gamerguy127

Hi all, I am just about to upgrade my graphics cards to one of the latest models but after reading many reviews and opinions, I still don't know weather to go for the 5970 or the 480?? whichever card I choose will also need to be good for high end 3d modelling use (3DS Max and Maya) Thank you for your help

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Takaharu

In answer to your question - neither. Try looking around for a decent second-hand Quadro or FireGL if 3D modelling is your concern. A 480 in tri-SLI or dual 5970s can't match the modelling capabilities of a workstation card.

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BlueMak

On the other hand, from what I know, the quadro and firegl cards are exactly the same, just use different drivers.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

gamerguy127

i also want it for playing games too especially all the new DX11 stuff coming out

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BlueMak

Then definitely forget quadro and firegl.

I would get the AMD (ATI) card, but that is mostly because I can't stand Nvidia right now.

Actually, I would wait 2-3 months for the new cards by AMD before buying, unless I absolutelly had to buy one now. In which case, and if not going to upgrade later, I would get the 5970.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Liqourice

No, they're not. Basically the same chips but the cards are designed differently around them.

BlueMak

Are you sure?...

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Takaharu

Quadro (of which I have researched) sucks at playing games but can render 3D graphics designing around 4 times faster than its equivalent GeForce card.

But yeah, go the whole hog (without paying for two gaming PCs for the price of one graphics card) and get the 5970. It's not a single GPU but it is currently the fastest card. Unless, of course, you can wait, in which case get the top-end 6000 series.

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Uxot

5970 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 480

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i5 750::HD6870::2x2 Patriot::P7P55D

synthesis204

As of right now, the 5970 is faster than the 480 (the 480's equivalent would be the 5870). You can go with that (if you want to get the absolute fastest), wait for nVidia's reply to the 5970 (which will be months), get a 480 (still pretty damn fast, SLI scales better than 5970 in crossfire), or get a workstation card.

isaak

the 485GTX is due out soon and rumours are it will offer 15% more performance than the 480GTX

of course that would also lower the prices of the 480...

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The first step... shall be to lose the way. - Galway Kinnell

blibbax

The 5970 is undeniably faster.

However, I am wondering why you're looking at such a high end solution, so...

If you're after some sort of ultimate graphics setup, consider 3 GTX480s... or, if the processing power of a single 480/5970 is about what you're after, consider two lesser cards as a potentially cheaper solution... or, if you want to play at 1440x900 with max settings (looking at your specs sheet), consider something lots cheaper

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synthesis204

GTX 460 in SLI is the best bang-per-buck on the market at the moment - you may want to consider that (also noticeably cheaper than one 480, but performs much better).

gamerguy127

Thanks for the help guys well i'm going for top of the range at the moment because i dont really want to be replacing my graphics card anytime soon ( as in after i buy one now :P ) and i'll also soonish be upgrading my screen to a 22" as well, so i thought i might as well go for the top then if i do ever need more power just get a second of wichever card i have, also ive heard the 5970's run allot cooler

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blibbax

Neither exactly run cool without aftermarket cooling :P

I'd reccomend against the "one uber card now, get another later" approach. It will be massive overkill on a 22" monitor now, and by the time you do eventually need another it'll be more cost effective to buy a newer solution.

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gamerguy127

hmm suppose so, well getting a good one now will last me a good while, then i probably will just go for a newer solution if i update again later on, so i think i'll go for the 5970 now

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BlueMak

While the 5970 is super for performance, if I was going to buy a card now, I would not get it or any other two gpus on one card solution. Issues are rare, but they do exist with crossfire and the money you could save by getting something else, like a 5870, could be used to buy your next GPU whenever you feel the need to do so. A 5970 is an overkill. Of course if money is no object and you don't mind paying for not seeing any extra power, that's up to you.

If you can wait, the 6 series from AMD will be released in a month or so...

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

gamerguy127

So i wont really see any performance differance from the 5870 to the 5970? ive got enough to get a 5970 atm, how much will the amd 6 series card cost?
ok so what would you reccomend i get then?

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BlueMak

My first reccomendation is, do not buy anything yet. Wait till the end of October or close to that; AMD is going to release the next series around that time. Chances are you will be able to find something which costs the same as one of the 5 series cards, for the same money but 50% extra performance. If nothing else, there is a good chance it will save you even more money whatever you decide to buy.

If you refuse to wait, I would go for a 5870, one with non stock cooler, like something from Saphire X series. The 5970 is depending on the game up to 80% faster, BUT, to see the difference you will need to go to extremely high resolutions, starting from 2xxx X something resolutions. Because if you go lower, say 1680x1050, any difference will be too small to notice most of the time. The 5870 is a very fast card as it is. By the time you need the performance of a 5970 at the resolutions of 22" monitors, you will probably be at a point where people will laugh at your CPU.

So, the smart thing to do is wait for about a month to see what AMD releases. The stupid thing (and the action that you may do if you can't wait) is to get one now. The slightly less stupid would be to get a 5870.

Again, this is just me, others might disagree. I have been known to be wrong.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

gamerguy127

No actually this sounds like a good idea, so yeah i'll wait till the end of october and then make a decision, or ask here again as to what people think i should get, thanks for the advice

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BlueMak

Glad to be of help. So...with the money I just saved you, any chance you could ship me some Dr Pepper and a couple of XL double bacon cheeseburger from BK?


I kid I kid.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

isaak

Nice try

I agree with what BlueMak has said, wait it out till we see how the 6xxx series go: if the performance predictions are HORRIBLY wrong (they probably won't be) then at least prices on other cards should drop.

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The first step... shall be to lose the way. - Galway Kinnell

blibbax

Hey, where'smy burger in all this? Good one Bluemak.... :P

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Lowfat

HD5970's run extremely cool for a dual gpu card.

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blibbax

"extremely cool for a dual gpu card" <> cool :P

You're right of course, but in my books any piece of PC hardware that gets over 75 degrees doesn't get to call itself cool. Yes running at high temperatures isn't always a bad thing, and almost all referene graphics cards seem to reach between 80 and 95 now, but that doesn't mean that they're cool.

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