Windows 7: Crossfire'd 5970 - $600 good value?

Hiya, i'm wondering if a pair of Radeon 5970s, overclocked, with water blocks included (and original fans/packaging) and a 'bonus' Nvidia 470 to boot is worth $600. I don't plan to keep the Nvidia i don't think. He tells me that was installed for 'Physix' - do many games make good use of that?

It seems like a very nice deal. The guy is also a top notch bloke, and will, i'm sure, help me set it up/put it together. He showed me his over the top set-up and he showed me how cool these two ran with BF3 on Ultra. They were kept very cool, so i'm confident their longevity is unaffected by his overclocking.



I had planned by first water-cooled system next time around, and this seems like a good way to start.

I assume most readers here are American. Dollars are AU$, but the exchange rate is similar. Note that these things cost rather a bit more in AUS than USA new.

Thanks all

It was a beast of a card about a year and a half ago, I'm not sure it's still worth that much of a premium even with the water block on it though. It is a discontinued item, meaning they don't even make them anymore.

A single out of the box 79xx series will blow it out of the water anyhow. For that kind of money I would just buy the new model.

ps quite a few games use physx, but it's never really a game changer.
The two batman games are probably the only ones that really use it well.

Talk him down to $500-$550, maybe. The 5970 Achilles heel was always driver support (I had one). Quad CF will only show it's true value with a few well supported titles. It doesn't scale all that great with a lot of titles. (utilise the cards capabilities)



The majority of games won't take full advantage of quad CF.

You'll also need to OC your chip if not done so already.


As for physx, tbh not that many games support it, but it really does add that extra 'something' for those that do. You can certainly live with out it - but it is nice to have.

It's worth filling a pci-e slot.


However I hope you're not planning on running it all on your spec PSU? 2x5970's are power hungry. Include the 470 and a 4.0hgz OC and you're looking at a new psu.

Overall it's not a 'bad' deal, you're certainly bot getting ripped off - but try and talk him down a bit. The 5970's would have gone from $600-900 + ~$150-200 per WC block (probably EK) if through PCCG, but it's 2 generations old and depreciates badly.

Add the cost for a 850W PSU and it's suddenly around the $800 mark, just to run the cards - never mind the WC gear.




If OC'ed under water, longevity wouldn't be an issue. (as long as the VRMs were cooled as well. Although it sounds like this bloke knew what he was doing.


Most are, but I'm an aussie. You can always check out OCCAU too see what 5970's with blocks are going for.

Good luck.

ignore my post, I missed the part about it being a crossfired pair.
Carry on.

Thanks for the advice. I was/am considering it for my next build, i expected a new/bigger PSU would be needed.

I realise it's probably pretty well overkill, but with the water blocks included and the 'tech support' he'd give me it'd be an /ok/ deal as you say.

To get similar performance, what would be the modern equivalent; price and also power usage? Would i get similar without crossfire?

Cheers.

What if i sold one of them and just ran one 5790? (also selling the Nvidia). I guess that would probably make the card about $300, maybe?

I honestly don't know how strong the market is going to be for that specific setup, it might be a slow sell.

I don't follow you. If i bought it, i could keep one 5970, water cooled, then i could sell the other two cards individually or together. At least one 5970 would be a reasonably popular upgrade i would have thought.

But it's a bit of a gamble of course. It may cost me more than what represents good value.

This is the main thing, above all else that puts me off. I don't want to spend all that money on something that most games won't take advantage of.

If $600 gets me a comparable setup, with one card, then i think i'd prefer that route and maybe not have to get a bigger PSU.

For that sort of price just go with nvidia gtx 680 and it will blow that crossfire pair away.