$150 for 6870 or wait?

[kluu]

Hi, if you guys are still around...

I want to ask about putting thermal paste on video cards. I've never done it before. I've only done it on a CPU chip. Its really simple to do it on a CPU, but how about on GPU? Can anyone explain me the process? is it worth the hassle?

Also, I want to have this card for a long time (8800gt died after 2.5yrs). Is there anything I can do to help the video card's longevity? I was thinking of adding case fans, or maybe a heatsink? Are there any other things I can do?

I have a Antec Three Hundred so theres

two 120mm in front (intake)
one side panel 120mm (intake)
top 140mm (exhaust)
back 120mm (exhaust)

i have fans everywhere except the front. By the way, is the intake/exhaust correct above? Should I have it setup that way?

I was looking at fans and I came across Scythe Ultra Kaze and Slipstream. They seem like the most powerful fans. Any suggestions?

 

[RavenSEAL]

o__O

You definitely might wanna add some intake fans...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

o__O

You definitely might wanna add some intake fans...

Yeah. Intake is important

 

[RavenSEAL]

Go for the Scythe Slipstream, they are awesome fans.

I have 2 of them working as side intake and back exhaust. I suggest the 110CFM version.

 

[WMD]

2x6870 in crossfire will out perform a 7970 and cost almost half the price. BF3 will run superbly on this setup. :thumbsup:

 

[nOOky]

A single 7970 is about 3-4% faster than 2 HD6870's, I know I just switched from one to the other. A single 6870 is still a darn good deal and still does well at 1920 x 1080.
I didn't have a lot of problems with the Crossfire setup, just some minor micro stuttering in a few games.

 

[WMD]

A single 7970 is about 3-4% faster than 2 HD6870's, I know I just switched from one to the other. A single 6870 is still a darn good deal and still does well at 1920 x 1080.
I didn't have a lot of problems with the Crossfire setup, just some minor micro stuttering in a few games.

Only when CF scaling is broken. A 7970 is no where near 2x of 6870 performance. Most games will scale fantastically on the 6870 series.

 

[nOOky]

Just because that chart says a 6870 is 61% as fast doesn't make it 122% faster in Crossfire.
All things being equal I ran a few quick benchies and here is what I found:

 

[RavenSEAL]

Just because that chart says a 6870 is 61% as fast doesn't make it 122% faster in Crossfire.
All things being equal I ran a few quick benchies and here is what I found:

Remember to take into consideration the fact that one setup is at least $250 cheaper than the other...

With that in mind, I think obvious winner is obvious...

 

[kluu]

Go for the Scythe Slipstream, they are awesome fans.

I have 2 of them working as side intake and back exhaust. I suggest the 110CFM version.

Cool. I was looking at that or the Ultra Kaze. Thanks

I have the front fans unoccupied but they say its to cool the hard drives. From the front of the case to lets says the video card is a looong distance away. I wonder if it can make any difference.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Cool. I was looking at that or the Ultra Kaze. Thanks

I have the front fans unoccupied but they say its to cool the hard drives. From the front of the case to lets says the video card is a looong distance away. I wonder if it can make any difference.

When things get really hot, they do!

 

[kluu]

Haha, okay I understand.

Is it worth going through taking the video card apart to apply thermal paste ?

 

[tweakboy]

It would actually be more than 20% better than a GTX 580 if there was a crossfire profile for the game, if that particular game scales well, AND, if the conditions are right within the game itself.

Multi GPU sucks. The performance fluctuations are a deal breaker for me. What really started annoying me was the realization of how much energy my system was wasting when I wasn't gaming. With multiple monitors my GTX 460s didn't clock down properly and ran pig rich.

:thumbsup:

 

[m3t4lh34d]

Just because that chart says a 6870 is 61% as fast doesn't make it 122% faster in Crossfire.
All things being equal I ran a few quick benchies and here is what I found:

There's no way in hell that 7970 isn't overclocked getting a 3dmark11 score of 9200+. Of course comparing 2 6870s to an OC'd 7970 is going to favor the 7970. Stock vs stock they are on an even playing field.

 

[nOOky]

Yes it was overclocked, and the 6870's are overclocked and overclock well also.
I'd say the two options are fairly even performance-wise with a slight margin to the single 7970 which could be explained away with margin of error (3%). My point is, having both, the 6870's don't kill a 7970 as far as performance, but they are a much better value.
I was merely responding to the poster that claimed a single 7970 is nowhere near crossfired 6870's in terms of performance, when in fact it is either equal or slightly better based on my testing. I'm sure there are charts somewhere comparing both options.
I'm not sure the OP is interested in either option though, but a single 6870 does a pretty good job itself anyway.

 

[nOOky]

Remember to take into consideration the fact that one setup is at least $250 cheaper than the other...

With that in mind, I think obvious winner is obvious...

I much prefer the single card myself. It is a lot of cash and not for everyone though, obviously. But a single card has many advantages over 2 cards, which has been discussed at length many times over. Suffice to say should one 7970 become not enough down the line, I can add another card for even more performance, but if you already have two you are already maxed out.
But enough thread crapping already, someone can start a Crossfire versus single card thread if they wish to continue the discussion.

 

[WMD]

Just because that chart says a 6870 is 61% as fast doesn't make it 122% faster in Crossfire.
All things being equal I ran a few quick benchies and here is what I found:

They will have to scale very badly in CF to not overtake a 7970. Even the 5800 series scales over 80% mostly and the 6800s are way better than that.

Your benchmarks results are not normal at all. Only 4529 on a overclocked 6870? That looked awfully slow. A 5850 overclocked hits 5336 so a 6870 should be at least 10-20% better than that considering how much better they overclock.

 

[GaiaHunter]

They will have to scale very badly in CF to not overtake a 7970. Even the 5800 series scales over 80% mostly and the 6800s are way better than that.

Your benchmarks results are not normal at all. Only 4529 on a overclocked 6870? That looked awfully slow. A 5850 overclocked hits 5336 so a 6870 should be at least 10-20% better than that considering how much better they overclock.

At the same clock the 5850 will be faster than the 6870 and both should reach around 1GHz (the 5850 might actually do more than that).

Depending on the games the 6870CF will vary from slightly slower (on games that historically performed worse on AMD cards compared to NVIDIA) to reasonably faster (best case scenario), but on average slightly faster.

I'm not sure how actual is the 6800 series scaling much better than the 5800 series, either that or the TUP results are messed.

 

[mosox]

Can't beat the HD6870 in price/performance. I remember when the HD4770 was cheap, great little cards and very good bang for the buck but the HD6870 is even better.

 

[Keysplayr]

149$ with "free shipping", and dirt3 game, seems pretty cheap for a 6870.

Closet performance card Nvidia has to it is probably the 560ti....
and they cost like 280$ (nearly twice as much $ for like ~4% more perf)

the 280$ figour is just from looking at newegg and 560ti prices.
Kinda expensive compaired to the value that 6870 offers.

It ll probably be months until there is a card in the same segment, and even then price probably wont drop that much. If your in dire need of a upg, go with the 6870... its a pretty good card for its price.

Sorry for quoting so late, but you're about 100 bucks off.
Just sayin.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401

 

[Arkadrel]

@Keys

thats one of the 560ti with only 384 cores though... isnt the one in that slide above one of the 448 ones? >_>

why does nvidia release 2 cards with same name, with differnt amount of shaders? confuseing.

The 448 cores where around 280$ on newegg (when I looked).... the 384 core version alot lower yes.

Found some cheaper 448 core version though:
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW ~260$ seem like a good deal.

 

[GaiaHunter]

@Keys

thats one of the 560ti with only 384 cores though... isnt the one in that slide above one of the 448 ones? >_>

why does nvidia release 2 cards with same name, with differnt amount of shaders? confuseing.

The 448 cores where around 280$ on newegg (when I looked).... the 384 core version alot lower yes.

Found some cheaper 448 core version though:
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW ~260$ seem like a good deal.

That one is the GTX560 Ti.

The 448 core is closer to the GTX570

.

On the other hand you can also find 6950 1GB for around the same price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523 .

 

[Keysplayr]

@Keys

thats one of the 560ti with only 384 cores though... isnt the one in that slide above one of the 448 ones? >_>

why does nvidia release 2 cards with same name, with differnt amount of shaders? confuseing.

The 448 cores where around 280$ on newegg (when I looked).... the 384 core version alot lower yes.

Found some cheaper 448 core version though:
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW ~260$ seem like a good deal.

It's the same one you were stating was only 4% faster than 6870. I'm pretty sure you were not referring to the 448 model which is a whole lot faster than 4% (closer to GTX570) and wasn't present in the graph you posted.

OP: Good deal on that 150.00 6870 -w- Dirt3. I'd go for it.

 

[nOOky]

They will have to scale very badly in CF to not overtake a 7970. Even the 5800 series scales over 80% mostly and the 6800s are way better than that.

Your benchmarks results are not normal at all. Only 4529 on a overclocked 6870? That looked awfully slow. A 5850 overclocked hits 5336 so a 6870 should be at least 10-20% better than that considering how much better they overclock.

Really? Tom's is wrong too then. And what does a 5850 have to do with the fact that a single 7970 is still faster than 6870's in Crossfire? Speak with data and I'll listen more closely, but you've shown nothing to disprove me, only deflected based on what you think.


http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/Enthusiast-Index,2674.html

 

[kluu]

just received the 6870. tried out a couple games, looks great!

this rebate and warranty stuff is taking longer to fill out than expected