I will have $1,500 by Friday. What upgrade should I go for?

My specs are in my signature. I am willing to spend about $700.00. What graphics upgrade should I go for? I was thinking of getting an XFX 2GB 6970 and an XFX 2GB 6950. That way, when I'm playing a game that doesn't support Crossfire, I'll get the better performance of the two cards (the 6970) and when I'm playing a game that does support Crossfire, I'll get the performance of two 6950s (which is good enough). I could get a 6950 and unlock it, but I have this desire to get at least one genuine 6970; it's a psychological thing. What do you guys think?

hey its blurayhidef!

I think that you enjoy wasting money... :|

Second 5870? You can always save the money :P

Oh and where did Mr T go?

I think that you enjoy wasting money... :|

Tezcatlipoca666

Why would you say that? I haven't upgraded since I first bought my computer. It's been a year. I want to be able to max out DX11 games. I can't do that with my current 5870. I can't max out Metro 2033...Okay, maybe that's the only game, but I have to prepare for the future. Crysis 2, RAGE, The Witcher 2, and Deus EX: Human Revolution are going to be released, soon. I want to be prepared for them. I want to be able to max them out at 1920x1080 and get 60FPS.

hey its blurayhidef!

ionusX

You act as if you haven't seen me in a while. Maybe you didn't recognize me when I had the Quinton Rampage Jackson avatar and signature.

if you have a 5870.. you can max out crysis 2 :P

oh i know that was you.. im simply messing with you :P

I don't see the need. My system isn't that different to yours, and my benchmarks aren't far off a GTX570 in some instances.

I doubt anything you have is hampering your performance (I have no issues with Crysis, and my 5770CF isn't that different to a 5870) to warrant an upgrade.

All I can see that you might want is, aptly enough, a bluray drive. Not exactly useful though.

Keep the cash for the next generation of graphics cards.

if you have a 5870.. you can max out crysis 2 :P

oh i know that was you.. im simply messing with you :P

ionusX

So, I shouldn't got for an upgrade? Also, lets say that I did go with the upgrade in the OP, would my PSU be able to handle it? It's a Corsair 750TX.

I don't see the need. My system isn't that different to yours, and my benchmarks aren't far off a GTX570 in some instances.

I doubt anything you have is hampering your performance (I have no issues with Crysis, and my 5770CF isn't that different to a 5870) to warrant an upgrade.

All I can see that you might want is, aptly enough, a bluray drive. Not exactly useful though.

Keep the cash for the next generation of graphics cards.

LordRork

I already have a BluRay drive.

If it were me I'd buy a second 1TB HDD for a Raid setup or cash out on a SDD HDD for faster boot times; makes a huge difference in the long run.

Your video card is fine. Get a solid state drive. It will make the biggest difference in how your setup performs.

In my opinion you shouldn't upgrade anything until you have a real good reason to. Your 5870 should be able to handle pretty much any game out now and any coming this year pretty easily. You should wait until your performance is lacking to upgrade.SoraX64

I can't max out GTA IV or Metro 2033. I know that GTA IV is a bad port, but I still want to be able to max it out. I think the 2GB of VRAM would help, particularly for that game.

Hmm, didn't see an obvious Bluray drive in the sig. Ho hum.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/10

6970 seems to draw 300W under full load, so two might be a big proposition for a 750W PSU. But why have two? It's total overkill - if you want a beastly graphics card you'd probably want to wait for the 6990.

Your video card is fine. Get a solid state drive. It will make the biggest difference in how your setup performs.

cmdrmonkey45

Even if I had $10,000, I'd still have a hard time justifying the cost per gigabyte. It's simply too high. I'm not willing to get one. I'm patient enough to deal withe the boot times of my mechanical HDDs.

[QUOTE="Tezcatlipoca666"]

I think that you enjoy wasting money... :|

BluRayHiDef

Why would you say that? I haven't upgraded since I first bought my computer. It's been a year. I want to be able to max out DX11 games. I can't do that with my current 5870. I can't max out Metro 2033...Okay, maybe that's the only game, but I have to prepare for the future. Crysis 2, RAGE, The Witcher 2, and Deus EX: Human Revolution are going to be released, soon. I want to be prepared for them. I want to be able to max them out at 1920x1080 and get 60FPS.

You would spend $700 when you already have a 5870? Why not get a second 5870 instead?

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]

Your video card is fine. Get a solid state drive. It will make the biggest difference in how your setup performs.

BluRayHiDef

Even if I had $10,000, I'd still have a hard time justifying the cost per gigabyte. It's simply too high. I'm not willing to get one. I'm patient enough to deal withe the boot times of my mechanical HDDs.

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="Tezcatlipoca666"]

I think that you enjoy wasting money... :|

Tezcatlipoca666

Why would you say that? I haven't upgraded since I first bought my computer. It's been a year. I want to be able to max out DX11 games. I can't do that with my current 5870. I can't max out Metro 2033...Okay, maybe that's the only game, but I have to prepare for the future. Crysis 2, RAGE, The Witcher 2, and Deus EX: Human Revolution are going to be released, soon. I want to be prepared for them. I want to be able to max them out at 1920x1080 and get 60FPS.

You would spend $700 when you already have a 5870? Why not get a second 5870 instead?

Agreed. I don't see for the need for a new card, when you have a perfectly good one. Just get a second one to put your current one to use....

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="Tezcatlipoca666"]

I think that you enjoy wasting money... :|

Tezcatlipoca666

Why would you say that? I haven't upgraded since I first bought my computer. It's been a year. I want to be able to max out DX11 games. I can't do that with my current 5870. I can't max out Metro 2033...Okay, maybe that's the only game, but I have to prepare for the future. Crysis 2, RAGE, The Witcher 2, and Deus EX: Human Revolution are going to be released, soon. I want to be prepared for them. I want to be able to max them out at 1920x1080 and get 60FPS.

You would spend $700 when you already have a 5870? Why not get a second 5870 instead?

They scale horribly. Here's some data that I collected when deciding to go that route, or to go for the 6000 series. Obviously, the Crossfire 5870's outperform a single 6970, but if you calculate the percentage increase relative to a single 5870, it's pretty bad; it'll range from 40 to 70 percent. 70 percent is good, but the instances where it's as low as 40 percent are unexceptable.

Metro 2033 @ 1920x1200: TechPower --->

HD 5870 1.0GB Crossfire : 40FPS

HD 5870 1.0GB: 23FPS

HD 6970 2.0GB: 28FPS

HD 6950 2.0GB: 25FPS

GTX 580 1.5GB: 33FPS

GTX 570 1280MB: 27FPS

Colin McRae Dirt 2 @ 1920x1200: TechPower --->

HD 5870 1.0GB Crossfire: 111FPS

HD 5870 1.0GB: 76FPS

HD 6970 2.0GB: 77FPS

HD 6950 2.0GB: 72FPS

GTX 580 1.5GB: 96FPS

GTX 570 1280MB: 80FPS

Battlefield Bad Company 2 @ 1920x1200: TechPower -->

HD 5870 1.0GB Crossfire: 87FPS

HD 5870 1.0GB: 51FPS

HD 6970 2.0GB: 56FPS

HD 6950 2.0GB: 50FPS

GTX 580 1.5GB: 67FPS

GTX 570 1280MB: 56FPS

Crysis Warhead @ 1920x1200: TechPower -->

HD 5870 1.0GB Crossfire: 70FPS

HD 5870 1.0GB: 45FPS

HD 6970 2.0GB: 57FPS

HD 6950 2.0GB: 51FPS

GTX 580 1.5GB: 62FPS

GTX 570 1280MB: 55FPS

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]

Your video card is fine. Get a solid state drive. It will make the biggest difference in how your setup performs.

MonsieurX

Even if I had $10,000, I'd still have a hard time justifying the cost per gigabyte. It's simply too high. I'm not willing to get one. I'm patient enough to deal withe the boot times of my mechanical HDDs.

It's not a few FPS. I'll show you some data in a second. For DX11 titles, there are instances where a SINGLE 6970 is 77% faster than a 5870. That's HUGE!

Your frame rate is only below 30FPS on Metro 2033, which is notoriously badly optimised. Everything else is fine, even with a single 5870. Your money would be better spent in a year or so when GPU tech has taken another significant jump.

(I know where you're coming from...I talked myself out of an upgrade to a GTX570 this week. The benefits would have been minimal)

[QUOTE="MonsieurX"][QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

Even if I had $10,000, I'd still have a hard time justifying the cost per gigabyte. It's simply too high. I'm not willing to get one. I'm patient enough to deal withe the boot times of my mechanical HDDs.

BluRayHiDef

It's not a few FPS. I'll show you some data in a second. For DX11 titles, there are instances where a SINGLE 6970 is 77% faster than a 5870. That's HUGE!

Your frame rate is only below 30FPS on Metro 2033, which is notoriously badly optimised. Everything else is fine, even with a single 5870. Your money would be better spent in a year or so when GPU tech has taken another significant jump.

(I know where you're coming from...I talked myself out of an upgrade to a GTX570 this week. The benefits would have been minimal)

LordRork

Your frame rate is only below 30FPS on Metro 2033, which is notoriously badly optimised. Everything else is fine, even with a single 5870. Your money would be better spent in a year or so when GPU tech has taken another significant jump.

(I know where you're coming from...I talked myself out of an upgrade to a GTX570 this week. The benefits would have been minimal)

LordRork

You guys aren't considering the NET amount of money I'd be spending. The cost of a 6970 and 6950 is $664.00. However, I'd sell my 5870 for at least $200.00. Hence, the NET amount of money I'd be spending is ($664.00 - $200.00) $464.00. That's not too shabby.

Buy a 6950, flash it, sell your 5870, buy an additional 6950 if needed. Really there is no point in buying a 6970 IMHO when the reference 6950s are so easy to flash. Even if you wanted the 6970 to boost your tech ego most nerds worth their salt would just laugh at you for wasting money frivolously., it's a lose-lose. Or like Jiggy sudjested buy two more monitors for eyefinity if your into that sort of thing.

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="MonsieurX"] But you can justify the 4-500$ upgrade for the few extra fps...i5750at4Ghz

It's not a few FPS. I'll show you some data in a second. For DX11 titles, there are instances where a SINGLE 6970 is 77% faster than a 5870. That's HUGE!

My board doesn't support SLI. It's a Crossfire board.

[QUOTE="LordRork"]

Your frame rate is only below 30FPS on Metro 2033, which is notoriously badly optimised. Everything else is fine, even with a single 5870. Your money would be better spent in a year or so when GPU tech has taken another significant jump.

(I know where you're coming from...I talked myself out of an upgrade to a GTX570 this week. The benefits would have been minimal)

BluRayHiDef

You guys aren't considering the NET amount of money I'd be spending. The cost of a 6970 and 6950 is $664.00. However, I'd sell my 5870 for at least $200.00. Hence, the NET amount of money I'd be spending is ($664.00 - $200.00) $464.00. That's not too shabby.

Now Im not exactly sure why you created a topic. Seems like you have already made up your mind....

save your money, put it into some stocks. When the next round of video cards come out upgrade at that time.

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="LordRork"]

Your frame rate is only below 30FPS on Metro 2033, which is notoriously badly optimised. Everything else is fine, even with a single 5870. Your money would be better spent in a year or so when GPU tech has taken another significant jump.

(I know where you're coming from...I talked myself out of an upgrade to a GTX570 this week. The benefits would have been minimal)

Urworstnhtmare

You guys aren't considering the NET amount of money I'd be spending. The cost of a 6970 and 6950 is $664.00. However, I'd sell my 5870 for at least $200.00. Hence, the NET amount of money I'd be spending is ($664.00 - $200.00) $464.00. That's not too shabby.

Now Im not exactly sure why you created a topic. Seems like you have already made up your mind....

Because, in the inside...my conscious agrees with you all. I wanted to find some source of assurance. Eh, I guess I should just slap another 5870 in there and call it a day. Either that, or get a single GTX 580. I mentioned that my board doesn't support SLI, but I recall reading that the BIOS can be cross-flashed to support it.

well once you actually buy the video card, you will lose that sense of excitement and it becomes a sort of dissapointment, since its not really a huge jump compared to your 5870. No card on the market right now is, not even a 580 gtx.

[QUOTE="Urworstnhtmare"]

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

You guys aren't considering the NET amount of money I'd be spending. The cost of a 6970 and 6950 is $664.00. However, I'd sell my 5870 for at least $200.00. Hence, the NET amount of money I'd be spending is ($664.00 - $200.00) $464.00. That's not too shabby.

BluRayHiDef

Now Im not exactly sure why you created a topic. Seems like you have already made up your mind....

Because, in the inside...my conscious agrees with you all. I wanted to find some source of assurance. Eh, I guess I should just slap another 5870 in there and call it a day. Either that, or get a single GTX 580. I mentioned that my board doesn't support SLI, but I recall reading that the BIOS can be cross-flashed to support it.

Nothing about Metro 2033 is unoptimized. Games runs fantastic on a wide range of PC configurations.i5750at4Ghz

I should have been a bit more specific. Metro 2033 as a benchmark tool tends to result in quite low levels of performance on many setups - the 23 FPS posted earlier is an unfair indicator of what the 5870 is good at in general. You are quite right that it can be customised to suit.

You guys aren't considering the NET amount of money I'd be spending. The cost of a 6970 and 6950 is $664.00. However, I'd sell my 5870 for at least $200.00. Hence, the NET amount of money I'd be spending is ($664.00 - $200.00) $464.00. That's not too shabby.

BluRayHiDef

Absolutely. But it's still a purchase you don't really need to make at the moment. That same amount of cash (with or without the resale value) would be better spent later when you'd see a much better return for it.

[QUOTE="MonsieurX"][QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

Even if I had $10,000, I'd still have a hard time justifying the cost per gigabyte. It's simply too high. I'm not willing to get one. I'm patient enough to deal withe the boot times of my mechanical HDDs.

BluRayHiDef

It's not a few FPS. I'll show you some data in a second. For DX11 titles, there are instances where a SINGLE 6970 is 77% faster than a 5870. That's HUGE!

build a 2nd pc with $1500fishing666

No. On another note, I think I'll go with this. It's really really cheap.

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

WreckEm711

Lulz. :lol:

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

WreckEm711

At first maybe :P

[QUOTE="fishing666"]build a 2nd pc with $1500BluRayHiDef

No. On another note, I think I'll go with this. It's really really cheap.

Get an SSD bro... 60GB Vertex 2 boots an OS like a champion... Only cost like a hundred bucks now...

And while your at it grab a couple HDD's and throw them in RAID... I recently RAID0'd some 500GB F3's (2 of them cost $100)... Getting near SSD speeds... 225MB/s read... My games load twice as fast as before...

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="fishing666"]build a 2nd pc with $1500Buttons1990

No. On another note, I think I'll go with this. It's really really cheap.

Get an SSD bro... 60GB Vertex 2 boots an OS like a champion... Only cost like a hundred bucks now...

And while your at it grab a couple HDD's and throw them in RAID... I recently RAID0'd some 500GB F3's (2 of them cost $100)... Getting near SSD speeds... 225MB/s read... My games load twice as fast as before...

I don't care enough about INITIAL boot times to spend money on improving them. Once the OS and/or application is loaded, there would be no difference between an SSD and a mechanical HDD. I will NEVER buy an SSD as long as they're as expensive as they are, now. They're just not worth the money.

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

WreckEm711

make sure not too overcloack her too much, u dont want to break anything

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

WreckEm711

congrats, its money much better spent than what the topic creator is struggling about.

[QUOTE="WreckEm711"]

I had 2,000 dollars on friday but chose to upgrade my girlfriend instead .... to fiance :P I think this will get significantly better performance out of her!

sinpkr

make sure not too overcloack her too much, u dont want to break anything

:lol:

Don't worry, I always use a firewall

[QUOTE="Buttons1990"]

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

No. On another note, I think I'll go with this. It's really really cheap.

BluRayHiDef

Get an SSD bro... 60GB Vertex 2 boots an OS like a champion... Only cost like a hundred bucks now...

And while your at it grab a couple HDD's and throw them in RAID... I recently RAID0'd some 500GB F3's (2 of them cost $100)... Getting near SSD speeds... 225MB/s read... My games load twice as fast as before...

I don't care enough about INITIAL boot times to spend money on improving them. Once the OS and/or application is loaded, there would be no difference between an SSD and a mechanical HDD. I will NEVER buy an SSD as long as they're as expensive as they are, now. They're just not worth the money.

You won't spend $100 to more or less eliminate your boot time, have greater performance in all around everything, as everything is directly related to you OS... Slow OS, slow everything else (drivers, directX, codecs, etc)...

But you were willing to spend $700 on a marginal upgrade over what you currently have (those are single cards)...?

Get a second 5870 and a dell U2410 24" 19x12 IPS monitor. I mean you really are still using a TN panel despite all the money you have?:?

And btw 6950 CF also scales at about 58% on average at your resolution.

Same is the case with 5870 so I dont know what problem you have with it's scaling....

i say wait till the gtx 590 is released and compare the 6690 with it and make your decision from there being you want to spend 700$

[QUOTE="BluRayHiDef"]

[QUOTE="Buttons1990"]

Get an SSD bro... 60GB Vertex 2 boots an OS like a champion... Only cost like a hundred bucks now...

And while your at it grab a couple HDD's and throw them in RAID... I recently RAID0'd some 500GB F3's (2 of them cost $100)... Getting near SSD speeds... 225MB/s read... My games load twice as fast as before...

Buttons1990

I don't care enough about INITIAL boot times to spend money on improving them. Once the OS and/or application is loaded, there would be no difference between an SSD and a mechanical HDD. I will NEVER buy an SSD as long as they're as expensive as they are, now. They're just not worth the money.

You won't spend $100 to more or less eliminate your boot time, have greater performance in all around everything, as everything is directly related to you OS... Slow OS, slow everything else (drivers, directX, codecs, etc)...

But you were willing to spend $700 on a marginal upgrade over what you currently have (those are single cards)...?

My dude, my boot times aren't as fast as they'd be if I had an SSD, but they certaintly aren't slow. It takes my computer about one minute to boot into the OS. That's pretty darn fast. It takes about the same time to launch a game. My computer is pretty darn fast. I don't need an SSD, at all. On the other hand, I'd say that I need a graphics update for my preferences. I want to max out Metro 2033, GTA IV, and the games that are coming up this year. A graphics upgrade is much more sensible than an upgrade for something as petty as boot/ load times, espeically when my computer boots more than quicly enough. SSDs are out of the question. They are too expensive per gigabyte. No one will ever convince me to get one, at their current prices. Besides, I'd rather buy a relatively slow mechanical HDD with 1TB of space than a fast SSD with a mere 100GB.