Agreed. And 5850 Crossfire @ 1GHz on each GPU = ownageDo HD5850 Crossfire.
Cheaper than an HD5970, performs the same, cheaper than SLI GTX470 although it performs a little worse.
Plus 3 monitor support.
Unless you don't want to save $100.
That's only if your monitors don't support Display Port. A lot of new monitors do.I believe you'll need a $100 active displayport adapter if you want to run 3 monitors on a single 5970 (or 5850/70, etc.). Therefore, it will really cost $699 + $100 = $799.
Agreed. And 5850 Crossfire @ 1GHz on each GPU = ownage
How does 5850 Xfire compare with GTX 470SLI? I haven't seen any benchmarks but last I heard a single 470 was about 5% faster than a single 5850. If these results are mirrored in SLI then there is no point in getting a 470SLI either.....just go with the 5850 Xfire.Why would you buy two 5870's even if you can get them at 380 each when for 350 each get two 470's for virtually the same performance? And two 5850's would cost around 600.00 or more unless you find bing cash back deals and other incentives. Am I wrong? And then you have to o/c the crap out of it to even get close to 470SLI.
Disagree. GTX470SLI at stock approaches 5870Xfire as it is. So you'll have to o/c the 5850's and there is no guaranty they will get to 1GHz to try and rival 5870Xfire, which is where the 470's are to begin with. Larger frame buffer, PhysX (which the OP was concerned with), And you don't need a display port monitors to run multimonitor.
Why would you buy two 5870's even if you can get them at 380 each when for 350 each get two 470's for virtually the same performance? And two 5850's would cost around 600.00 or more unless you find bing cash back deals and other incentives. Am I wrong? And then you have to o/c the crap out of it to even get close to 470SLI.
Nah, too many pros for the 470s IMHO.
I'd like to hear from the OP again.
Why would he need a DP adapter for triple monitors on HD5850 Crossfire and yet not need any adapters for GTX470?
And $600 is less than dual GTX470 even if you can find two at MSRP and in stock. Although obviously performance will be lower.
Agreed, HD5870 Crossfire isn't a good value prospect though, because while it does perform better single card vs single card, SLI scaling does seem better than Crossfire scaling, so even at equal prices, the GTX470 SLI would likely perform better, and if you can get a GTX470 for less, then the value prospect is really there (conditional on the PSU, but with his it's a non-issue).
The other question is why is PhysX a concern? Given that only around a dozen games support hardware PhysX, is it a real issue or is it just something that would be an added bonus? (And also work to favour GTX470 SLI even more over HD5870 Crossfire).
With the HD5970 being $700 and 2xGTX470 being $700 (assuming you can find either in stock at those prices, Newegg has both currently), the GTX470 SLI is the only choice.
The only consideration is whether the OP would want to step down and instead spend $600 or so on HD5850 Crossfire for decent performance, and a saving of $100, or go almost all out performance wise and spend $700 on GTX470 SLI. If he's got the money and wants to spend it, the GTX470 is the only way to go.
(Also I can't understand why anyone would ever consider buying an HD5970. There is no value prospect in it).
That would take care of equalling and slightly surpassing GTX470s for sure.
Now, o/c the 470's.
I'm not sure why you're introducing overclocking into a purchasing decision when both options overclock. So since that is the case, might as well focus on stock performance between the two solutions.
Qbah: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/...x-470-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/16
Looks right on the money to me. How about you?
If you're willing to pay the money for the GTX470 x 2 or a 5970, why not Crossfire 5870's? Faster than either option, about the same price as the GTX470's go for.
Or as others said, 5850's and overvolt/overclock. I'm not sure what you'd really struggle with unless you come up to a vram limitation.
Can you people try to answer people's question for once instead of getting into a vendor war?
470 SLI
Pros:
- High compute power
- Newer
- Faster
- Ease on maintenance, don't need to unmount HS to clean dust.
- More features
Cons:
- noisy, even noisier than 5970.
- high maintenance due to high temp. (dust)
- high power draw
- SLI bugs
5970
Pros:
- One card solution
- better power consumption in comparison.
- Dust don't cause a big problem in comparison.
Cons:
- Noisy
- Troublesome maintenance.
- Need extra connectors for multi display or new displays.
- CF bugs
It's not right on the money because the overall expenses to maintain and run any GTX480/470 combo are too high, the power draw, the extra heat is a pain in the ass in the long run anyway. The 5970 can OC well but also OC cooler, and will be considerably less power hogging. That is my point, and it is also cheaper than any combination of 470s or 480s. Overall the 5970 is a better option. Also, it can be Crossfired in the future with any 5850 or 5870 should the OP choose to buy additional cards later on, so the longevity is right there.
I still find it very hard to see Fermi persuaders even when we all know that it is some what of a lost cause, these are poorly designed chips in the first place, if they were efficient enough, then the persuasion would be valid.
Yeah, Fermi is a lost cause to you maybe. It offers a LOT more over the AMD counterparts. The only cost is more heat and power draw. That's it. It offers more performance ESPECIALLY when SLI'd, more RAM, more Tesselation performance, PhysX, 3DSurround, did I mentions better performance? And it's priced right.
But you don't mention ANY of these things when you should be. You really should be. But do not. How come? If you agree to help someone on these forums, you are supposed to give the right answers. All the answers. Not just SOME of them. If you're going to do something, do it right. All I ask. All anyone should ask.
5970 and 2x 480s are the same price dude. Expense to run 470s? I know, $100.00 extra per month in electric bills are pretty steep.
But seriously, I don't think anyone would notice the change in their light bill. It's THAT minimal. 5970's run pretty darn warm to dude. All these high end cards are hot. 470's run warmer that is for sure, but don't make it seem like one is the dark side of the moon, and the other is the surface of the sun. It ain't like that.
Yeah, Fermi is a lost cause to you maybe. It offers a LOT more over the AMD counterparts. The only cost is more heat and power draw. That's it. It offers more performance ESPECIALLY when SLI'd, more RAM, more Tesselation performance, PhysX, 3DSurround, did I mentions better performance? And it's priced right.
But you don't mention ANY of these things when you should be. You really should be. But do not. How come? If you agree to help someone on these forums, you are supposed to give the right answers. All the answers. Not just SOME of them. If you're going to do something, do it right. All I ask. All anyone should ask.
Can you tune down the fan club nonsense at least when directly addressing me? The GTX 470 is for all intents and purposes about 5-10% faster than a 5850 on average. A 5850 approaches a GTX 470, a GTX 470 approaches a 5870, and a 5870 approaches a GTX 480, so what's your point? Between the different resolutions, IQ settings, and games available you can make an argument for any set of cards. Some games lend themselves to the 58xx architecture, some lend themselves to the 4x0 architecture. The point of the matter is that 5850's in Crossfire, which can be had brand new for as little as $500-520, will utterly destroy anything within $200 of it, and compete with GTX 480 SLI (don't believe me? Ask me to run any benchmark). Are there going to be some games or apps that run better on either card? Yes of course, and if those games/apps are that important than the OP needs to weigh them more carefully when making a decision. All of that said, no high-end setup can touch the value and performance/$ you can get out of 5850's in Crossfire.Disagree. GTX470SLI at stock approaches 5870Xfire as it is. So you'll have to o/c the 5850's and there is no guaranty they will get to 1GHz to try and rival 5870Xfire, which is where the 470's are to begin with. Larger frame buffer, PhysX (which the OP was concerned with), And you don't need a display port monitors to run multimonitor.
They aren't the same performance, why do you keep saying this? 5 seconds of Google: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...0999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review-3.html (and please read the whole review, not just the page I linked). Sometimes 470 SLI beats 5850 CF, sometimes it's behind. No idea where you get "GTX 470 SLI is as fast as the 5870 CF," it's not, and at $350 you're getting disproportionately less than $30 worth of performance.Why would you buy two 5870's even if you can get them at 380 each when for 350 each get two 470's for virtually the same performance?
And? We're only allowed to save money in certain ways now? What kind of fanboy argument is that? Again, read the review. At stock, 5850 CF is already ahead of GTX 470 SLI at times. I can then crank my clocks to 1GHz+ (over a 40% overclock). I have so far installed four 5850's (two of my own, two for friends), and not a single one hasn't been able to clock past 1GHz. I haven't seen a GTX 470 on air come close to that. 5850 CF is cheaper, faster, and offers better performance; no brainer here.And two 5850's would cost around 600.00 or more unless you find bing cash back deals and other incentives. Am I wrong? And then you have to o/c the crap out of it to even get close to 470SLI.
5970 and 2x 480s are the same price dude. Expense to run 470s? I know, $100.00 extra per month in electric bills are pretty steep.
But seriously, I don't think anyone would notice the change in their light bill. It's THAT minimal. 5970's run pretty darn warm to dude. All these high end cards are hot. 470's run warmer that is for sure, but don't make it seem like one is the dark side of the moon, and the other is the surface of the sun. It ain't like that.
Yeah, Fermi is a lost cause to you maybe. It offers a LOT more over the AMD counterparts. The only cost is more heat and power draw. That's it. It offers more performance ESPECIALLY when SLI'd, more RAM, more Tesselation performance, PhysX, 3DSurround, did I mentions better performance? And it's priced right.
But you don't mention ANY of these things when you should be. You really should be. But do not. How come? If you agree to help someone on these forums, you are supposed to give the right answers. All the answers. Not just SOME of them. If you're going to do something, do it right. All I ask. All anyone should ask.
Can you give everyone and the forums a rest with your nvidia promotion program. We get that you get free hardware and it's in your interest to keep promoting nvidia as the better choice as they just gave you $1000 of free hardware and more in the past.
It gets tiring seeing you go into every thread and go on and on about why nvidia is better.
SLI scales well, there is no denying it, the only reason in the current video card marketplace to buy nvidia is if you are planning on buying two cards, either the 470 or 480 on their own are surpassed by equally priced solutions from ATI.
PhysX, 3D surround blah blah, are non-starters, they've had their time, years, to establish themselves and still are just gimmicks that have not held any water. The more tesselation crap is getting old, obviously this is going to be the new item to add on to the laundry list of useless features. Great, nice benches in unigine, good stuff.
Again, a six month late start, fully half of a gpu's life cycle for 15% more performance. Enough of the spin, the cards are a letdown.
I'm glad you GET that I GET GPU's from Nvidia. But for some reason, that definitely is not the point I was trying to make. Just repeatedly mentioning I get GPU's from NV does not change a single word I have said.
If I sang out and shouted, "I get GPUs from Nvidia!!!!" Then I can see where your post would have a place in our conversation. But I have not.
You think I'm saying all these things because I get GPUs from Nvidia. Not because they are facts. Why? What am I saying that isn't true here? If you find something innaccurate, please let me know. I'm more than willing to admit when I make mistakes. But don't get petty and claim my posts BS because I get GPUs from NV. That in itself would have merit if you could disprove anything I say. Until then, go be petty somewhere else.
As far as the 470 and 480s being a letdown? 10-15% more performance is roughly what we would be seeing with an ATI refresh right NOW. The cards are where they are supposed to be.
And as tired as you are of me posting facts, I'm equally tired of you calling my facts marketing. There isn't a single inaccuracy. I have even pointed out repeatedly the cons of the GF100's. All you see is my sig. The rest of my posts might as well be blah blah blah to you. What a waste.
Can you tune down the fan club nonsense at least when directly addressing me? The GTX 470 is for all intents and purposes about 5-10% faster than a 5850 on average. A 5850 approaches a GTX 470, a GTX 470 approaches a 5870, and a 5870 approaches a GTX 480, so what's your point? Between the different resolutions, IQ settings, and games available you can make an argument for any set of cards. Some games lend themselves to the 58xx architecture, some lend themselves to the 4x0 architecture. The point of the matter is that 5850's in Crossfire, which can be had brand new for as little as $500-520, will utterly destroy anything within $200 of it, and compete with GTX 480 SLI (don't believe me? Ask me to run any benchmark). Are there going to be some games or apps that run better on either card? Yes of course, and if those games/apps are that important than the OP needs to weigh them more carefully when making a decision. All of that said, no high-end setup can touch the value and performance/$ you can get out of 5850's in Crossfire.
They aren't the same performance, why do you keep saying this? 5 seconds of Google: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...0999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review-3.html (and please read the whole review, not just the page I linked). Sometimes 470 SLI beats 5850 CF, sometimes it's behind. No idea where you get "GTX 470 SLI is as fast as the 5870 CF," it's not, and at $350 you're getting disproportionately less than $30 worth of performance.
And? We're only allowed to save money in certain ways now? What kind of fanboy argument is that? Again, read the review. At stock, 5850 CF is already ahead of GTX 470 SLI at times. I can then crank my clocks to 1GHz+ (over a 40% overclock). I have so far installed four 5850's (two of my own, two for friends), and not a single one hasn't been able to clock past 1GHz. I haven't seen a GTX 470 on air come close to that. 5850 CF is cheaper, faster, and offers better performance; no brainer here.
Facts like 3D Vision surround (doesn't exist yet), or the GTX470 having better minimums than the HD5870 (because the GTX480 does, so the 470 must too, right? Wrong).