EVGA GTX 580 3GB, worth it?

[Raxes]

I've got $600 to blow on an upgrade for my pc. I want to be able to play battlefield 3 on medium/high settings at triple-wide resolutions. I also want to be able to load the 16k textures in RAGE.

In my latest build I switched to ATI and was running HIS Radeon HD 5850s in crossfire but the heatsink on one died recently and its out of warranty. I've been disappointed with my performance on a single card and in the past year ATI has let me down time and time again with slow driver support.

I'm looking at this card http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX33294

Is it worth it? It's on sale until the end of Monday for $559

Is it really that future proof? Is there a cheaper option that I'm missing that will run all the latest and greatest at max settings in triple wide resolutions(where supported)?

 

[Subyman]

That's not really a killer sale price. 580GTXs hit the high 400's sometimes if you watch out for them. Rumor has it that the 580 will be dropping to a MSRP of 380 in the upcoming week.

 

[RussianSensation]

Unless you really hate AMD (which was prob. more related to you running dual cards -- a some of people report issues with CF scaling (esp. on older 4800 / 5800 series, initial driver issues on newer games, microstutter), then I suggest you wait until January to drop $600 on a videocard since HD7950/7970 series are coming and are surely going to mop the floor with the GTX580. Alternatively, if you want to go NV route, I'd much rather get 2x GTX570 2.5GB cards for 3 monitors than a single GTX580. GTX570 is within 12-15% of the performance of a single GTX580. So if you are spending $600, try to find a GTX570 2560mb for $350 or so and grab 2. There is no way a single GTX580 will be sufficient to drive 3 monitors in BF3, especially when 2x HD5850 with a slight overclocks are basically an HD5970 which smokes the 580 in BF3.

There is also a rumor that GTX580 will have a price cut to $380 shortly to combat the launch of new AMD cards. I also don't believe in future proofing (i.e., we've seen GTX480 for $175-200 this year, HD5970 for $300, etc.). Getting a GTX580 for $550-600 today is a sure bet to lose $300 on that card in just 6 months as soon as HD7970 launches and for sure when Kepler comes out that card won't be worth more than $280 in the used market.

 

[Raxes]

Hmm, they have a price drop protection - how likely is that price drop?

 

[3DVagabond]

I've got $600 to blow on an upgrade for my pc. I want to be able to play battlefield 3 on medium/high settings at triple-wide resolutions. I also want to be able to load the 16k textures in RAGE.

In my latest build I switched to ATI and was running HIS Radeon HD 5850s in crossfire but the heatsink on one died recently and its out of warranty. I've been disappointed with my performance on a single card and in the past year ATI has let me down time and time again with slow driver support.

I'm looking at this card http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX33294

Is it worth it? It's on sale until the end of Monday for $559

Is it really that future proof? Is there a cheaper option that I'm missing that will run all the latest and greatest at max settings in triple wide resolutions(where supported)?

If by "triple-wide resolutions" you mean nVidia surround, then you'll need two of them. No triple monitor gaming on one nVidia card.

A pair of either of these would do it for you though. 2gb vram per card should suffice and will be faster than a single gtx 580.

 

[Raxes]

My board doesn't support SLI. If I were to go with a dual gpu setup it would have to be crossfire again. Number one priority is battlefield 3 in eyefinity if that's the case. Reccomendations?

 

[RussianSensation]

If buying now, then HD6950 2GB cards are the best value and HD6970s are another 13% faster or so. In fact, for around $600, you can get 2x HD6970s with very quiet coolers. However, a single HD7970 is rumored to be as fast as an HD6990. If you can't wait, HD6950 2GB or HD6970 2GB in CF are excellent options for $460-600.

Superbiiz has $15 off coupon with code: SHINOBI

A single HD6950 2GB with rebate is under $230. You can buy 1 of the 6970s by Sapphire from Newegg with rebate, and get another same card from Superbiiz also for around $300 (with same SHINOBI coupon) and get that rebate too (this way you'll get both rebates).

 

[happy medium]

I would ................nvm.

 

[happy medium]

save a few bucks and grab 2 6870 2gb cards for 360$AR and sell both Dirt 3 games like I did.
330$ out of pocket.

 

[Raxes]

Damn, that would have been the perfect plan but they're sold out and won't be getting any more. I don't have a credit card so ordering from an online store isn't an option.

I'm leaning back towards picking up a 580 in the morning and crossing my fingers for that price drop.

 

[RussianSensation]

I'm leaning back towards picking up a 580 in the morning and crossing my fingers for that price drop.

I think the price drops might come later, not this week. Right now looking at Newegg, half of GTX580s are sold out. A lot of people are buying GPUs as gifts for the holidays. NV has no reason to lower prices just yet. I expect the price cut to come in January.

 

[96Firebird]

Damn, that would have been the perfect plan but they're sold out and won't be getting any more. I don't have a credit card so ordering from an online store isn't an option.

I'm leaning back towards picking up a 580 in the morning and crossing my fingers for that price drop.

You can't use a triple-monitor setup with just one GTX 580, remember that. So you'd be limited to just one screen for BF3.

 

[happy medium]

Damn, that would have been the perfect plan but they're sold out and won't be getting any more. I don't have a credit card so ordering from an online store isn't an option.

I'm leaning back towards picking up a 580 in the morning and crossing my fingers for that price drop.

6870 2gb is 169$AR now! each, and free game. @ 6870's are 20% faster and 200$ cheaper than a gtx580 3gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150563

Make a paypal account and buy those money cards at Walmart.
Load a Visa gift card?

There are lots of options.

 

[RussianSensation]

6870 2gb is 169$AR now! each, and free game. 20% faster and 200$ cheaper than a gtx580.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150563

Make a paypal account and buy those money cards at Walmart.
Load a Visa gift card?

There are lots of options.

If he is upgrading from 2x HD5850s in CF, don't you think HD6870 CF Is a huge waste of $? A single HD6870 is about 8% faster than an HD5850. That's not even considering that HD5850 can overclock to beat an overclocked 6870. Even with additional CF scaling advantage of 6800 series and 2GB of VRAM, is it worth it to drop $350+ on 2x HD6870s from 5850s? I don't think so.

I honestly can't see upgrading from 2x 5850s worth it unless it's the next generation 7950s in CF or at minimum HD6950s @ 6970 speeds. Even then, that's not going be a world of difference. If the OP has performance issues with 2x HD5850s, then clearly HD6870s won't solve it. He probably needs way more GPU power to crank MSAA / Super Sampling, etc. If he really needs more performance, he'd need at least 50% more GPU power, which neither 6870s in CF or 6950s in CF will deliver imho.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Wait, no, seriously, wait until the next generation cards.

 

[GprophetB]

This thread is all over the place

PLEASE READ THIS : You must have SLI to use nvidia surround (I have a 5760x1080 NV surround setup)

Also a very important part of my experience, VRAM is the most limiting factor at such a large resolution. After spending lots of money on my new computer i wish i would have went with video cards with more VRAM.

I'm able to run every game on ULTRA settings but i must turn AA / MSAA / FXAA etc off due to the my lack of VRAM.

 

[Raxes]

Sorry about jumping back and forth last night - I'm still pondering what to get to replace this 5850 and debating if Nvidia Surround/Eyefinity is something I really need right now.

So this is what I've got so far:

If i get the Evga 580 3GB

Cons:
-580 is overpriced and the 6xx series are around the corner

-VRAM only matters at larger resolutions

-Cant use nvidia surround anyway without a second card and swapping my board for sli

Pros:
-Evga Step Up will enable me to grab the top end 6xx series card when it is released (if within 90 days)

-Lifetime warranty will protect me from what just happened with my 2nd 5850 dying right outside of warranty


The other option is to get crossfire 6950s

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32579

It will cost me a little bit more to crossfire these, the performance would be better than a single 580, and I'd be dealing with ATI, and when the new generation comes out I'd be stuck with them or need to sell them at used prices.

So if we take the eyefinity requirement out of the picture, which would be the better buy? Thanks for your help so far guys.

 

[3DVagabond]

My board doesn't support SLI. If I were to go with a dual gpu setup it would have to be crossfire again. Number one priority is battlefield 3 in eyefinity if that's the case. Reccomendations?

I agree that 2x 6870 2Gb are both cheaper and faster than a single 580 (pretty substantially on both accts.). Tests have shown that 6950's suffer less from microstutter than 6870's do, though. They are also more powerful with tessellation. That makes them a better option if not out of your budget (Which from your first post, they are not. ). As a bonus 6950's have more potential than 6870's to improve performance with unlocking/overclocking. You can get a pair of them for about the same price as a 580.

 

[Raxes]

I ended up going the nvidia route after talking to the guys at the store about it. The jump from the 5850 to the 6850 will do nothing for me(unless i unlock and overclock both), and the crossfire performance is about the same as what I had with my dual 5850s. Not only that - but the two cards with 2.5 slot coolers wont fit in my case.

So I grabbed the Evga 580 3GB and am selling my crossfire board and 5850 to my roommate so he can have a crossfire setup, ill save that money and cross my fingers for a price drop to go the sli route or the step up program.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

 

[tweakboy]

I've got $600 to blow on an upgrade for my pc. I want to be able to play battlefield 3 on medium/high settings at triple-wide resolutions. I also want to be able to load the 16k textures in RAGE.

In my latest build I switched to ATI and was running HIS Radeon HD 5850s in crossfire but the heatsink on one died recently and its out of warranty. I've been disappointed with my performance on a single card and in the past year ATI has let me down time and time again with slow driver support.

I'm looking at this card http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX33294

Is it worth it? It's on sale until the end of Monday for $559

Is it really that future proof? Is there a cheaper option that I'm missing that will run all the latest and greatest at max settings in triple wide resolutions(where supported)?

What resolution will you be playing on ? 1080p the 580 will pown BF3 but if you want higher resolutions then you will need to do a 580 SLI , 2 of those suckers and that is above your budget.

For BF3 the way you want it your going to need to SLI

Actually why not get the dual gpu EVGA video card,,, I cant come up with name of it but I know it exists. 3GB VRAM is over kill no game will need to use that much,,, but it makes you future proof in a way. All you need is 1GB VRAM ,,, you can grab a 460 1GB for 120 bucks, and put the rest in your bank account my friend,,,,, later on go SLI with the 460 1GB. or 5xx counterpart.....