Best Graphics card out

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Nicko

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Which graphics card is the best

I finally got my budget for my new PC, which is R19 000. Before the recent release of the 6000 series, I was pretty set on getting an AMD 5970, but now I was thinking of 6870 CF. Seeing that the 6870 CF out performs the 5970 :O and comes close to the Geforce GTX 480 SLI. What you guys think?

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/13

(or do you it will be worth waiting for the 6970)

If you guys want, I can post my planned rig.
 
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I would definitely go for 6870 SLI if you can get your hands on that card! You can probably expect to see better results as the drivers from AMD could still improve I suppose.
Also, the GTX480's are power hungry, and performance/watt, those HD 6870's kick the GTX 480's ass. If you wait a little longer, you could go for the HD 69xx series, but I have no idea when they'll be released.

Currently I run 2x MSI Cyclone GTX 460 OC 1GB cards (both at 875/913MHz @ 1.03V) and the performance is really amazing. I'm really don't know why you would want more performance than this though - or at least I won't need this much for most of my games.

I would say that it would rather be worth it to spend the money on a decent screen or save some for a next upgrade instead.
 
Ye think I am prolly gonna get the 6870 CF. I might just wait till 10th of November (heard thats when they might release the 6970).

The main problem I got now is deciding on the CPU/Motherboard, normally when getting a nvidia graphics card I would just get a intel CPU. But seeing that I am getting a ATI graphics card, should I be looking at a AMD CPU (Heard they are more compatible). Also, for gaming is it really worth getting a i7 rather than a i5?

If you wanna check out my rig so far:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...2poZThMZGc&hl=en&pli=1&authkey=CPu4y6UJ#gid=0

Thanks in advance
 
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Your CPU + GPU combo will never have compatibility issues. Dont worry about that. Also, in 95% of games a Phenom quad = i5 750/760 = i7 at your resolution, reason being the game becomes far more GPU dependant. However, since you want to run xfire you need a board that has 2 16x PCIe lanes, otherwise you will have a (marginal) drop in performance, so this sort of forces you to either get a 890FX, top end LGA1156, or any LGA1136 board. Any reason why you are going for 8gb RAM? If you are only gaming its farily useless. Finally, your GPU, the 6870 is the best xfire combo you can get, and at a hell of a price too (check my sig for comparitive charts). Like you said - you could wait for the 69xx cards to launch, but I suspect only a lucky few people will actually have them in SA before January.
 
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Those 6970's I think will be worth the wait. Looks like those cards are going to be beasts...patience is a virtue lol. X-Fire of those and you won't need a new card for quite some time :P
 
The formula is an ATX board, whereas the gene is smaller. Otherwise no real difference.
That i7 you are getting is too expensive - can get it at least R300 cheaper (prophecy or wootware). I would also strongly recommend a CPU cooler. Cogage true is best value for money you will get (try this)
 
Archer said:
The formula is an ATX board, whereas the gene is smaller. Otherwise no real difference.
That i7 you are getting is too expensive - can get it at least R300 cheaper (prophecy or wootware). I would also strongly recommend a CPU cooler. Cogage true is best value for money you will get (try this)
Click to expand...

+1. Also, the price on that ram seems a bit high...
 
Yes, for RAM you should rather go for G. Skill (example). I really have no idea how they do it - their RAM is awesome, but also cheap :confused:
 
Everything Archer has told you is true.

Shop around for the I7 chip. Also the 950 is now the price the 930 was, get one of those rather ($ to R has helped this). (Around R2500 for this, gets cheaper each week).

Nice case, good ram, good PSU, you are good to go.

I have the GENE, my mate has the formula, real difference is size. MATX v ATX, so its just a bigger board, and minus some chips you wont even use. Rampage is the win, overclocking the 950 you will get is a breeze. One button and you will be at 3.7GHZ, a little more tweaking and you will pump out 4 GHZ, more tweaking 4.2ghz is on the radar.

You will need a cooler for that CPU if you want to clock it, if you dont want to clock, then dont bother with the Rampage board, you wont be using it properly. I buoght the CM V8 for R650, works like a dream, but i know there are alot of people who love the Cogage True Spirit, personal preference here.

Good luck, have fun, build it yourself, mess up, fix it, rock out.
 
Good luck with getting an order... these cards are suffering from horrible production issues... and seeing as the 6870/6850 are relatively simple cores, the 69XX cards will probably need a lot of TLC at TSMC to get them spitting out :p
 
scotty777 said:
Good luck with getting an order... these cards are suffering from horrible production issues... and seeing as the 6870/6850 are relatively simple cores, the 69XX cards will probably need a lot of TLC at TSMC to get them spitting out :p
Click to expand...

Source? This is the first I am hearing of this "production issue"
 
Pada said:
Currently I run 2x MSI Cyclone GTX 460 OC 1GB cards (both at 875/913MHz @ 1.03V) and the performance is really amazing. I'm really don't know why you would want more performance than this though - or at least I won't need this much for most of my games.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind me asking how much did that set you back?
 
Pada said:
I would definitely go for 6870 SLI if you can get your hands on that card! You can probably expect to see better results as the drivers from AMD could still improve I suppose.
Also, the GTX480's are power hungry, and performance/watt, those HD 6870's kick the GTX 480's ass. If you wait a little longer, you could go for the HD 69xx series, but I have no idea when they'll be released.

Currently I run 2x MSI Cyclone GTX 460 OC 1GB cards (both at 875/913MHz @ 1.03V) and the performance is really amazing. I'm really don't know why you would want more performance than this though - or at least I won't need this much for most of my games.

I would say that it would rather be worth it to spend the money on a decent screen or save some for a next upgrade instead.
Click to expand...

What he said! :D No but seriously the GTX460's are no laughing matter. In some cases where they are overclocked they surpass or match the 480's in SLI. Where else would you get such value for money?

Alan said:
If you don't mind me asking how much did that set you back?
Click to expand...

These babies would only set you back between 4 or 5 grand depending where you buy. Thats where the value comes in.
 
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my 460 is the 768mb one, OC'd through MSI afterburner, I am pumping over 80 FPS in Kombustor at full with POST, over 100 without. Mafia II runs on high, and had the second highest score in benchmark for FFXIV.

The 460's really are no laughing matter, in SLI it must be great. (Checks prophecy).
 
S1lv3r H4wK said:
What he said! :D No but seriously the GTX460's are no laughing matter. In some cases where they are overclocked they surpass or match the 480's in SLI. Where else would you get such value for money?
Click to expand...
Not a single one of the results I have show this :confused: edit: missed the overclocked part, my bad :)

These babies would only set you back between 4 or 5 grand depending where you buy. Thats where the value comes in.
Click to expand...

Actually the best value multi GPU setup is 2x HD6850, then the HD6870, then only the GTX460 1GB. The two AMD cards also give higher average FPS than the SLI 460.
 
Alan said:
If you don't mind me asking how much did that set you back?
Click to expand...
I got the 2x MSI Cyclone GTX 460 OC 1GB cards for R2280 each at Prophecy Shop. Now it costs R2600 again, so you might as well just go for the MSI Hawk GTX 460 @ R2600 / MSI HD 5850 Twin Frozr @ R2506

Those graphics cards was probably not even 1/4th of my PC's total cost.

At this moment the HD 6850's in CF looks really good, although for some reason the benchmarks that I saw showed that the minimum framerates were lower than those cars in single configurations! Perhaps newer drivers would correct that problem.
Also, I didn't like that the HD 68x0's had a higher idle power consumption and a blower type fan.

I'm just wondering how far you can overclock those HD 6850's, because I was able to OC my GTX 460's from 675 (actually 725 since they're already OC'd) to 875MHz in SLI!

Update: Here are my 3DMarks Vantage benchmarks results: http://www.phforums.co.za/f45/3d-mark-vantage-scores-34631/index43.html#post808987
 
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