I've been getting by with a single 5870 to run my 3x 1080P display setup until now. I've struggled in a lot of games recently, and I've decided it might be time for an upgrade now that I can't even run BF3 in a satisfactory way on the lowest settings. As you might have understood, I'm on a bit of a budget here. I don't want to upgrade anything but the graphics card. This means no CF/SLI, since my PSU can't handle that (Corsair TX 650W). Dual GPU cards sould be fine, since they have a restriced TDP to around 300W.
I kinda want to go Nvidia, since they tend to give better minimum FPS than AMD in pretty much all situations. IMO, the minimum FPS is what makes or breaks the experience, and not so much the average. The problem is Nvidia doesn't offer Surround on single GPUs. I've heard it's possible with dual GPU cards, but I hear so many people having problems with SLI and CF solutions (microstuttering, artifacts etc.).
What do you guys think I should do?
If you want to have three screens off a single card then you are going to want to get an AMD card.
650W Corsair will manage Xfire (or even tri-xfire) 5870's fine.
Just get another 5870 in my opinion.
Alternative would be to get a single 6950, then Xfire that later.
CrossFireX and SLI can cause a lot of micro-stuttering in games, not to mention the amount of noise and heat they emit, the amount of power they consume and the astronomical price (assuming you're using 2 GTX 590's or similar). In my opinion, you should opt for a single overclocked HD 6970. This way you won't encounter annoying stuttering or have your wallet annihilated.
[QUOTE=SataniX;33022703]650W Corsair will manage Xfire (or even tri-xfire) 5870's fine.
Just get another 5870 in my opinion.
Alternative would be to get a single 6950, then Xfire that later.[/QUOTE]
Is that safe with the molex adapters and all though? I've only got 2x 6+2 pin power connectors. I've run a 5870 + 8800GTX before (PhysX card), and it did work fine. The biggest issue i guess is cable management. 4 molex connectors with the adapters is going to look horrific.
[QUOTE=ffffff-;33026167]CrossFireX and SLI can cause a lot of micro-stuttering in games, not to mention the amount of noise and heat they emit, the amount of power they consume and the astronomical price (assuming you're using 2 GTX 590's or similar). In my opinion, you should opt for a single overclocked HD 6970. This way you won't encounter annoying stuttering or have your wallet annihilated.[/QUOTE]A single HD6970 won't be enough for 3x 1080P Displays. Seriously I'm playing BF3 on a single 30" 2560x1600 monitor and I can't turn everything up to the max without some little stuttering with my HD6990 (that's like almost 2x HD6970)
I'd say you'd need at least 2x HD6970 and those overclocked. 3 would be better, but who owns a motherboard that supports 3 graphics cards... not to mention the power supply unit.
Yes molex connectors are fine, see if you can grab another 5870, failing that try and find a 5850 (it will crossfire with the 5870 just fine).
Make sure your motherboard actually supports crossfire though, noone has asked that yet, what is it?
[QUOTE=Romka;33100810]A single HD6970 won't be enough for 3x 1080P Displays. Seriously I'm playing BF3 on a single 30" 2560x1600 monitor and I can't turn everything up to the max without some little stuttering with my HD6990 (that's like almost 2x HD6970)
I'd say you'd need at least 2x HD6970 and those overclocked. 3 would be better, but who owns a motherboard that supports 3 graphics cards... not to mention the power supply unit.[/QUOTE]
A silverstone strider+ 1050w will run tri sli 570's fine, and trifire 6970's too afaik. And it's not super expensive.
[QUOTE=Allstone;33021051]If you want to have three screens off a single card then you are going to want to get an AMD card.[/QUOTE]
Or dual GPU nvidia cards.
[editline]3rd November 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=ffffff-;33026167]CrossFireX and SLI can cause a lot of micro-stuttering in games, not to mention the amount of noise and heat they emit, the amount of power they consume and the astronomical price (assuming you're using 2 GTX 590's or similar). In my opinion, you should opt for a single overclocked HD 6970. This way you won't encounter annoying stuttering or have your wallet annihilated.[/QUOTE]
Stuttering really isn't as common as the rumors make it. Current generations are much much much much better in multiGPU setups. Microstutter was still around last gen, but it's continually being better.
As far as power, it uses a lot of power while gaming, but nearly everything clocks down nicely even in SLI while idle. My entire rig, which is quite powerful uses 650watts from the wall during the most intense gaming, but only about 125-130 while idle. That's 2-3 light bulbs.
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