Another BF3 GPU upgrade thread.

[Iron_Weasel]

Long time reader, first time poster, blah blah blah.

OK, so here's the deal. I'm about 2/3 of the way through a new build and the only remaining pieces of the proverbial puzzle are a power supply and video card(s). Currently, I'm sitting on an Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 board (dual 8x & supports SLI or Crossfire), Core i5-2500k, and 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM with a Radeon 5770 and 500w power supply. All this is being sent my my 2 - 3 year old 20" LCD @ 1600x900. The monitor itself is still in very good condition so I'm not in any hurry to replace it.

Now, at that resolution I'm sure I could use my existing 5770 to run BF3, of course, that means medium-low settings. I'm not looking to pump out insane frame rates on Ultra quality, but I would like to be able to run High settings with an acceptable frame rate. I'm toying with several possible configurations on the upgrade path and I'm just looking for some pointers.

Option 1: 2 GTX 460Ti's in SLI.
Would run around $300 for both cards but would generate more heat and eat more power.

Option 2: 2 Radeon 6850's in Crossfire.
Roughly the same prices but less heat and power consumption than the 460's.

Option 3: 1 570GTX

Option 4: 1 Radeon 6950.

The GPU setup will dictate what wattage power supply I end up with. I'm thinking something in the 700w - 800w range for a Radeon setup (Crossfire or single GPU) and 850w+ for an nvidia setup.

Thoughts?

Opinions?

 

[Grooveriding]

6950 2GB, buying into a couple mid-range cards for multi-gpu is not a good idea in almost all cases.

For your resolution the 6950 will run ultra at decent framerates :thumbsup:

 

[marcplante]

wait for a sale on a 6950 then you can crossfire later. I think of boards supporting either SLi or crossfire, not both. Not looking at details, but thinking you have an AMD vid centric board. I'm in the same spot with an 8800GT on my board waiting to pull the trigger on an upgrade. Thinking maybe black Friday, depending on how the vid card market reacts to the BF3 launch (and NFS the Run, also on Frostbite 2).

 

[Iron_Weasel]

wait for a sale on a 6950 then you can crossfire later. I think of boards supporting either SLi or crossfire, not both.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.us.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

It supports SLI & Crossfire, which is one of the main reasons I chose that particular board - I'm not tied to either brand for a multi-GPU solution if I wish to go that route. The other big reason was dual 8x instead of the usual 16x/4x on the PCIe slots. Sale or no sale, I'm heading towards the 6950 2GB or 570GTX route. Only problem with either of those is getting my wife to see past the initial price. She had a big enough fit when I dropped $220 on the 2500k. :wub:

Luckily, I'm old enough to be able to afford my toys but at the same time that means I have to weigh my decisions carefully. I went for the cheapest thing I could find when I got my 5770 a year and a half ago and it still runs fine for the most part, but there are a few games coming up (BF3, Diablo 3, etc) that I'm looking forward to and I don't want my rig to be gimped by a mediocre GPU.

 

[anti.machine]

According to Hardware compare you will get better overall performance from the Gtx 570.

 

[TheAdvocate]

At this point in both the AMD and nVidia product cycles, and since you do not have a GPU from the last 2 gens, then you should buy the best card you can afford, and plan on possibly SLI/Xfiring later. I would go with a 580, a 570, a 6950, or a 560Ti (PS - no such thing as 460Ti). The 6950 2GB's are starting to fall in price and have probably eclipsed the 560Tis as the value sweet spot (unless you can find a 2GB Ti in stock).

At that resolution and high settings - any of those cards will churn out excellent framerates, playing very smoothly. So, it's also a question of how much overkill you want.

BTW, you'd have to scrounge to find a mobo that doesn't support both Xfire and SLI. To the poster who said that, please stop the fanboy stuff.

 

[NA1NSXR]

I am shopping for a BF3 video card solution too and also at a low resolution like you (im at 1680x1050). I've found that under 1080p the nvidia cards are much faster with significantly higher minimum framerates. nvidia/amd reach parity right around 1080p with the amd cards pulling ahead as resolutions go up. For you I would suggest going with a 560ti or 570. I am having a lot of trouble finding my own answer, but since you are content with settling for playable framerate at around high detail, the 1-1.25GB should suffice.

FOr me I am looking to run at ultra settings and it looks like 1GB will not suffice for that, even at 1680x1050, so I am in a bit of a quandry.

 

[Arkaign]

Wait a few days, look at final build performance. There's a good chance certain optimizations weren't available in the beta, which I have on good authority was already out-of-date when it was in public testing time, and of course there were detail settings unavailable in the beta that are supposed to be in the final release.

The picture of performance could sway a bit, hopefully we'll see improvements, but I imagine the higher detail settings could punish some cards more than others.

cliffs; beta benches are iffy, wait a couple days for final

 

[HendrixFan]

cliffs; beta benches are iffy, wait a couple days for final

This. Optimizations are usually one of the last things built into games, BF3 will be no different. Just wait 5 more days and you will be able to make the best informed decision that will get you a card that will last a while. If you order wrong now, making assumptions, then you will be kicking yourself for not waiting a few more days.

 

[Iron_Weasel]

This system has been pieced together over the past month and I fully plan on waiting a week or two before I pick up BF3. There are several reasons, but one of them is to see some benchmarks with the gold release and also to (hopefully) avoid some of the initial release bugs. Besides, my eyes weren't quite what they were in my younger days, so I'm not really overly concerned with the detail difference between Ultra & High.

As it stands right now, I'm still leaning towards the GTX 570 and Radeon 6950 are the main contenders right now. The 6950 is on top of the list right now, however, due to the $50 difference between the EVGA 570 and the HIS 6950 2GB.

 

[AlucardX]

i have almost an identical build after my upgrade.. i was going to wait until the next cycle of video cards comes out, but I'm not sure how long I'll have to wait.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm with the above poster, I'm itching to replace my gtx 260 but I feel compelled to wait for the next gen cards. Hopefully I can wait.

 

[Pandora's Box]

the big question for bf3 is how much video memory does it use at max settings.

that will be the deciding factor on 570 vs 6950

 

[goobernoodles]

Sorry to threadjack, but I just picked up a GTX480 for $200 from newegg.

Moving from Crossfired 4890's... think this was a wise move to hold me over until next-gen cards?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Sorry to threadjack, but I just picked up a GTX480 for $200 from newegg.

Moving from Crossfired 4890's... think this was a wise move to hold me over until next-gen cards?

Well I think so since I did the same thing. I picked up a 480 too. A bonus is the 480 will heat your house up on those cold winter days. You think I'm joking. I've owned one before and I'm serious. Thing is still a beastly card. I think it was a good deal. I'll save my nickels somewhere else. My pc is my toy and I want my BF3!