Computer video card question

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silverbullet132

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In a rig with a 3770k, 32gb ram, 5850, and 750w psu, should I:

-Add a 5970
-Replace 5850 with 6870x2

Both cards are at about the same price point.

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I don't think you have enough PSU horsepower to put in a dual setup with the 5 series cards.

Imo the single 5970 is superior to the 2x 6870 if you're playing in 1080p or higher.

Reasoning:

5970 has almost 2x the power draw of one 6870 at 294W vs 151W
5970 has 90% more bandwidth than one 6870
5970's pixel rate is over 200% higher than a single 6870 (and thus, still double a 2x6870)
5970 is VASTLY superior in textel rate (rendering textures and using AF in games)

6870 has it beat in clock speed, but once you factor in raw horsepower and graphics support for Xfire being a *****, I see no reason to buy the 6870s. Specially since the 5970 is basically 2 cards.

You are aware 32gb of RAM is a waste right?
 
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I am using half of the ram for a ramdisk. 6870x2 is the actual card by the way, it is not two separate 6870s. I am also playing at 1920x1200, should have mentioned that.
 
Lol. 32gb Ram, lol

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silverbullet132 said:
I am using half of the ram for a ramdisk. 6870x2 is the actual card by the way, it is not two separate 6870s. I am also playing at 1920x1200, should have mentioned that.
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Then why bother asking the question? That card is vast overkill for anyone, so if you can afford it go for it.
 
Macs said:
Then why bother asking the question? That card is vast overkill for anyone, so if you can afford it go for it.
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Because in some games even my buddies 6870 CF crossfire setup hurts (Newest total war, some parts of dayz etc)
 
Not all games rely purely on the GPU. A lot of BIG games (Civ 4/5, Total War, GTA IV) also heavily rely on RAM and CPU power to render properly.

From a cursory glance around the net the 6870 X2 is worth getting if you can't afford the 7970/7990. The 5970 does seem to have better reviews though.
 
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Ah alright, thanks. 5970 it is :)

Any reccomendations on a program to create the ramdisk?
 
Not familiar with using one, but from a cursory google search there are some good forum topics devoted to it around the net.
 
Intel i5 is more than enough for any high res game. Intel i7 is over kill.


Macs said:
Not all games rely purely on the GPU. A lot of BIG games (Civ 4/5, Total War, GTA IV) also heavily rely on RAM and CPU power to render properly.

From a cursory glance around the net the 6870 X2 is worth getting if you can't afford the 7970/7990. The 5970 does seem to have better reviews though.
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Never understood dumping tons of money on computer hardware that becomes obselete so quickly, especially if it's just for gaming. Just spend $250 on a console and you're good for a few years lol
 
SpeeDemoN said:
Never understood dumping tons of money on computer hardware that becomes obselete so quickly, especially if it's just for gaming. Just spend $250 on a console and you're good for a few years lol
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For me, it's having a keyboard and mouse. Soo much better.

Mods are nice too.
 
I got the 5970 almost one year ago during the Black Friday sale ($299) and it has been a ROCK SOLID amazing card!! I HIGHLY recommend it.

I was a bit nervous that a dual-gpu card might have glitchy/buggy drivers (heck Catalyst drivers are known to be buggy for single gpu cards!) but I can honestly say this has been one of the most stable crash free cards i have owned.

And it's FAST AS HECK!!! I get over 200fps on 1080p with max graphics settings for cs:go.

Interesting note - I originally had this card in a mobo with 3 gigs RAM with Phenom X4 9950 CPU. When I upgraded to my new board with 8 gigs RAM and i5-3470 CPU my in-game FPS only increased by about 10 percent. It's clear the bottlenecks for gaming are still the graphics card - if you're a gamer it makes little sense to upgrade anything but your graphics card.
 
Hard core gamers use PC. The level of graphics is far superior on a PC with a badass card.


SpeeDemoN said:
Never understood dumping tons of money on computer hardware that becomes obselete so quickly, especially if it's just for gaming. Just spend $250 on a console and you're good for a few years lol
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BLUE_KAWI said:
Hard core gamers use PC. The level of graphics is far superior on a PC with a badass card.
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The above posts are mentioning 1080p resolution. Now how much better can the graphics actually be? $3000 better? lol that's just nuts.

Plus - I'd rather lay back on the sofa, fire up the ps3 and enjoy on the 60" tv rather than sit at a desk with a monitor 2 ft from my face.

That's just me though.
 
SpeeDemoN said:
The above posts are mentioning 1080p resolution. Now how much better can the graphics actually be? $3000 better? lol that's just nuts.

Plus - I'd rather lay back on the sofa, fire up the ps3 and enjoy on the 60" tv rather than sit at a desk with a monitor 2 ft from my face.

That's just me though.
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Cause it's so far fetched to hook up a PC to a TV with HDMI right? Hell, my laptop is collecting dust since it sits on my TV stand pretty much untouched for weeks at a time. Wireless keyboards, wireless mice, gaming pads, driver support for xbox 360 controllers, etc. The console is almost obsolete.

And no offense to anyone, but only benchmark whores or guys with expendable income blow thousands on desktops. I am one of them.

I could build a relevant and powerful desktop setup for under $1000 (not including monitor/TV).

Go look at some of the ENBs that are out for GTA IV or Skyrim. PC graphics are years ahead of console graphics, consoles are holding the industry back. An optimized for PC game (Crysis, Metro 2033, Witcher 2) will ALWAYS, 100% of the time have VASTLY superior graphics and controls than a console port (Skyrim, Dishonored, Battlefield, COD)

Plus your hardcore PC gamers are using medical grade trucolor monitors with 2560×1440 resolution. 1080p is just the most easily marketed "highest res". 720p is more practical and you don't lose much.

As far as "zomg PC stuff goes obsolete so fast!" no it doesn't. Bloomfield CPUs aren't obsolete (such as the i7-980x) they've just been improved upon. The GTX5XX series isn't obsolete, it too has been improved upon. Hell, the GTX4XX cards are still relevant and they go for under 100 a piece.

You'll find a very select few PC enthusiasts actually buying the latest tech to upgrade their "old" tech. I was still running a 9800GTX when the GTX5XX series came out. I only upgraded cause my old Core 2 Quad and mobo got fried when I screwed up while overclocking. I could probably still run newer games with a 9800GTX SLI setup. Maybe not on "Ultra" settings.
 
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Macs said:
Cause it's so far fetched to hook up a PC to a TV with HDMI right? Hell, my laptop is collecting dust since it sits on my TV stand pretty much untouched for weeks at a time. Wireless keyboards, wireless mice, gaming pads, driver support for xbox 360 controllers, etc. The console is almost obsolete.

And no offense to anyone, but only benchmark whores or guys with expendable income blow thousands on desktops. I am one of them.

I could build a relevant and powerful desktop setup for under $1000 (not including monitor/TV).

Go look at some of the ENBs that are out for GTA IV or Skyrim. PC graphics are years ahead of console graphics, consoles are holding the industry back. An optimized for PC game (Crysis, Metro 2033, Witcher 2) will ALWAYS, 100% of the time have VASTLY superior graphics and controls than a console port (Skyrim, Dishonored, Battlefield, COD)

Plus your hardcore PC gamers are using medical grade trucolor monitors with 2560×1440 resolution.
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Point taken. I guess for the 1 time every 6 months or so I play a video game, I just-don't-care.

Carry on
 
SpeeDemoN said:
The above posts are mentioning 1080p resolution. Now how much better can the graphics actually be? $3000 better? lol that's just nuts.

Plus - I'd rather lay back on the sofa, fire up the ps3 and enjoy on the 60" tv rather than sit at a desk with a monitor 2 ft from my face.

That's just me though.
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You can build a superb computer for less than a 1000. In fact with some of the Black Friday/Boxing Day specials, you can build a good computer that will last you a decent while for less than 4-500. Microcenter in the states has an Ivy Bridge i5/i7 for less than 100 on sale right now. Your PS3 has very little difference to a computer; it just has software designed to play PS3 games and hooks up to a TV easily. I can hook my PC to any screen I'd like as well, I'm not restricted to just a monitor.

Lastly, more people buy these sort of computers not because they just want to experience higher end gaming, but because it's also a hobby for them. I've built countless of computers in my time so far, and I've always enjoyed choosing parts and putting them together the most. Can't forget about benchmarks either.

Also +1 to the 9800GT. I've given my mom my old gaming computer I built over FIVE years ago, and it's still running strong and can handle most games at a moderate setting.
 
Torcida said:
You can build a superb computer for less than a 1000. In fact with some of the Black Friday/Boxing Day specials, you can build a good computer that will last you a decent while for less than 4-500. Microcenter in the states has an Ivy Bridge i5/i7 for less than 100 on sale right now. Your PS3 has very little difference to a computer; it just has software designed to play PS3 games and hooks up to a TV easily. I can hook my PC to any screen I'd like as well, I'm not restricted to just a monitor.

Lastly, more people buy these sort of computers not because they just want to experience higher end gaming, but because it's also a hobby for them. I've built countless of computers in my time so far, and I've always enjoyed choosing parts and putting them together the most. Can't forget about benchmarks either.

Also +1 to the 9800GT. I've given my mom my old gaming computer I built over FIVE years ago, and it's still running strong and can handle most games at a moderate setting.
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Hey I'm all for building a kick *** computer lol. I also connect computers to TV via HDMI (well, more like to AV Receiver via HDMI and then HDMI from receiver to TV etc). I have HTPC's throughout my home. I refer to the crowd that spends thousands on parts just to play a new game or whatever. That doesn't make any sense to me. I just don't see how the difference (console vs pc) can be worth the price of admission. But then again I'm no hardcore gamer.
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