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First system build, What GPU to get?

H

HardForumer

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
173
Need something that can play any game out there at max, including BF3, Crysis games, Metro 2033, Skyrim, and other demanding games out there.

Should I go Sli or Crossfire? Any single cards that can do that?
 
What are your other specs? I think if you list them more of us can help out.

For a single slot solution the GTX 580 would be your best bet, but it all depends what you mean by max, everything max including AA?
 
Probably not max AA but I do want some good AA.

I dont have other specs yet, Im building it from scratch.

I heard the 6990 is better than the GTX580? and dual 6970s are better than a single 6990 for the same price?
Also I heard that crossfire is better than SLI? meaning that a single GTX580 is better than a single 6970, but dual 6970 crossfire is better than dual GTX580 Sli
 
Last edited:
I'd pick up 2xHD6950 if I had the cash to waste, ~$500.

You can probably get by with one HD6970 or GTX580 well enough.
 
Ok, what does well enough mean? :D
Can anyone put these in order from most powerful to least powerful please:
HD6990
HD6970
HD6950
Dual HD6990
Dual HD6970
Dual HD6950
GTX 570
GTX 580
Dual GTX570
Dual GTX580
 
In my opinion I'd order them as following although it really is going to depend on resolution, system specs, and mostly importantly the game chosen...

Assuming no overclocking:
Dual HD6990
Dual GTX580
Dual HD6970
HD6990
Dual GTX570 ~ Dual HD6950
GTX 580
HD6970 ~ GTX 570
HD6950
 
HardForumer said:
Ok, what does well enough mean? :D
Can anyone put these in order from most powerful to least powerful please:
HD6990
HD6970
HD6950
Dual HD6990
Dual HD6970
Dual HD6950
GTX 570
GTX 580
Dual GTX570
Dual GTX580
Click to expand...

Resolutions up to 1920x1200 inclusive:
HD6950 - c. 100%
GTX570 - c. 108%
HD6970 - c. 108%
GTX580 - c. 125%
Dual HD6950 - c. 195%
Dual GTX570 - c. 200%
HD6990 - c. 205%
Dual HD6970 - c. 210%
Dual GTX580 - c. 235%
Dual HD6990 - c. 420%

Resolutions in excess of 1920x1200:
HD6950 - c. 100%
GTX570 - c. 102%
HD6970 - c. 110%
GTX580 - c. 120%
Dual GTX570 - c. 190%
Dual HD6950 - c. 195%
HD6990 - c. 210%
Dual HD6970 - c. 215%
Dual GTX580 - c. 225%
Dual HD6990 - c. 410%
 
Relative performance, to the weakest card, which is the 6950 in both cases. 100% would be the same speed as, 200% would be twice as fast as it.
 
I'm not quite buying that Dual HD6990 is 410% of 6950... crossfire scales good but that good?
 
houe said:
I'm not quite buying that Dual HD6990 is 410% of 6950... crossfire scales good but that good?
Click to expand...

Not all the time, that's more of a best-case, but it does perform reasonably well as long as you don't stifle it with a CPU bottleneck or too low a resolution:

battleforge3.png
 
6990 is overkill and definitely unrequired, even 2 6990 is overkill and u will need a MONSTER psu to power it, i think its at least 1500w, which will cost a LOT and be very unevironmentally friendly :p. For the same price of 6990x2, you could get 3 gtx 580s and still have money to spare and performance would be similar, but the 6990x2 will power ahead a little. if u wanna go bf3 and all those new games all on max settings at like 2560x1600, then 3xgtx580's will be fine but for the ultra high res, then gtx 590's or 6990's would be the best, IMO
 
norman590 said:
6990 is overkill and definitely unrequired, even 2 6990 is overkill and u will need a MONSTER psu to power it, i think its at least 1500w, which will cost a LOT and be very unevironmentally friendly :p. For the same price of 6990x2, you could get 3 gtx 580s and still have money to spare and performance would be similar, but the 6990x2 will power ahead a little. if u wanna go bf3 and all those new games all on max settings at like 2560x1600, then 3xgtx580's will be fine but for the ultra high res, then gtx 590's or 6990's would be the best, IMO
Click to expand...

So wait, the 730W of power that two HD6990s use, and the $1420 that they cost is overkill, yet the 732W of power that three GTX580s use, and the $1260 that they cost isn't overkill? I'm afraid your logic escapes me. Never mind the fact that some 1000W PSUs (which is enough for two 6990s btw, you don't need 1500W) only have 4 power connectors, so they can run two 6990s, but not three 580s! Add to this not all motherboards have three fully useable PCIe 16x slots, and that makes the GTX580 SLI the more difficult setup.
Using the three 580s may cost $160 less in cards, but will probably cost that much more in more strict PSU and motherboard choices.
 
You could go with 1x 6950 or reference 6950 with 1x 6990 for Tri Fire would work quite nicely.
 
HardForumer said:
Need something that can play any game out there at max, including BF3, Crysis games, Metro 2033, Skyrim, and other demanding games out there.

Should I go Sli or Crossfire? Any single cards that can do that?
Click to expand...

If you're going to be playing at 1920x1080 then two 6870's will run all those games. If you need a bigger resolution get two 6950's for the VRAM. If you want to waste your money get one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121470 :D
 
Darkamek said:
You could go with 1x 6950 or reference 6950 with 1x 6990 for Tri Fire would work quite nicely.
Click to expand...

I feel like this thread is all over the place, from single 6950's to quad-gpu solutions, everywhere from ~$200 to $1500. Running at 1080p (or 1200p), it seems like the suggestions for tri-fire+ solutions may be overkill unless the OP isn't concerned about price at all. However, from the OP's responses, it appears that he's primarily considering single or dual-gpu solutions, and not necessarily even looking to max out AA where you might think that 3-4gpu setups would be useful at his resolution.

OP, as has been mentioned, if you're looking towards the new titles coming out, I'd personally aim for higher vram cards based on what's being put out there. I also don't think picking up a 6990 is a particularly great plan unless there is reason to tri-fire it with another card, simply because its cheaper/faster running 2x6950/70's, which would look to be very capable for your situation.

The 570/80's are great cards as well, and seem to trade blows with their radeon counterparts depending on title. If you're an Nvidia fan and used to those, they are definitely good options; my only reservation - and not to start any amd vs nvid debate - is that they are higher priced than the corresponding AMD cards and on the whole usually don't have the a comparable performance gain in exchange for the premium you pay. However, if you play exclusively titles that are biased significantly towards Nvidia, that may be a different story.
 
Or just get one reference 6950 and see if that is enough power for you, if it isn't enough just add another.
 
They still have reference 6950's in my local frys, I may have to get another before they are gone.
 
matteos said:
They still have reference 6950's in my local frys, I may have to get another before they are gone.
Click to expand...

Even for Fry's who seems to carry old stock, I'd be impressed if you found actual reference boards there. As far as I knew, their selection of 6950's was pretty limited (not saying bad cards, just not a huge selection).
 
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