Windows 7: Graphic Card Decision

I have spent a fair few pounds on building one of the most up to date systems.

The main specs are:

Intel i7 930
Cosair H50 Watercooler
ASUS Rampage II Gene
6GB Mushkin Redline 998805

My current Graphics card is a Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX

I understand this will be a bottle neck in the system, because it wont be up to speed with the other components.

I have been told that it would be a great system if it had Nvidia GTX 480 or an ATI 5870. The 5870 draws less power, thus generates less heat. On paper the GTX looks great. I understand that Nvidia and Intel work together (AMD + ATI) so would it be suitable if i had the GTX 480?

What are peoples opinions on these cards too?

Thanks
Dan

From my experience, mix/matching has not ever been a problem and seems to be more of a marketing gimmick. I run a Intel chip (QX9650 Extreme) and Quadfire without any problems. Save yourself a boatload of cash and get a Radeon 4870x2. It's a serious performer and I *cannot* lag it down, even slightly. Furthermore, the newer cards run so hot that unless you're liquid cooling them, get used to *lots* of fan noise.

Thanks
*Takes a google @ Radeon 4870x2. Assuming that x2 is part of the model number, not 2 cards?

X2 denotes that it has two physical gpus on one board, so yes, the X2 is included as the model number.

As you say, from your experience you haven't had any problems with mixing and matching. I would ideally like a powerful graphics card to play ANY game available. I recently bought Flight Simulator X, which on my current system runs, but not to the max.

Would i get same results if i used 2 lower spec cards (saving money) and used them in SLI/ Crossfire mode to get the same spec as say 1 GTX 480? Or is this deemed bad practice?

Thanks

Sorry to sort of hi-jack my own thread, but what is the difference between say Sapphire, ASUS, PNY etc? Why do they fluctuate so much in price for what is really the same model number?

As has been said, this is pure marketing myth. ATI cards work great with AMD chipset, with Intel chipsets and with nVidia chipsets.

Instead of going SLI or crossfire, have you considered the 5970? It is currently the baddest card on the planet.

Honestly, it is better to have a single card.

The differences between the companies, to name a few: extra features with the cards; warranty and customer support; "vanilla" cards vs factory overclocks.

Yes, untill i saw the hefty £500 price tag.


So its all the same 'Organs' on the card, but these company's stick their name on it, and adjust drivers/ software? Would i download the drive from ATI website, or would i have to go to say PNY website to download it? In this case, there drivers wont be as recent as Readon's?

Thanks

Yeah, lol, it's steep alright, but if you think about it, you're not going to get off any cheaper going to an sli/crossfire setup that can match it.

**edit**

You'd be just fine with either the 5870 or the gtx 480. You could play anything you wanted with either card.