• 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.

What system will accommodate a 6990?

X

xebo

n00b
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Messages
36
This might be the wrong forum, and if so I apologize in advance for my mistake.

I will be picking up a 6990 soon. Despite the VGA splurge, I'd like to stay on budget with the rest of my PC. What CPU/PSU/MOBO would you guys recommend, that will allow the 6990 to do its thing without breaking the bank?

I plan on gaming mainly at 16x10, and don't care for overclocking or future proofing ^_^
 
Why are you getting a 6990? What resolution are you gaming at? Do you have mutiple displays?

I think a 6970, and Intel 2600k, and an Asus Z68 motherboard would play all the latest and greatest games, and last you a few years.
 
I wanted to play bf3 at 100 fps minimum with at 16x10 resolution. The 6990 seems like a good fit for that (afaik), and I'm getting a pretty good deal on it since I'm buying through a friend.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. I'll consider the card you suggested as well as the equipment to support it.

tyvm
 
I "plan on gaming mainly at 16x10"

I would get a gtx580 for the best single gpu performance at that res. as for cpu get the 2500k.
 
See my sig. I can play everything. You could get most of it used.
 
100fps? Do you have a 120hz monitor? If not, then don't waste your money, because the 6990 IS a waste of money.

IMO, grab two recertified GTX 570's for $200 each on newegg, save that $300 and put it into nicer parts.


Motherboard, CPU, and PSU I recommend: ASrock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 motherboard $125, i5-2500k $215, Corsair AX850 $180


As for a case, personal preference really. I'd say the three best cases on the market are the Corsair 800D (way out of budget for you if you want to save some money, but it's by far the best case on the market), the 650D, and the HAF X. The 650D offers superior cable management over the HAF X, with a sleeker more elegant look. The HAF X offers great airflow (hence "HAF" - high air flow), decent cable management, and has an over-the-top look to it.


I personally have an 800D and I think it's absolutely worth the $300 price tag, but for someone more budget-minded the 650D is the 800D's little brother. It doesn't have a hot-swappable drive bay and all of the cool features the 800D has, but it does have a lot of the most essential features as well as the sleek, elegant look and excellent build quality that the 800D has.

The HAF X I've only seen, never owned. Definitely a cool case, but not my style. I like a cleaner more professional, sleek look on the outside, with decked out LED's and watercooling to make it really shine on the inside.
 
Only way you'll get 100fps minimum is if you play at the lowest possible settings. I say this because a 100fps minimum would require your average fps to be in the 120-130fps range and the max somewhere around 150+ which I don't see happening if you plan to use the Ultra settings.

As mentioned before, why exactly do you require a 100fps minimum?

For the rest of your upgrade, can't really go wrong with a 2500k (no need for the 2600k unless you require Hyper-threading, which won't help you in games), TX850 and a motherboard of your choice. I run the ASUS P8P67 Pro, have no experience with the ASrock boards but have heard good things about them too.
 
Last edited:
The i5 2500K can do 100fps minimum if you overclock it, easy. You wouldn't even need to overclock it much.
At 1680x1050, 100fps minimum isn't totally insurmountable, an HD6990 can do it if you turn the AA and AO completely off, with room to spare. You may even be able to enable 2xAA and/or SSAO without dropping below the 100 mark. The GTX580 on the other hand would find it much more difficult.
 
100fps? Do you have a 120hz monitor? If not, then don't waste your money, because the 6990 IS a waste of money.
Click to expand...

So......please, why is the 6990 a waste of money?
A single GTX 580 3GB model is 700 dollars?
Two HD 6970s are roughly $700.
The 6990 is 700 dollars.

The card is wickedly overclockable, and can run anything you would choose to play.

It is especially handy if you want the benefit of dual GPUs in a single PCI-e slot.

I have not regretted my purchase one bit. However it my be overkill for some applications.
For Eyefinity it is the way to go.
 
I think two 6950's for like $450 is a lot better value...
i7 2600k, upgrade the cooler, overclock
850+ watt PSU
SSD drives.
 
The 3GB GTX580s are $600 actually, but your point's still valid. The HD6990 is not a waste of money if you'll make use of its capabilities (aiming for 100fps in BF3 certainly counts as making use)
buttons: It's $500 for two 2GB HD6950s. They are a lot cheaper, but not always ideal.
 
buttons said:
I think two 6950's for like $450 is a lot better value...
i7 2600k, upgrade the cooler, overclock
850+ watt PSU
SSD drives.
Click to expand...

The current 6950s have good and bad points.
First most are open coolers, the heat will dissipate into your case.
Second, they cannot typically be modded to 6970 shader counts.
Third, they cannot be clocked to match the overclocks of the 6970 or the 6990.

while they are cheaper and contain 2 GB of VRAM, they are not 6970s or 6990s by any stretch.

even if you get some good cards, they will still require two PCI-e slots, compared to the one for the 6990.:p

when I checked the GTX 580 prices I guess I was blinded by the "Classified" version. I was off on the price of the 3 GB models a little, but the operational compasisons are still very valid......and the GTX 590 doesn't come close to the HD 6990......now you could get an ASUS ARES but that deal is 1400 dollars......:eek:
 
Last edited:
Why anyone would buy an Ares now is beyond me - they use 5870 GPUs, very much outdated, and inferior to the HD6990 in every way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top