Crossfire'd 5970 - $600 good value?

[Recusant]

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

 

[Maguscreed]

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.

 

[smarteyeball]

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?

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.

They were kept very cool, so i'm confident their longevity is unaffected by his overclocking.

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.

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

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.

 

[Maguscreed]

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

 

[Recusant]

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)

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.

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.

 

[Recusant]

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

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?

 

[Maguscreed]

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

 

[Recusant]

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.

 

[Recusant]

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.

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.

 

[Fluffy]

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

 

[Maguscreed]

In that case my original suggestion of going with the current top shelf from either nvidia or ati should do very well.

I'm actually on a single 580gtx right now, I have honestly never been as happy with a single card.

Well waaaaay wayy back when I first go my old ati 9800 AIW PRO ... that was pretty awesome too graphics cards were completely different back then though.

 

[smarteyeball]

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?

Roughly. 2nd hand 5970's are going for around $250. Maybe a little more with the block.

I'm actually on a single 580gtx right now, I have honestly never been as happy with a single card.

When I sold my 5970 I bought a 580 and it was the best move I'd made. What I lost in raw FPS, I made up for in overall smoother game play.

No doubt a 5970 is an improvement over a 5850 (you could even tri-fire the 5970 with your existing 5850). However it all boils down to driver support.

I haven't been following the current state of CAT drivers, especially support for 5970's - but for titles that don't 'play nice' with CF, AMD's fix is to disable CF which means you'll be running off a single core (basically 5850/5870 speeds depending on OC).



As mentioned you'd get the same performance from a 680 as a single 5970. Even an OC'ed 670. Plus you wouldn't have to swap out PSUs. (If quad fired)
(I personally don't think the extra price for the 680 is worth the minor performance increase over the 670)


You could probably SLI two 670s off your current PSU. Seasonic is a quality unit - 650W would be cutting it close, but doable. It's $200+ more than the $600 deal, but you'd get shit hot performance.

At ~$400, a single 670 would be a very noticeable upgrade. No need to swap PSU.

$ 600 deal, great performance - when supported - but will require new PSU if going Quad fire. ~1000W for quad.

$~800 670 SLI. Great Performance. Generally better drivers. "May be able to keep current PSU". (although if you're looking to OC, add a watter loop etc, a new 750W-850W PSU would be preferable.


Basically, which ever way you go - you're getting a performance increase.

 

[Recusant]

Thanks, i did read somewhere that the Nvidia 670 (and maybe the 680?) is quite a bit more energy efficient than the current equivalent AMD offerings.

If i can keep my Seasonic 650 and get a 670 i'd be very pleased i think.

Would that still apply for overclocking/water cooling? Would i then have to up the PSU anyway?

Cheers.