• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Advice needed on upgrade please.

S

Snuffhit

n00b
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
9
My specs:

Asus P6T
6 GB DDR3 RAM @ 1.6 GHZ
i7 920 @ 3.2GHz
HD 5870
750W Antec PSU

I've noticed my 5870 lagging behind in performance with most of the titles I've played this year. I play all games at 1920x1080 and even had to drop my resolution to 1080x1050 to obtain playable frames in Witcher 2. I would like my system to be up to par for Rage, BF3 and Skyrim later this year.

I'm really keen to snag up a GTX 580 because of their monster performance and cool operating temps. I even know a buyer for my current 5870 as he is keen to go crossfire with the 5870 he owns.

My fist question is, do u think my 2 year old hardware will potentially bottleneck a GTX 580? Is there any point or will my components be holding one of those bad boys back? Upgrading any other component is not possible, i'm only interested in changing the gfx card.

Which manufacturer should I go with if any? Before my HD 5870 I had an Asus 8800GTX and I had to upgrade because it died on me (barely lasted 2 years). I really like the ZOTAC Amp2! edition because of the Zalman cooler pre-installed (Have a VF3000A on my HD 5870 and it's freaking awesome) but they don't seem very popular.

Any advice or input would be very much appreciated. Also, I'm not looking to go with a reference cooler design as I have a large and very well ventilated case (Chaser MK-1) and I've experienced the advantages of coolers which don't expel air directly out the back of the case (they run cooler in general).
 
I don't think you'll bottleneck a GTX 580. My recommendation for all NVIDIA cards is EVGA, though Zotac seems to be up and coming. I don't have any direct experience with them, though, so maybe other members can shed some light.
 
Snuffhit said:
My specs:

Asus P6T
6 GB DDR3 RAM @ 1.6 GHZ
i7 920 @ 3.2GHz
HD 5870
750W Antec PSU

I would like my system to be up to par for Rage, BF3 and Skyrim later this year.
Click to expand...

Rage and Skyrim are going to be console ports (with some minor PC enhancements). BattleField 3 is being made with PC first, then "downgrade" it to console.

What what I've been reading on the other hardware forums. You probably want a minimum of a single GTX 580. That's what they used for their PC demos (BF3). But with next gen hardware in four to five months, I don't know if it will be a wise investment.

My fist question is, do u think my 2 year old hardware will potentially bottleneck a GTX 580? Is there any point or will my components be holding one of those bad boys back? Upgrading any other component is not possible, i'm only interested in changing the gfx card.
Click to expand...

Your i7 920 is clocked at 3.2GHz stable. I don't know why it would be a bottleneck at this time. Everything that you have listed is very good. Sandybridge-E LGA 2011 won't be out till early next year before the i7 LGA 1366 crowd start feeling outdated :)

Which manufacturer should I go with if any? Before my HD 5870 I had an Asus 8800GTX and I had to upgrade because it died on me (barely lasted 2 years). I really like the ZOTAC Amp2! edition because of the Zalman cooler pre-installed (Have a VF3000A on my HD 5870 and it's freaking awesome) but they don't seem very popular.
Click to expand...

EVGA has been good to me when it came to warranty of really really old Nvidia cards that I have had. I still recommend them if you want a really good brand

Any advice or input would be very much appreciated. Also, I'm not looking to go with a reference cooler design as I have a large and very well ventilated case (Chaser MK-1) and I've experienced the advantages of coolers which don't expel air directly out the back of the case (they run cooler in general).
Click to expand...

If your heart is set on the Zotac AMP2 go get it. I am just going off my experience with RMA. I already voided my warranty with my HD 5970 by opening it up replacing the TIM and using a sapphire BIOS already :p
 
My fist question is, do u think my 2 year old hardware will potentially bottleneck a GTX 580? Is there any point or will my components be holding one of those bad boys back? Upgrading any other component is not possible, i'm only interested in changing the gfx card.

- No your hardware is fine. Changing the graphics card will definitely help.

Which manufacturer should I go with if any? Before my HD 5870 I had an Asus 8800GTX and I had to upgrade because it died on me (barely lasted 2 years). I really like the ZOTAC Amp2! edition because of the Zalman cooler pre-installed (Have a VF3000A on my HD 5870 and it's freaking awesome) but they don't seem very popular.

-Agree with EVGA. Regardless, just make sure the manufacturer has a good warranty.


Sell the 5870 and upgrade.
 
Thanks all for the advice thus far,

As I'm in Australia EVGA is no more attractive than any other brand because the excellent support and warranty is only entitled to EVGA customers inside North America. Also, I've noticed that EVGA are one of the few manufacturers who don't provide a custom cooler for their GTX 580. Do EVGA cards run hot/loud?

One more question... I've heard that multi gpu solutions should be avoided primarily because of micro stuttering. Can anyone confirm that HD 5870's in crossfire micro stutter on titles such as: Dead Space 2, Dragon Age 2, Crysis 2, RF: Armageddon, Source games and Witcher 2? I ask this question more for the benefit of the buyer of my 5870 because I'm very prone to micro stuttering and I find it ruins any gaming experience (hence why I want a single powerful gpu solution).
 
580GTX is a great card i am sure but it is way over priced.. I just upgraded from CX HD5850 to a single ref HD6950 2Gb which has been flashed to the HD6970 bios with 880 core clock so i got the flagship for $289.. i played in Eyefinity @ 5760 x 1080 and the single HD6950 is a huge upgraded over CX HD5850 because of the size of ram and it can just handle Bad Company 2 so much better..

Also you should run both CX ribbons to help with micro shutter and the x58 chipset is still worth having as what i run with i7 930 because of the full x16 by x16 Sli and CX..
 
Hmmm... now I'm contemplating a GTX 570 but apparently a 6970 is just better.

Think it's worth bothering to upgrade from a HD 5870 to GTX 570. My parts are old and if I choose to re-haul my entire system a year from now (most likely) parting with a 570 won't be as difficult as with a 580?

Can anyone comment on the GTX 570 performance particularly in games such as the Witcher 2, does it struggle?
 
HD 6970 Crossfire = 638 dollars. MSI Reference models.

Single GTX 580 3 GB card is 599 dollars.....MSI lightning.

Forget the 1.5 GB models, their achilles heel is the limited VRAM.

So look at the real numbers. An excellent Crossfire system or a single card?
Your S1366 system will be sound for another year. HardOCP showed that on the 1366 platform Crossfire is superior in multicard arrays.

Overclock your CPU, I have a 930 on an ASUS Rampage III Formula and got 4.2 GHz with only a VCore increase and everything else left on auto except the VDimm.:D
 
Multi GPU setup is not an option for me both because of heat and micro stuttering (I HATE IT!)

Can anyone confirm that this model of GTX 570 is a non-reference pcb design and hence won't have the problem with frying VRM'S that the reference 570's experienced when overclocked:

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3685#ov

Either gonna go with the Gigabyte OC'd (above link) or the Gainward Phantom (below):

http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=449

I can't decide! Gigabyte has higher stock clock settings and is cheaper but the Phantom has a much better (but bigger) cooling system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top