Graphic Card Decision

[dannyboy2005]

I guess that I'd have two problems with the 4870X2:

It seems to be currently unavailable new at retail (at least at www.newegg.com, in the US), should you want to buy new.

It's a single-card crossfire solution. I think that crossfire is effective, but it's not as robust as a single card. (I had some unhappy experiences with a pair of 4870s in crossfire. Maybe ATI has cleaned up their driver act since.)

The fan noise on a Radeon HD5870 is unobjectionable. A GTX480 can get a bit loud when the card is fully exercised.

The next step down gets you nearly as good a card at a more attractive price: Radeon 5850, nVidia GTX470.

As for your CPU bottlenecking the system, I suggest that you overclock it. My I7 920 runs all the time at 3.8 GHz with a Thermalright Ultra 120 air cooler. It's possible to do better with other CPUs, but not much better.

I will be over clocking to as much as possible. I'm thinking in the region of around 4Ghz + I will be running watercooled. Corsair H50 iirc.

The 4870x2 is a pretty damn good card (as long as the game supports crossfire). I don't know what games you play but there is a chance your CPU will eventually turn into your bottleneck. A lot of newer games are cpu intensive just as much as gpu. So I would not advise going with anything higher powered(like the GTX 480 or Radeon 5970) until you've upgraded your cpu because they won't be using their full potential.

why will mmy cpu be a problem? Its a 930, it has simular specs to the new 970 and half the price.

I thought you had a Amd Athlon 4800+ X2? That's what your specs show. If you have a 930 your fine. I should have known when you said 4.6 Ghz... Duh on me!

Ah, these are OLD specs, i am in the middle of building a new one, i have the parts ready but awaiting the ram to arrive from the US

 

[bobkn]

I will be over clocking to as much as possible. I'm thinking in the region of around 4Ghz + I will be running watercooled. Corsair H50 iirc.

Let us know how well that works. I have the impression that an H50 is not better than a good heat sink & fan combination, but I'd be pleased to learn otherwise.

 

[dannyboy2005]

I will be over clocking to as much as possible. I'm thinking in the region of around 4Ghz + I will be running watercooled. Corsair H50 iirc.

Let us know how well that works. I have the impression that an H50 is not better than a good heat sink & fan combination, but I'd be pleased to learn otherwise.

I'll let you know on Tuesday. Ram is being delivered on Monday