new video card.

Lol and it was seeing as you currently use a GTX295, previously used a 4870x2, the 5970 kinda fits right in there. Obviously you are not stuck on either brand which is great, whichever you think will suit your needs better.

Blue i just have to tell you, your case is massive. Deadly. Beastly. Im not trying to change your mind or anything, but from the post regarding heat being a problem , it sure should not be . Your Rampage II would easily have space between cards unlike my Gigabyte Board which would sandvich them , and your case would provide plenty of extra airflow.
 
dbee said:
Lol and it was seeing as you currently use a GTX295, previously used a 4870x2, the 5970 kinda fits right in there. Obviously you are not stuck on either brand which is great, whichever you think will suit your needs better.

Blue i just have to tell you, your case is massive. Deadly. Beastly. Im not trying to change your mind or anything, but from the post regarding heat being a problem , it sure should not be . Your Rampage II would easily have space between cards unlike my Gigabyte Board which would sandvich them , and your case would provide plenty of extra airflow.
Click to expand...

lol im more worried about temperature in my room than temperature in the case. I dont want to be sweating to death trying to use my computer. :P

-Blue
 
LOL ... I would really like to know if power hungry, heat dissipating desktops give off enough heat to increase the rooms temperature. I do have a digital thermometer/ weather forecast thingy on my desk and will notice about a 2 degree Fahrenheit increase from when i get home to about half hour later of computer usage. Maybe its the lights, or from opening the door lets some AC out, can anybody show us something related to this?

I could imagine a difference in a scenario of using no GPU's vs. 2 or 3 470/480's or similar, but not from ATI to Nvidia.
 
When I had my GX2 and 1055T setup folding 24/7 and someone would close my computer room door, It would get unbearably hot. Hence why i got my new rig. much less heat.
 
Save your money and get two XFX 5770 cards for $170 each and you will be able to play ANY game at MAX settings at 1680x1050.

It boggles my mind that people would even think about spending that kind of money on a video card. ESPECIALLY when there's not a single game out right now that will take advantage of it. Sure it will "technically" run it better than some other cards, but it WON'T be noticable. Go play BC2 on two 5770s and then two 470s and I guarantee you will NOT be able to tell the difference. Sure, if you run a benchmark tool, you will see better results with the better card, but lets face it, we build gaming PCs to play games, not to run benchmarks...

And by the time you start playing games where the difference "will" be noticable, those high end cards will be a LOT cheaper. Case in point, the HD4890 was $300 at launch and now you can get them for $200. That's 33% less, which is HUGE in the retail world.

Ask any PC builder, any real PC builder, it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile....

I mean.... any "good" PC builder knows there's a sweet spot when buying PC parts, and in the end, it's all about getting the best "gaming bang" for the buck. Unless of course, you're Bill Gates or something...
 
chapped said:
Save your money and get two XFX 5770 cards for $170 each and you will be able to play ANY game at MAX settings at 1680x1050.

It boggles my mind that people would even think about spending that kind of money on a video card. ESPECIALLY when there's not a single game out right now that will take advantage of it. Sure it will "technically" run it better than some other cards, but it WON'T be noticable. Go play BC2 on two 5770s and then two 470s and I guarantee you will NOT be able to tell the difference. Sure, if you run a benchmark tool, you will see better results with the better card, but lets face it, we build gaming PCs to play games, not to run benchmarks...

And by the time you start playing games where the difference "will" be noticable, those high end cards will be a LOT cheaper. Case in point, the HD4890 was $300 at launch and now you can get them for $200. That's 33% less, which is HUGE in the retail world.

Ask any PC builder, any real PC builder, it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile....

I mean.... any "good" PC builder knows there's a sweet spot when buying PC parts, and in the end, it's all about getting the best "gaming bang" for the buck. Unless of course, you're Bill Gates or something...
Click to expand...

benchmarks=truth

and if you played BC2 at more than 1680X1050 with 2 5770s you would feel the lag.
 
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chapped said:
Save your money and get two XFX 5770 cards for $170 each and you will be able to play ANY game at MAX settings at 1680x1050.

It boggles my mind that people would even think about spending that kind of money on a video card. ESPECIALLY when there's not a single game out right now that will take advantage of it. Sure it will "technically" run it better than some other cards, but it WON'T be noticable. Go play BC2 on two 5770s and then two 470s and I guarantee you will NOT be able to tell the difference. Sure, if you run a benchmark tool, you will see better results with the better card, but lets face it, we build gaming PCs to play games, not to run benchmarks...

And by the time you start playing games where the difference "will" be noticable, those high end cards will be a LOT cheaper. Case in point, the HD4890 was $300 at launch and now you can get them for $200. That's 33% less, which is HUGE in the retail world.

Ask any PC builder, any real PC builder, it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile....

I mean.... any "good" PC builder knows there's a sweet spot when buying PC parts, and in the end, it's all about getting the best "gaming bang" for the buck. Unless of course, you're Bill Gates or something...
Click to expand...

You make some fair points. For starters however, BC2 is an extremely cpu intensive game, explaining the small amounts of difference in quality between gpu's.

Additionally, I know you think spending 700 dollars on a video is rediculous. So do I, which is why I will be selling my MSI OC'd GTX295 to a friend of mine for 400 dollars. I figure 300 dollars for a hamlock card is a good deal.

Now your last point...Each PC builder puts emphasis on different areas of the machine. For me the most important parts of my machine are GPU's and the case (for cooling and air flow). You are correct in saying you can get by without buying the latest and greatest, but I am not looking to simply "get by". I am buying a card that will play all my the high-end games (STALKER, Company of Heroes, etc.) without significant drops in frame rates. As I mentioned earlier, my GTX295 actually performs worse in certain situations than some radeon 4xxx series cards. So in conclusion, I hope you are not implying that I am simply throwing money away and that I have little "know-how" in building my own computer (not really sure you could say that anyway).

-Blue
 
reflex99 said:
benchmarks=truth

and if you played BC2 at more than 1680X1050 with 2 5770s you would feel the lag.
Click to expand...

Blue Stealth mentioned in his post that he is only concerned with 1680x1050, which is why I mentioned that. Obviously with full HD resolution, you're going to want a faster card and with as much memory as you can get.
 
Blue Stealth said:
You make some fair points. For starters however, BC2 is an extremely cpu intensive game, explaining the small amounts of difference in quality between gpu's.

Additionally, I know you think spending 700 dollars on a video is rediculous. So do I, which is why I will be selling my MSI OC'd GTX295 to a friend of mine for 400 dollars. I figure 300 dollars for a hamlock card is a good deal.

Now your last point...Each PC builder puts emphasis on different areas of the machine. For me the most important parts of my machine are GPU's and the case (for cooling and air flow). You are correct in saying you can get by without buying the latest and greatest, but I am not looking to simply "get by". I am buying a card that will play all my the high-end games (STALKER, Company of Heroes, etc.) without significant drops in frame rates. As I mentioned earlier, my GTX295 actually performs worse in certain situations than some radeon 4xxx series cards. So in conclusion, I hope you are not implying that I am simply throwing money away and that I have little "know-how" in building my own computer (not really sure you could say that anyway).

-Blue
Click to expand...

I am not implying that you're throwing your money away, nor questioning your PC building abilities. I am just stating that there's a sweet spot when building a PC, regardless of the component(Mobo, CPU, RAM, video card, etc), and those cards you're looking at are simply not worth it. I would sell your GTX295 and get two HD5770's and pocket the other $40. Even one HD5770 will run DX11 better than the GTX295.

On another note, I feel the GTX295 was/is a waste also, when considering its price. A GTX260 or 275 would have been plenty.

As far as just "getting by" I only have one HD5770 and I can play ANY game on max settings at 1680x1050. So I definitely do not consider even one HD5770 "getting by" let alone two.

And to reiterate, I am just stating my opinion. It's your cash.

Now on the other hand, if your objective is bragging rights on the fastest gaming PC, then disregard my entire post.
 
Of course the 5770 will run DX11 better than the 295, the former can do it, the latter simply cannot. Invalid argument.
But, if you mean a DX11-capable game, but if both were at DX10, the 295 would win. It has more power. Sure, it is outdated and a waste of money (now).
And about the CF'd 5770s, I think it's a bad idea. It is only good for games that support CF, and not every game does, so a single 5850 or 470 would be a better choice.
 
Ph?bus said:
And about the CF'd 5770s, I think it's a bad idea. It is only good for games that support CF, and not every game does, so a single 5850 or 470 would be a better choice.
Click to expand...

That is arguable. Two 5770s WILL outperform a single 5850 or 470 AND be cheaper. But then you have to consider the cost of a mobo and PSU that support x-fire. As far as game support, any modern AAA title will support SLI/x-fire.

If I were to only pick one card, it would still be the HD5770. Sure, its slower than a 5850($300) and a 470($350) on paper, but not when gaming, especially at 1680x1050. Lets not forget its 45%(5850) and 52%(470) cheaper than the other cards.
 
chapped said:
That is arguable. Two 5770s WILL outperform a single 5850 or 470 AND be cheaper. But then you have to consider the cost of a mobo and PSU that support x-fire. As far as game support, any modern AAA title will support SLI/x-fire.

If I were to only pick one card, it would still be the HD5770. Sure, its slower than a 5850($300) and a 470($350) on paper, but not when gaming, especially at 1680x1050. Lets not forget its 45%(5850) and 52%(470) cheaper than the other cards.
Click to expand...

That is false. Well, at least for the 470. Especially if you factor in tessellation.
 
Ph?bus said:
That is false. Well, at least for the 470. Especially if you factor in tessellation.
Click to expand...

Wrong... Do some research...

Bottom line, Fermi is overrated, especially when you consider cost, heat and power consumption vs other single cards.
 
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When I get home, I will.
And in tessellation, Fermi will always win.
Plus, I don't see why people complain about the heat of them, they are about equal to the 4800 in heat.
 
Blue Stealth said:
how about you two provide some facts and evidence?
Click to expand...

While I couldn't find a benchmark that directly compared two 5770s to a 470, I did find other benchmarks that compare two 5770s to a 5850 and 5870. I also found benchmarks that compare a 5850 to a 470. Here are some links:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/22

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...0999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review-4.html

The bottom line is a 5850 is faster than a 470 and two 5770s are faster than a 5850.
 
chapped said:
While I couldn't find a benchmark that directly compared two 5770s to a 470, I did find other benchmarks that compare two 5770s to a 5850 and 5870. I also found benchmarks that compare a 5850 to a 470. Here are some links:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5770-review-test/22

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...0999-nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-sli-review-4.html

The bottom line is a 5850 is faster than a 470 and two 5770s are faster than a 5850.
Click to expand...

thanks, ill have a looksie.

oh and of course a 5850 is "faster" in gaming applications than the 470. The 470 is a fermi card, so different algorithms are used that are not nearly as effective when it comes to gaming.

-Blue
 
Blue Stealth said:
oh and of course a 5850 is "faster" in gaming applications than the 470. The 470 is a fermi card, so different algorithms are used that are not nearly as effective when it comes to gaming.

-Blue
Click to expand...

I mentioned the 5850 to show you benchmarks between CF5770 vs the 470, that's all.

Regarding your comment on Fermi not being as effective as other cards when it comes to gaming... what is the purpose of the Fermi card if it's not meant for gaming?
 
chapped said:
I mentioned the 5850 to show you benchmarks between CF5770 vs the 470, that's all.

Regarding your comment on Fermi not being as effective as other cards when it comes to gaming... what is the purpose of the Fermi card if it's not meant for gaming?
Click to expand...

wasting electricity

nVidia is in a secret pact with the power companies to use more power, so the utilities get more $. Its like raising taxes without raising taxes

/conspiracy theory
 
Tessellation. Big plus there. As long as the card is not overheating, whats the problem? And I think we are all making this a bit harder than it really should be for Blue. He has $700 to spend, either go with the 5970 as he decided on earlier , or a pair of 470's would be my choice.
 
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