Setup suggestion for 2650 x 1600

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verbel

Weaksauce
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
98
Hey all,
I recently decided to build a new system and the only thing I am stuck on is the graphics card choice. I went with a i7 2600k and I will have plenty of memory so that should not be a limiting factor. I currently have HIS 5870. The resolution I run at is 2650 X 1600. I'm not really sure what would be best to get the most out of running at the resolution. Would it be better to try to find another 5870 and run them in cross fire or go with a new card or cards? I do not really care if it is ATI or Nvidia at this point, but I would like to not go too much ever 300 if that’s possible. If I go with one card I will probably plan on getting another one for a duel setup after I save some more. I appreciate any advice.
 
With the bitcoin mining craze, your 5870 should have a fairly good resale value. Post it on EBay or in the FS/T forum. Either buy a single 6970($320) or you could just about afford two 6950's. Each $210 equals 420 minus whatever you get from the 5870. Both the 69xx cards have 2GiB og VRam. well suited for 25x16. Would be my choice if your mb and psu supports it. But as always CF/Sli will give you more hassle than a single card.

6950Cf will rock 25x16. The new AMd cards are 3 months or so away, but the 69xx series are so cheap today I personally see no point in waiting for them.
 
Yep, dual 6950's is the best performance/value you will get for this resolution. The 2GB vram makes them a better choice for 1600p than what nvidia offers currently.
 
Thanks for the reply's guys. I will start looking at those cards. I never actually though about selling my old one for some reason. I wonder what I could get for it.
 
The 5870 is still a good card and should definitely cover a nice chunk of upgrading.

I have a u3011 right now being driven by dual GTX 460's. They've done ok with the 2560x1600 res but I too am looking to get a pair of 6950's.
 
You can get more then the 5870's really worth at this point in it's life due to the bitcoin nuts, so if possible I wouldn't hesitate in selling it. There's also a few people dumping their 6950 / 6970's on some of the boards lately, might want to check those too if you don't mind used (would still be 2 years warranty on original MSI / Asus ones at this point).
 
Definitely crossfire 6950s for that resolution If you going the multicard route. If you are set on a single card then a 6970 would be ideal for the 2gb of vram. and the price of admission is much more attractive than what nvidia has currently
 
First of all MAKE SURE YOU HAVE 2 OPEN SLOTS BETWEEN YOUR PCI E-16(8) SLOTS. If you dont sli and especially crossfired cards will get very hot!.

There is no single gpu card that can play all games at playable framerates at 2500x1600 high settings, with any sort of AA, especially online. It not a ram limitation its a gpu power limitation in most cases. Last year, I remember not even a single 5870 or highlty overclocked gtx460 1gb could utilize more than 1gb of memory before framerates were too low.

Metro is one of the most demanding games out there, and here you see the 1gb of memory is not the sli'ed gtx560ti's limitation.
Whether it be a single 2gb gtx560 , 2.5gb gtx570,2gb 6950 or 2gb 6970. None of them have the gpu power "most of the time" to push more than 1gb of memory before the framerates are to low anyway @ 2500x1600.

Dual gtx570's or dual 6950's, I would recommend to get smooth framerates throughout the entire game.
You need dual cards for that, unless your willing to drop down some settings.


36049.png


There is obviously a driver issue in this benchmark with Crysis warhead, a pair of gtx560's will not beat a pair of gtx570's. gtx570's should be getting about 42fps.
But like I said single cards minimums are unplayable here.
36044.png


A racing game (Dirt 3) is better played at around 50/ 60fps not dipping into the 30's like these single cards are doing even without AA..
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Definitely look at selling your card, browse eBay (use the "recently completed" option in search to see what auctions are landing on) also check local Craigslist and [H]. You can probably upgrade to CF 6950 2GB's for relatively cheap, and it will be a nice boost.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I decided to go with 2 6950's. I wanted to get the saphire toxic's but I am not patient enough to wait for them to come in stock somewhere. I sold my 5870 for 150, I think I could have gotten more out of it but I sold it to a friend so I let it go for less. All in all after I applied some credit I had so I got both of them for a total of 330 with Dirt 3 and Deus ex . Now I just have to wait.....
 
Good choice. I went from CF 5870 to a single 580 and everything plays very smoothly on my 30" at 2560x1600. I'm not a stickler for maxing out the graphics settings on every game, so the 580 is fine for me. I might upgrade to the AMD 7 series depending on how it performs.
 
verbel said:
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I decided to go with 2 6950's. I wanted to get the saphire toxic's but I am not patient enough to wait for them to come in stock somewhere. I sold my 5870 for 150, I think I could have gotten more out of it but I sold it to a friend so I let it go for less. All in all after I applied some credit I had so I got both of them for a total of 330 with Dirt 3 and Deus ex . Now I just have to wait.....
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That is a good deal, especially as both those games are good and worth $80ish alone. Do you get two copies of each game since you got two cards? If so you should sell the second copies to recoup more money. I might buy a DiRT3 key :).
 
Now that you mention it I should have ordered each card from a different account so i could get 2 copies of Dues Ex, I doubt I will now though Oh well I guess.

Mr Wolf: ya I was actually considering the 580 because I really like EVGA, but price won out in the end this time. I almost convinced myself that I needed a 590 class, but then my wife hit me......
 
verbel said:
Mr Wolf: ya I was actually considering the 580 because I really like EVGA, but price won out in the end this time. I almost convinced myself that I needed a 590 class, but then my wife hit me......
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You made the right call, both for gaming AND to avoid the wrath of wifey! ;)

CF 6950 pretty much pimp-slaps a single 580.
 
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