Upgrading from a 9800GT in September 2011

[Pokletu]

Hey, guys,

Looking around, I see WAY more AMD discussions than NVIDIA. I've always bought NVIDIA cards(except my Voodoo Banshee, lol), so it's what's comfortable and familiar to me. I'm not loyal to NVIDIA, it's just that I understand what the names mean in their upgrades.

I use a TripleHead2Go analogue for some years now; but it seems that the AMD line makes this unnecessary. (Would it somehow be a BOTTLENECK, btw, were I to switch to an Eyefinity board?) I prefer to run at 3840x720.

It's very difficult to find relevant, direct comparisons in benchmarks between each rival's equivalent boards when it comes to surround/eyefinity resolutions. One thing that sticks out though, is that AMD is strongly promoting wide resolutions, and Nvida's pretty silent about it. The other thing that sticks out is that AMD boards that I'm guessing are equivalents run for frikkin' HALF the money!!

I'm ready to purchase either a 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.731484

or a 570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595

If these are rough equivalents(?), the 6870 seems like a no-brainer. I've learned that you get what you pay for, though.

Do AMD boards die quick? Do they crash all the time? Is there something they can't do, that Nvidia cards can?

Your input would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

Pokletu.

[Abram]

If you want to run games across 3 displays, you'll need 2 Nvidia cards. But a single AMD will do it. Pretty easy choice, there. I'm not too familiar with TH2G setups.

And since you're willing to pay for a 570, the 6970's are about the same price.

I've owned a fair amount of cards from both ATI and Nvidia, and I've only had a single Nvidia fan die on me. Though overall, I've preferred ATI hardware, but Nvidia drivers..

[Gilly]

The 6970's are slightly hard to come by, they had shortages. And if you can wait a little longer, AMD will be coming out with a new line of graphics cards later this year (hopefully!!!!)

[fycnero]

the GTX570 is stronger that the 6870. A 6970 is more equivalent in power to the GTX 570.

as far as AMD cards dieing quick and crashing, that is simply not true. both AMD and Nvidia have their issues but are nothing to worry about. if you do get a bad card just RMA. i am unfamiliar with triplehead2go so i cant comment on that. as far as the cards go i would recommend the 6970 over the gtx 570 for widescreen as they both have similar performance with the 6970 taking the lead at higher resolutions due it having more VRAM than the GTX 570. a 6950 would also be a good choice .

also, first post on the forums.