New GRFX card advice:

[Fumz]

You've waited this long... hang on till March, then compare Fermi with the Radeons.'

btw... hi bloke.

 

[skunksmash]

OK im bringing up this thread again, as i have decided to build a new system....this is what i have researched and chosen:
this time i going for future proofing rather than the biggest and best at the time (like my other stupid decisions)

i7 870 (you will see why due to the mobo)
Asus P7P55D-E Deluxe (sata 3 6gb/s and usb 3.0 but not i7 9xx compatible due to the socket) ---couldn't find the x58 to support sata3 and usb 3.0
Seagate XT 2TB sata 3 6gb/s hdd
i will use my old 4x2gb g.skill ram as the Asus mobo uses dual channel, but still gets close speeds to tri channel x58 boards.

and the last decision is the graphics card(s)

x2 5870 or x1 5970
downsides:
5970 cops more heat
5970 is underclocked to 5850 speeds (maybe to reduce heat?)
x2 5870 require more power (slightly)
x2 5870's uses more slots (not that it bothers me as there will be no other cards in this build)
x2 5870's may have micro stutter due to x-fire?


so what are some thoughts between the 2 cards?
alot of other ppl seem to say go with the x2 5870's when i was researching.

and of course i will prob BUY...yes buy win 7 pro full OEM.

THNX FOR THE INPUT PPL!

the 5970 was downclocked to 5850 speeds to keep it withing the 300w bracket (so that ppl with a PCIE 1.1 slot could use them)

i dont think microstutter is really a problem with these cards, out of all the issues ive heard about with the 5 series cards, microstutter is not one of them...


but as Fumz said, i'd hold off a little while for Nvidia's offerings, at the very least ATI prices will fall, & TBH the drivers for ATI 5 series cards are currently VERY unpredictable..(im currently suffering with a few issues only better drivers will solve)

 

[Fumz]

Currently?

 

[skunksmash]

Currently?

lol.....yeah ''microstutter'' is no doubt a feature they're looking to add to the 10.1 cat's :sarc:

 

[bloke]

Currently?

lol.....yeah ''microstutter'' is no doubt a feature they're looking to add to the 10.1 cat's :sarc:

yeh i just had a quick read about that thread where you mention your issues with ur new 5970. if you had another choice, would you go back to nvidia, have you even had a chance to game on that ATI yet?

Fermi...great another age in technology, oh well nvidia sure took their time, but they expect release around march? so i guess i will just wait on the grfx card side of things, no doubt the prices will be sky high being nvidia (they are alot like Asus with their prices, they know their good so they make ppl pay for them, and then some)



what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

 

[skunksmash]

Currently?

lol.....yeah ''microstutter'' is no doubt a feature they're looking to add to the 10.1 cat's :sarc:

yeh i just had a quick read about that thread where you mention your issues with ur new 5970. if you had another choice, would you go back to nvidia, have you even had a chance to game on that ATI yet?

Fermi...great another age in technology, oh well nvidia sure took their time, but they expect release around march? so i guess i will just wait on the grfx card side of things, no doubt the prices will be sky high being nvidia (they are alot like Asus with their prices, they know their good so they make ppl pay for them, and then some)



what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

right now....i'd swap back to Nvidia in a heartbeat......

but i have to add, gaming is pretty good... & the synthetic benches are also good (20k vantage, which on my system is very good), but the issues i see while not gaming seriously stack up (2D application), couple this with the fact that upgrading or rolling back these drivers is probably the worst task on earth..., i see constant BSOD's, lock ups.... even system restores, just to change drivers..... its an UTTER FIASCO at the moment, im actually dreading the ''10.1 Cat'' changeover but at the same time im desperate for it.

but that said, the H/W itself is EXCELLENT, & when the drivers are kind to me i see AMAZING performance @ icy cool temperatures.... so its not all bad.

but a GPU is only as good as its drivers...

 

[bloke]

lol.....yeah ''microstutter'' is no doubt a feature they're looking to add to the 10.1 cat's :sarc:

yeh i just had a quick read about that thread where you mention your issues with ur new 5970. if you had another choice, would you go back to nvidia, have you even had a chance to game on that ATI yet?

Fermi...great another age in technology, oh well nvidia sure took their time, but they expect release around march? so i guess i will just wait on the grfx card side of things, no doubt the prices will be sky high being nvidia (they are alot like Asus with their prices, they know their good so they make ppl pay for them, and then some)



what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

right now....i'd swap back to Nvidia in a heartbeat......

but i have to add, gaming is pretty good... & the synthetic benches are also good (20k vantage, which on my system is very good), but the issues i see while not gaming seriously stack up (2D application), couple this with the fact that upgrading or rolling back these drivers is probably the worst task on earth..., i see constant BSOD's, lock ups.... even system restores, just to change drivers..... its an UTTER FIASCO at the moment, im actually dreading the ''10.1 Cat'' changeover but at the same time im desperate for it.

but that said, the H/W itself is EXCELLENT, & when the drivers are kind to me i see AMAZING performance @ icy cool temperatures.... so its not all bad.

but a GPU is only as good as its drivers...

20k in vantage is pretty easy, i was getting around that when my quad 98gx2's were running and at 3.9ghz

but vantage is alot like mark06, it mainly depends on your cpu and FSB speeds rather than gpu power.

so with 2 5970's on ur system i would expect around 24k+ in vantage. (but i think if ur cpu was at 3.9 you would already hit the 24k mark)

i am still finding this hard to decide what grfx card to put on the list tho, even if i forget about nvidia for the moment (lets say that their prices are stupid crazy xpensive and they dont out-power ATI--hhmmm), i wonder if the 5870 has the same problems as the 5970? is it the entire 5 series driver architecture that has the issue? does ATI do the same as nvidia, they release one driver (pretty much) for all cards? for example, the driver i would d/l for my gx2 will also work with my 8400gs, all i do is transfer it over my network to the HTPC and install it, its good in a way as the d/l is around 130mb.

also i can get the 5970 cheaper than i can get 2 5870's. ebay the 5970 is almost $900, and each 5870 is $650 here at a local. (the 5970 at the same local is $1200+, but the 5870 is about the same price on ebay as the local so its not worth the bid on bay)

i was also considering a intel ssd x25-E 64gb but $1000 for 64gb of storage??!! that would be plain stupid. so i would just stick with the sata3 2tb for $610

 

[Fumz]

... but a GPU is only as good as its drivers...

Truth.

what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

Just read this this am... good stuff. I'd say the chip you picked is definitely a winner; good starting point.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p55-pci-express-scaling,2517.html#xtor=RSS-182

 

[skunksmash]

yeh i just had a quick read about that thread where you mention your issues with ur new 5970. if you had another choice, would you go back to nvidia, have you even had a chance to game on that ATI yet?

Fermi...great another age in technology, oh well nvidia sure took their time, but they expect release around march? so i guess i will just wait on the grfx card side of things, no doubt the prices will be sky high being nvidia (they are alot like Asus with their prices, they know their good so they make ppl pay for them, and then some)



what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

right now....i'd swap back to Nvidia in a heartbeat......

but i have to add, gaming is pretty good... & the synthetic benches are also good (20k vantage, which on my system is very good), but the issues i see while not gaming seriously stack up (2D application), couple this with the fact that upgrading or rolling back these drivers is probably the worst task on earth..., i see constant BSOD's, lock ups.... even system restores, just to change drivers..... its an UTTER FIASCO at the moment, im actually dreading the ''10.1 Cat'' changeover but at the same time im desperate for it.

but that said, the H/W itself is EXCELLENT, & when the drivers are kind to me i see AMAZING performance @ icy cool temperatures.... so its not all bad.

but a GPU is only as good as its drivers...

20k in vantage is pretty easy, i was getting around that when my quad 98gx2's were running and at 3.9ghz

but vantage is alot like mark06, it mainly depends on your cpu and FSB speeds rather than gpu power.

so with 2 5970's i would expect around 24k+ in vantage.

i am still finding this hard to decide what grfx card to put on the list tho, even if i forget about nvidia for the moment (lets say that their prices are stupid crazy xpensive and they dont out-power ATI--hhmmm), i wonder if the 5870 has the same problems as the 5970? is it the entire 5 series driver architecture that has the issue? does ATI do the same as nvidia, they release one driver (pretty much) for all cards? for example, the driver i would d/l for my gx2 will also work with my 8400gs, all i do is transfer it over my network to the HTPC and install it, its good in a way as the d/l is around 130mb.

also i can get the 5970 cheaper than i can get 2 5870's. ebay the 5970 is almost $900, and each 5870 is $650 here at a local. (the 5970 at the same local is $1200+, but the 5870 is about the same price on ebay as the local so its not worth the bid on bay)

i was also considering a intel ssd x25-E 64gb but $1000 for 64gb of storage??!! that would be plain stupid. so i would just stick with the sata3 2tb for $610

with ''i7'' & 2x 5970's running as they should in ''Quadfire'' you'll be looking @ 40k+

they're absolute MONSTERS!!!

 

[bloke]

well looking at nvidia's "white paper" (no racism) they made graphs of performance where they are expecting the new 'Fermi' chips to perform more than twice (about triple) the performance of the gtx series chips, which will be insane. but then so will the price tag, i will expect the top model to be over $1400 opposed to my local price of the 5970 @ $1200.

this is the colourful white paper:
http://www.nvidia.com/content/PDF/f...DIA_Fermi_Compute_Architecture_Whitepaper.pdf

 

[bloke]

... but a GPU is only as good as its drivers...

Truth.

what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

Just read this this am... good stuff. I'd say the chip you picked is definitely a winner; good starting point.
PCI Express And CrossFire Scaling: Is P55 Good Enough? : The So-Called Mainstream Solution? - Review Tom's Hardware

i am looking through that ATM, the part where it states the P55 has 2.5GT/s on the PCI-e lane, the Asus i am wanting actually has 5.0GT/s which is the same as the x58, but i was a bit dumbfound with the asus P55, i think it switches to pci-e x8 when using sli/xfire and then x16 when using a single grfx card, but judging by those graphs, either way it wont make a difference if it does drop to x8 speed.---EDIT, i rechecked the specs, that 5.0GT/s crap is the pci-e x1 slots( the tiny ones) so i guess they do run at 2.5GT/s, and my ass-umption was right, with 2 grfx cards they will run at x8 and 1 card runs at x16, but the most important thing is, when compared to the x58 in sli/xfire and the difference between x8 and x16 is hardly no difference (4 or 5 FPS)

so yeh, that P55 chipset is good, i was mainly just looking for the sata3/usb3 but now this is an added bonus to what i thought might be a failure! so thnx for that link!

but like i said, i am trying to aim for future proofing, but if they had sata3 and usb 3 on a x58 i would go with that, as then i could use tri channel and aim for the i7 975 or something, but the i7 870 is just about a 975 anyways, just in the cheaper cpu chipset

Oh and THREE 5870's!!!! that would be awesome!

 

[skunksmash]

i hear tell ''unofficially'' (due to the NDA), that GF100 will surface @ $400 (£250), so GF104, hopefully will come in @ about $560 (£350)

now that's CHEAP!!!!!

it'll be the first time in history Nvidia undercut the competition with a faster product..

 

[Fumz]

Honestly, I can't imagine how anyone could take advantage of two 5970's, or three 5870's. That's serious overkill... even for an HD dual monitor setup. By the time a game comes around that would tax this setup, cards twice as fast as a single 5970, at half the price, will be here.

 

[K3VL4R]

Yeah hopefully they start releasing some Fermi specs soon. They did/were supposed to have a demo at CES, but I haven't seen any specs yet. There have been a lot of people waiting in anticipation. It has been four weeks for the OP, I'm sure a bit more wouldn't hurt.

 

[bloke]

i hear tell ''unofficially'' (due to the NDA), that GF100 will surface @ $400 (£250), so GF104, hopefully will come in @ about $560 (£350)

now that's CHEAP!!!!!

it'll be the first time in history Nvidia undercut the competition with a faster product..

that would be a dream come true!
but i dunno if it will be that cheap, we are talking about nvidia. (the green logo)

my fingers are crossed, just like they are already crossed for im hoping that after i replace the capacitors in my monoblock amp it will work again! lol

 

[skunksmash]

i hear tell ''unofficially'' (due to the NDA), that GF100 will surface @ $400 (£250), so GF104, hopefully will come in @ about $560 (£350)

now that's CHEAP!!!!!

it'll be the first time in history Nvidia undercut the competition with a faster product..

that would be a dream come true!
but i dunno if it will be that cheap, we are talking about nvidia. (the green logo)

my fingers are crossed, just like they are already crossed for im hoping that after i replace the capacitors in my monoblock amp it will work again! lol

i know, when the guy told me this...(apparently been working for Nvidia in India since 1997), i expressed the same level of disbelief, & he told me..''if im wrong i'll shoot myself in the head''


so...im on the ready with my 9mm

 

[bloke]

i hear tell ''unofficially'' (due to the NDA), that GF100 will surface @ $400 (£250), so GF104, hopefully will come in @ about $560 (£350)

now that's CHEAP!!!!!

it'll be the first time in history Nvidia undercut the competition with a faster product..

that would be a dream come true!
but i dunno if it will be that cheap, we are talking about nvidia. (the green logo)

my fingers are crossed, just like they are already crossed for im hoping that after i replace the capacitors in my monoblock amp it will work again! lol

i know, when the guy told me this...(apparently been working for Nvidia in India since 1997), i expressed the same level of disbelief, & he told me..''if im wrong i'll shoot myself in the head''


so...im on the ready with my 9mm

LMAO! well it should be good when the specs are released.





and no i dont mind waiting a bit longer, as it will prob be a couple months for the funds to show up, but i like to organise my dream

hhmmm i wonder if i should stick with my thermalright ultra 120 cooler? suppose it depends if they make and sell the bracket for that 1156 chipset

 

[smarteyeball]

Currently?

l
what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

it's a coming : Asus P6X58D Premium -Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0

Not long till it hit's our shores now

 

[bloke]

l
what yall think of the rest of the build? i really want to see what sata 3 will be like, just a shame they dont have it on the x58 chips.

it's a coming : Asus P6X58D Premium -Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0

Not long till it hit's our shores now

hmm, your up early.lol.

will have to check that out tomorrow. i gotta crash for work in a few hours. another chapter partly closed for now.

until tomorrow people, thanks for the info and help.

enjoy.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

i hear tell ''unofficially'' (due to the NDA), that GF100 will surface @ $400 (£250), so GF104, hopefully will come in @ about $560 (£350)

now that's CHEAP!!!!!

it'll be the first time in history Nvidia undercut the competition with a faster product..

eh i'm still doubting it....... actually i'm almost positive its impossible