the 6990 for the resolution you plan to use might be overkill and for those games that have shitty crossfire support the lower clocks of the 6990 might hurt your performance. but i'd still wait til the 8th before buying something. see how it effects pricing on all the current cards.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
due to shitty crossfire scaling on the 5800 series i'd go with 2 6950 2GB or 2 6970's. the 6990 for the resolution you plan to use might be overkill and for those games that have shitty crossfire support the lower clocks of the 6990 might hurt your performance. but i'd still wait til the 8th before buying something. see how it effects pricing on all the current cards.
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yea that is true and i wsas going to was just going to, i just wanted to get opinions for now. I hope prices drop haha
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
due to shitty crossfire scaling on the 5800 series i'd go with 2 6950 2GB or 2 6970's. the 6990 for the resolution you plan to use might be overkill and for those games that have shitty crossfire support the lower clocks of the 6990 might hurt your performance. but i'd still wait til the 8th before buying something. see how it effects pricing on all the current cards.
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uh, how would a 6990 (or 6950 xfire) be overkill for his 6mp eyefinity res?
 
tory said:
well you have to remember i am coming from 460s so even a 5870 would be an impovement. and the 5970 im looking at is the efinity 6 Black edition XFX5970 which is 2x2gb so that would be good for 5 monitors and the standard 5970 only supports 3x1.

Also i should have stated that i do not plan to get new GPUs for 1.5 to 2 years.

BUT if the 5870s drop again to 180 or 200 that would be a deal to jump on then upgrade next year since they would be so cheap?


EDIT: Also Perfect CF scaling is not important i just want a GPU that will work with 5 monitors and will play games and at my Req. Settings.
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't go with any of the 5 series GPU's at this stage. They might be a great price, but, it's seems to be luck of the draw that you will get a pair that will crossfire well.

And saying perfect CF scaling and most up to date GPU isn't important while demanding highest settings is kind of an oxymoron. In fact the only way you are going to get what you are looking for is to go with the latest GPU's. Two 6950's in crossfire should be roughly the same as the 6990. But, wait until the 8th and see for definate.

The 5970 is lacking in memory which will really be a problem at the high resolutions you are talking about. Its a great card, but, couldn't really recommend one now over the 6950's.
 
reaper12 said:
Well, I wouldn't go with any of the 5 series GPU's at this stage. They might be a great price, but, it's seems to be luck of the draw that you will get a pair that will crossfire well.

And saying perfect CF scaling and most up to date GPU isn't important while demanding highest settings is kind of an oxymoron. In fact the only way you are going to get what you are looking for is to go with the latest GPU's. Two 6950's in crossfire should be roughly the same as the 6990. But, wait until the 8th and see for definate.

The 5970 is lacking in memory which will really be a problem at the high resolutions you are talking about. Its a great card, but, couldn't really recommend one now over the 6950's.
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well like i stated above the 5970 im looking at is the XFX Radeon 5970 E6 thats 900$ so i am hoping that the 6990 will (though unlikely) drop the price of it a lot then i will just snag one of those though the 990 will prolly still be the better option.

and i read that the 6950s and 70s cannot do 5x1p without the help of SoftTH or a hub thats not even out yet (i dont think).

It sucks that the GPU is the most needed upgrade of a system. My processor, mobo, and PSU are still good for another 1-2 years lol.

I7-860 @4g
Asus P7P55D-e Pro
Corsair 1000W
 
You can run five displays off an HD6990, when they come out. They will cost far less than the 5970E6, and perform far better.
 
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