Graphic Cards Help deciding GPU for SB Rig

[devvfata1ity]

Guys I am building a second Sandy Bridge Rig. I have decided on all the components except the GPU. I need your advice in deciding the best GPU config for my rig.

The Rig:

Core i7 2600k (62 multi capable)

Asus P8Z67V pro

4GBx 2 Corsair XMS 3 DDR3 1600 (need low profile RAMs to fit a N-D14)

OCZ Vtx3 120 GB

Seasonic S12D 750

GPU: Undecided

My max budget for the GPU is 20k. Here are the options that I am considering:

1. MSI GTX 570

2. MSI GTX 560 Ti TF III

3. Saphire/ HIS 6850 x2 Xfire

* These cards are just for reference. Will go for any OEM.

Which of the following will give the best bang for buck. Not interested in GTX 580 (its a power hog), HD 6950 (Already have a Xfire set up in my primary SB Rig), HD 6870 Xfire (Not worth over the HD 6850 IMO)

TIA

 

[muzux2]

HD6850 CF beats the pants off any card within 20k. I'd suggest you look no further than HD6850's .

 

[chiragsthakur]

Hd6850 cf ........it beats out 5970 2gb by a damn good margin

 

[devvfata1ity]

hmm i am inclined to go 6850 Xfire but i am worried that a few months down the line amd is not going to release optimized xfire profiles for newer games & the scaling ill be screwed, at least with a single GPU I wont have to worry about scaling issues.

BTW How much faster is a 6850 xfire setup compared to a gtx 570

 

[chiragsthakur]

hmm i am inclined to go 6850 Xfire but i am worried that a few months down the line amd is not going to release optimized xfire profiles for newer games & the scaling ill be screwed, at least with a single GPU I wont have to worry about scaling issues.

BTW How much faster is a 6850 xfire setup compared to a gtx 570

AnandTech - Bench - GPU11

You will get more performance in 6850xfire setup compared to 570 single...

 

[buddingwhizkid]

Get a 560 ti for about 14k , overclock it so it performs near or equal to gtx570 , 10-12 months down the road sli them , this is your best bet .

 

[Zloyd]

Hmm if both rigs aren't gonna be gaming simultaneously you could use a 6950 in each

 

[chiragsthakur]

^^ good one...:cool2:

 

[devvfata1ity]

Hmm if both rigs aren't gonna be gaming simultaneously you could use a 6950 in each

actually your idea is good in concept but i am trying to build a killer high performance lan gaming daisy chain for all night lan-parties, so all three of my rigs are gonna game simultaneously. not to mention mult-monitor gaming.

 

[chiragsthakur]

then get the 6850cf and you are ready with a killer pc again

 

[Zloyd]

May the power be with you !!!

 

[tkin]

Can I suggest the MSI 6970 lightning? Its 22k including shipping @ smc and oc's like a monster, hell the card comes factory clocked to very high clocks and edges out the stock 6970 by a good margin.

 

[Zloyd]

Tried unlockibg both 6950's ?

Personally that 6970 lightning suggestion is ace I would do that.

 

[rahulyo]

Instead of 2 card in CF /SLi ,Take one powerful card .

 

[devvfata1ity]

guys both my existing HD 6950s are already unlocked . I am also mulling over the single vs multi card debate. As far as the performance I have seen in the benchmarks in various sites, the 6850 CF smokes the GTX 580 in all benchmarks so the 6970 even highly OCed doesnt stand a chance. The other option I was thinking was may be buying a single GTX 570 & using my spare GTX 260 as a PHYSX card. Watsay??

 

[tkin]

Get the GTX570 TFII edition, it still has the reference pcb with weak vrms, so do not try to oc with it.

 

[chiragsthakur]

@dev ... According to me, a single GTX570 is more than enough to handle the physx very well. If you use GTX260 as dedicated physx card, then you will get about 7 to 13 frames more on avg in most of the games...just a guess from a actual scenario that my friend uses GTX460 with GTX 260 as physx card, gets about 5 to 9 frames more on avg. I am not sure if its worth or not or its the same in 570 and 260 combo case... But I will always go for 6850CF as I am concerned with performance per penny and power saving...

 

[Zloyd]

I think thats a good idea (570) also if you are planning to play BF2 I hear Nvidia is a much better solution.

Or if you trust ATI and think they will fix those issues shortly I say keep riding the 6950 train. Buy 1 now another later for other machine, later even a third so you can xfire them.

Single 6950 should be great for gaming really and if you get unlocks its great. Buy them and keep xfireing them if you want more.

 

[mihir.khatwani]

If the rig is for gaming then the Core i7 2600k is pointless I would go with the Core i52500k and save some money.
As far as the GPU is concerned the GTX 580 is just 10-14% faster than the GX 570 so the GTX 570 is the way to go.
The HD6970 would be completely ridiculous in front of the GTX570 since the GTX 570 trumps it at every resolution till 1920x1200 and loses on the higher resolutions like the 2560x1600 but that because of the the lower VRAM compared to the HD6970.
Going with a multi-GPU config for a new build is completely ridiculous since when a single capable GPU is available which won't slack then why go for a multi-GPU config.

 

[ALPHA17]

^^

overall the benchmarks are similar for both cards but nVidia optimized games Physx based games are biased towards the nVidia GTX 570, in rest the AMD card leads decisevely and I feel is a better card for gaming and a multi-monitor set-up. Power consumption is also a big plus point in AMD's bag -- AnandTech - Bench - GPU11