Suggestions on a GPU

Zepher said:

Water cool only if you are overclocking to extreme levels.
No need for crossfire on 5850 or higher cards if you are only running 1680x1050 since that is a low resolution.

So one 6870 should suffice? I'm planning to run games on DirectX 11... will a single card handle the punishment?

Also, I'm water cooling the CPU to reduce the noise and the dust buildup... on my current system, liquid cooling the CPU helps with reducing dust and noise.

don't concern yourself with vram. i run 2 monitors at 1920 x1080 watch movies on one and get a steady 50fps on crysis 2 at the same time, and thats with an old 4870 1gb.

considering the 6 series can do max resolutions of 5760 x 1200 over 3 monitors before extending to other monitors as well and adapters are on the way to extend even further. It's a non issue.

i seriously doubt there is a game on the market that can really test the 6 series to any degree.

look for better value for money as all the cards from either ATI or Nvidia are more than enough to do anything you want with the current games, I lean toward ATI at the moment as they are just doing better cards not by much but enough and with the added value of eyefinity for future upgrades i can't see a reason to really go the Nvidia route right now.

Fascinating, I never realized this, then the lag that occurs when I play is due to my processor... absolutely fascinating.

So I'll just buy a single 6870 and see how it goes, I'm most curious.

Skulblaka said:

So one 6870 should suffice? I'm planning to run games on DirectX 11... will a single card handle the punishment?

Two cards is always better than one, yes you'll get more horse power from two of those then say one 6970.

The question is do you want to put up with the hassles crossfire brings?

Also if you're going crossfire with 2 6870's but decide it's not worth it, a single 6970 would do just fine for today's game, maybe even a 6950 (which I have) depending on your resolution (mine is 1680x1050). And both cards are more powerful than a single 6870.

Personally I'd leave the hassle of crossfire alone and go a single 6970; the price should be about the same, or less.

My two cents.

Well, I've still have a few months, I'll think about it. Might just get a single card and not deal with Crossfire.

Skulblaka said:

Fascinating, I never realized this, then the lag that occurs when I play is due to my processor... absolutely fascinating.

So I'll just buy a single 6870 and see how it goes, I'm most curious.

oh i dunno about that, part of the reason i'm able to do it is the small fact i have next to no data bottle neck on my system, every component was specificly chosen to reduce that.

i also set up process affinity mask, so games use core 3 and 4 the os gets core 1+2 and media stuff gets core 2, but i don't do that for everything.

lag can occur for different reasons it may be down to a mix of things.

gazz9496 said:

Skulblaka said:

Fascinating, I never realized this, then the lag that occurs when I play is due to my processor... absolutely fascinating.

So I'll just buy a single 6870 and see how it goes, I'm most curious.

oh i dunno about that, part of the reason i'm able to do it is the small fact i have next to no data bottle neck on my system, every component was specificly chosen to reduce that.

i also set up process affinity mask, so games use core 3 and 4 the os gets core 1+2 and media stuff gets core 2, but i don't do that for everything.

lag can occur for different reasons it may be down to a mix of things.

My processor is very old, also I have insufficient RAM, that is why I need to upgrade. Made a poor choice my first time and now paying for it.

Wishmaster said:

I agree.
I would much rather stick with a single card config. as well. Much less headache.

As far as temps go, shouldnt really be much of a issue. Most cards will be fine with the stock air cooling.
Unless, as already pointed out, you plan on doing some hefty Overclocking.


But yea, sinlge montior at 1080P or less ..
I honestly do not think youd gain all that much from Crossfire or SLI TBH. At least, not enough to make it worth it.


Those type of setups really shine though at much higher resolutions.

I don't plan to overclock, I used to have a resolution of 1152 x 864 until I updated my drivers. I was forced to have 1680 x 1080 resolution, got used to it and noticed a significant impact on my gaming with this resolution.

Figured it's time for a major upgrade.

If you go with a 6950 I don't think you have to worry about temps as the card runs pretty cool on idle.....



And doesn't get too hot on load either. Also price to performance is outstanding. Very nice card for the price.

6950 2gig - Newegg.com - 6950 2gb

sygnus21 said:

If you go with a 6950 I don't think you have to worry about temps as the card runs pretty cool on idle.....



And doesn't get too hot on load either. Also price to performance is outstanding. Very nice card for the price.

6950 2gig - Newegg.com - 6950 2gb

How is the performance on that card? Have you run any games on DirectX 11 with maximum settings?