Beginner's question: GC Choice

[Silastar]

Hello Everyone!

So basically, I just moved and decided that my new desk was just boring with only one monitor. I went and bought two additional 24 inch Monitors. I was able to set them up without too much hassle (except the Driver update for Nvidia that scared me a bit for a few minutes.... which actually felt like forever!), and it looks beautiful...

BUT...

I currently have 2 x 260GTX cramed in my computer, and them really seem to struggle a lot at the resolution that they are setup right now... I log on to some of my favorite game, and the fan just kicks in, the GPU goes up to 80 degrees celsius (RealTemp) and in World of Warcraft (which is not really the pinnacle of benchmarking here), I've had to throttle back the overall settings from Ultra to Averadge (I would have been happy with excellent, even good, but averadge... gnnieeeh)

So my question: should I go and change the dual GC for a single 480 GTX? There are 3 connectors (1 MiniHDMI and 2 DVI) on them, would that be enough for Surround gaming?

Or would you suggest that I get 2 x 460GTX (Which overall is the same price than a single GTX480)?

Eagerly awaiting some inputs :-P Currently my great fear is that I hear a "PFfftzzzztssst.... Plop" from my comptuer with a thin smoke trail coming from out the back :lol:

[Paradigm Shifter]

You need SLI to run Surround, so a single card won't do it.

Have a look around and see what prices GTX470s are - they recently took a price nosedive, and (at least in the UK) a pair of GTX470s can be had for the same price as a pair of GTX460s. (~£185 per card)...

I've run GTX460 SLI with a Core i7 920 with no trouble on a 620w PSU.

[Silastar]

Thank you for the prompt answer :-)

I'll check out the prices here for the 470

[Skid]

Short cut for you, here are are the prices of the GTX460 and 470, the GTX470 is the same prices as the GTX460 2GB version. 1GB version of the 460 is about £30 cheaper, or 60 for a pair.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Shop/Computer-Hardware/All/GPU-NVIDIA/NVIDIA-Geforce-GTX460-PCI-E-%28336-Cores%29/NVIDIA-Geforce-GTX470-PCI-E-%28448-Cores%29

Its scan not because they advertise here but they are cheap and reliable, well compared to dabs.com and ebuyer.co.uk

[Paradigm Shifter]

Wow, I hadn't realised the 1GB cards had dropped so far. £142 for a 1GB Palit? Crikey.

Having said that, I'd still go for 2GB cards if I had the choice. Civ 5 in Surround can hit 1950MB of VRAM usage.

[Silastar]

Okay, so far, from what I've seen, I've got a better ration price/quality if I get an ATI GC...

Found this one:

https://www.1000ordi.ch/62066

It goes for around 181 Pounds

What do you think?

[skrubol]

I'd buy on features more than price/performance. Not sure how eyefinity stacks up against nVidia surround. Eyefinity is more flexible, but for 3 monitors either should work fine.
One thing I'm not sure if you're aware of, the 6870 is not the successor to the 5870, they've messed with their numbering scheme. It's in between the 5850 and 5870 in performance (and somewhere on par with a GTX470.)

[Gilly]

WoW is quite CPU limited depending where you are in the world, Dalaran won't give earth shattering FPS without a good CPU (unless things have changed from ICC patch (when I quit)), so you might not gain too much in the way of FPS. 25 man raids are also very heavy on the CPU.

[Silastar]

I'd buy on features more than price/performance. Not sure how eyefinity stacks up against nVidia surround. Eyefinity is more flexible, but for 3 monitors either should work fine.
One thing I'm not sure if you're aware of, the 6870 is not the successor to the 5870, they've messed with their numbering scheme. It's in between the 5850 and 5870 in performance (and somewhere on par with a GTX470.)

Yes, but what about GPU temp and noise? Currently my dual 260 GTX are just jumping to almost 80 Degrees when after 2 minutes of gameplay.... Will the single ATI card be less noisy and will it suffice to run the game in it's full potential?

WoW is quite CPU limited depending where you are in the world, Dalaran won't give earth shattering FPS without a good CPU (unless things have changed from ICC patch (when I quit)), so you might not gain too much in the way of FPS. 25 man raids are also very heavy on the CPU.

Currently running a i7, with a good Watercooling solution. I haven't had any issues in the past when raiding and everything was smooth.

[Silastar]

Okay, changed my GC.... went for a good deal on a 6870, and so far impressed! I'm waiting next month to get another one for Xfire...

But why.... oh why don't they include an active MiniDP->DVI adapter in their bundle???

My third screen is currently turned off, awaiting on delivery for that Sapphire adapter.... Hope that will do the trick!

BTW, since the adapter is DP->DVI, and I will have to use the MiniDP->DP adpater that came with the card, will that cause any issue?

[Paradigm Shifter]

Shouldn't do.

Sorry about the lack of 470 benches - something's wrong with the cards as all they give me is trouble (no image on screen but no POST beeps saying there's something wrong, solid colours instead of Windows when it does finally work...)

[Silastar]

Ok! Finally got my adapter last week by mail :-P

Everything works like a charm! It's really something!

I've had to setup a proper profile for the GC Fan on MSI Afterburner, because the temp was getting a bit crazy to my liking (above 90 c)... Now everything runs at 85 c peak, full details turned on WoW, sweet :-)

Will try some other games soon like Crysis, to see if the GC will cope with the massive amounts of effects and details