GPU's Which is Better

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Dec 18, 2006
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Guys,

Looking at doing either of these two options, which is better performance and by how much?

Option 1 - "Advantage, much less $$"

(2) AFX 5830's in Crosfire - Performance Difference?


Option 2 - "Advantage 1 card - better cooling and power by having 1 card in case"
(1) Sapphire 5970 4GB Toxic - Oh God is this card Sick - Performance Difference?
or
(1) AFX 5970 4GB Black Edition - Difference in performance between Sapphire and Option1?

I know there is a big difference in $$ between option 1 and option 2 - that's my point, is the performance difference huge, if so I will go with one of the cards from Option 2. If not, I can save a lot of money, go with option 1 and wait until the 6000 series comes out and upgrade my rig later. But since I only have 2 8800GTX's right now I can't do surround gaming and I'd like to while I wait until the new gpus come out.

Thanks,

DC
 
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There's no such thing as a 5930. Did you mean the 5830?
I'd say that 460 SLI 1GB is going to be a faster dual card option thatn 2x5830s.
Simply because A) You can OC the 460 very well and B) SLI scales better in dual gpu configurations.

The 5970 4GBs are the fastest single cards out there now, but obviously as you noted it's going to cost 2-3x more than a 460 SLI configuration.
And the 6000 series is about to come out so that's not going to be fastest for much longer.
If you can only do CrossfireX on your motherboard, I'd hunt for deals on the 5850s. They are a lot better than the 5830s.
 
5830's also won't match the 5970's performance. The 5850's can, but when overclocked the 5970's is the better option. It will perform as well as dual 5870's.
 
5830's also won't match the 5970's performance. The 5850's can, but when overclocked the 5970's is the better option. It will perform as well as dual 5870's.

Ok, so my question would be how much performance difference would there be between (2) overclocked 5850's or (1) Option 2.

That should make my decision easy.
 
Ok, so my question would be how much performance difference would there be between (2) overclocked 5850's or (1) Option 2.

That should make my decision easy.

The 5970's GPUs have more streaming processors. They have as many as the 5870 GPU, but they are clocked similarly to the 5850. When clocked equally, the 5970 has more performance potential than dual 5850's do.
 
Wait for the 6000 series. You've held on to the 8800s this long, another couple months is really not that long to wait now. You'll be kicking yourself if you spend the kind of crazy premium the 5000 series currently commands (I really expected them to go down by now) or picking up a GTX 4xx card just to watch it get destroyed by the new Radeons. Being patient can suck but it's worthwhile.
 
The 5970's GPUs have more streaming processors. They have as many as the 5870 GPU, but they are clocked similarly to the 5850. When clocked equally, the 5970 has more performance potential than dual 5850's do.

Enough to notice in gaming? If not, my decision is easily made.
 
Enough to notice in gaming? If not, my decision is easily made.

It will depend on the resolution you are using and whether or not you are using an Eyefinity setup or are planning on one. If your running at resolutions of 1920x1200 or greater and want AA and AF, then the 5970 is the way to go. If you are going to run an Eyefinity setup of 24" monitors at 1920x1200 each, then the 5970 is your best bet.
 
It will depend on the resolution you are using and whether or not you are using an Eyefinity setup or are planning on one. If your running at resolutions of 1920x1200 or greater and want AA and AF, then the 5970 is the way to go. If you are going to run an Eyefinity setup of 24" monitors at 1920x1200 each, then the 5970 is your best bet.

Sorry I should have mentioned - I will be running Eyefinity on (2) Dell 30" 3007WFP's and want to game in 2560x1600 and manhandle everything.

So in this circumstance to make my decision my question would be would there be a noticeable performance difference between two 5850's or 1 5970 (4GB)?
Difference in pricing would be $400 more for the 5970 Sapphire 4GB Toxic monster OC - Would you notice that much more difference in perf? If so, then booya I found my new card.

That's why I was considering the 5830's because if it could manhandle games with that res then I could spend $400 total rather than $1,200. I have a feeling though there would be a huge perf diff at the res I want to run at hunh :p
 
Definitely the 5970 is the baddest card you can get. If youre needing a GPU upgrade and can affore it, its definitely the way to go.

That being said, if you can wait 1 more month you should. The 6000's will be coming out then and its worth waiting to see how things shake out. You never know what $600 will buy you in a month.
 
Definitely the 5970 is the baddest card you can get. If youre needing a GPU upgrade and can affore it, its definitely the way to go.

That being said, if you can wait 1 more month you should. The 6000's will be coming out then and its worth waiting to see how things shake out. You never know what $600 will buy you in a month.

That's not what I want to hear, its everyones advice. I know there may be a price reduction BUT that's what I"m trying to decide as if I make the plunge now with the expensive card it might not make that much of a difference compared to what is coming out - difference of a few hundred dollars won't make a difference to me now and I can get everything running in Eyefinity NOW. If I would wait I would want to go cheaper to get the Eyefinity setup until they come out with the 6000's which is who knows when - that 6000 series won't be out in a month you can bank on that -, for now I'd be spending only $400 total. If I spent the $1,200 now, I would want to be assured that the badass factor would take me out to around 4-5years of manhandling any graphic intensive application. ..... http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/Sapphire-100280-4GTXSR_p26882_afg.html
31018838a.jpg
Isn't that badass! lol...




If the Sapphire can guarentee that I want to plunge now rather than later. If not, I'll go cheaper to get Eyefinity going with my new rig and wait - then get the 6000's and water cool everything at once later.

What do you all think?

Thanks man.
 
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That's not what I want to hear, its everyones advice. I know there may be a price reduction BUT that's what I"m trying to decide as if I make the plunge now with the expensive card it might not make that much of a difference compared to what is coming out - difference of a few hundred dollars won't make a difference to me now and I can get everything running in Eyefinity NOW. If I would wait I would want to go cheaper to get the Eyefinity setup until they come out with the 6000's which is who knows when - that 6000 series won't be out in a month you can bank on that -, for now I'd be spending only $400 total. If I spent the $1,200 now, I would want to be assured that the badass factor would take me out to around 4-5years of manhandling any graphic intensive application. If the Sapphire can guarentee that I want to plunge now rather than later. If not, I'll go cheaper to get Eyefinity going with my new rig and wait - then get the 6000's and water cool everything at once later.

What do you all think?

Thanks man.

First off, the 5970 4GB is the only way to go for a single card and multi-monitor gaming. Especially for 30" monitors. In fact everything I've read on the subject, and from what I've seen in my own testing with just two Dell 3007WFP monitors is that a single 5970 even overclocked to 5870 clock speeds is insufficient. Dual GeForce GTX 480's in SLI are actually going to be the best you can get right now for multi-monitor gaming.

However, I think you are missing the point. Recommending you wait on buying your video card is not about saving money. It is not about price reductions. It is about the 6000 series being considerably more powerful for the same money as a 5970 is today. We do not know the final specs on any cards but from what current indications are, it could be as much as twice the power of existing 5870 GPUs. Which means that two of them in Crossfire could be much more powerful than dual 5970's overclocked to 5870 speeds. When you've got 30" monitors you need all the power you can get. Right now there isn't anything that can drive games at 7680x4800 and do so at anything but low or medium detail levels. Only the oldest games can be experienced at max eye candy on such a setup. So keep that in mind. If you've got the money for a 5970 then you should wait another month or so. You'll be glad you did.
 
And when it comes to graphics cards, you'll never get the "badass factor" as you call it for 4-5 years. That's a pipe dream at best.
 
And when it comes to graphics cards, you'll never get the "badass factor" as you call it for 4-5 years. That's a pipe dream at best.

Yeah, year, year and a half tops. Progress has been too consistent lately for anything more.
 
Dan your the man :p

Thanks....uggh....this sucks....that Sapphire card just looks completely awesome! LOL...
 
Yeah, year, year and a half tops. Progress has been too consistent lately for anything more.

You might be able to call last generation's cards "badass" still to some degree for what they can do rather than how they compare to the latest generation. But at BEST the slump in performance increases has lasted about 2 to 2.5 (8800GTX-9800GX2) years for video cards since NVIDIA came onto the scene swinging like crazy at it's competitors in the late 1990's early 2000's.

Oh, as for Eyefinity on 2 3007WFP's, it sucks. I've tried it. You need three. The bezel being in the middle of your view blows.
 
Wow...thanks for that, I'll have to pick up another one! LOL.... (3) 3007WFP's OMG...ugggh! Now I see why you don't see anyone doing Eyefinity with Dual's ....thanks.
 
I'm with Dan. I would hold off for 6 series. Unfortunately my oced 5970 can't max current games at 5760x1200. Let alone a crazy tri 30" setup.
 
Well... I just used more Amex points and now got another Dell 30 incher...so now I will have 3! Oh this is gonna be good....

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
Yup gotta go triple monitors. Dual eyefinity looks lame. At least you've spent some money on something that you will serve you well now and into the future, the third monitor. I think 6000 series might be powerful enough to power the triple 30's but 5000 series is not there there yet, we'll see.
 
If you have 3 30" monitors and you are really looking for drive them then you need to wait for the 6000 series - as the 5000 series wont do it. They are not powerful enough. If the 6000 series really is +20% performance you *might* be able to do it then.
 
If you have 3 30" monitors and you are really looking for drive them then you need to wait for the 6000 series - as the 5000 series wont do it. They are not powerful enough. If the 6000 series really is +20% performance you *might* be able to do it then.

Will 2 GTX 480's drive them?
 
If you have 3 30" monitors and you are really looking for drive them then you need to wait for the 6000 series - as the 5000 series wont do it. They are not powerful enough. If the 6000 series really is +20% performance you *might* be able to do it then.

The 5000 series is as powerful as you can get in a single card. However, it still isn't enough. A single 4GB 5970 isn't enough to get the job done and the GPU scaling is too pathetic to do it with dual 5970's. The 6000 will certainly be better at driving Eyefinity than the 5000 series is but that still doesn't mean that it will be enough.

Will 2 GTX 480's drive them?

Right now with SLI scaling as well as it does dual GeForce GTX 480's is the absolute best video card configuration for driving 3 30" monitors available today. Don't kid yourself though, they aren't powerful enough either for most newer games. The NVIDIA cards are just a better option than ATI's Radeon HD 5xxx series cards are due to their superiority with regard to multi-GPU scaling.
 
If I was to power 3 30" screens I would be waiting for the 6k series. Better performance and WAY better tesselation power!
 
If your always waiting for the next best thing, you'll always be waiting... I'm sure after the 6K series hit's, nVidia will be out with something next year more powerfull, and on and on...
 
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