Widescreen Gaming Forum

[quote][quote]There are definitely advantages to the 5970- there are a few reviews out there that compare, and you'll def see a gain in FPS with the upgrade...

BUT- I am in the process of selling my 5970 because I am going with 2 5870 2GBs, as the added memory comes in handy at the extreme Eyefinity resolutions we are running. Had you considered just adding a 2nd 5870 in Xfire? That would be my move (and faster than a single 5970...) 8)

I agree, I have to say, the extra ram does keep the hiccups at bay, You may want to get two toxic 5870s that have 2GB of vram each.
When crossfiring cards only 1 set of vram is used so you don't get 4GB you just get 2GB :(

So if the 5970 is at 850/1200 and the 5870s are at 850/1200 they'll preform exactly the same :shock:
No true, Even with the Clocks the same, getting 2 GB with 2 5870 2GB cards in Crossfire should perform better than a 5970 2GB (which will give you 1 GB VRAM in Crossfire) when you have a game that uses more than a 1GB of VRAM. It should also help when using higher amounts of Anti-Aliasing and give you a smoother experience over all.

_________________
System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |

No true, Even with the Clocks the same, getting 2 GB with 2 5870 2GB cards in Crossfire should perform better than a 5970 2GB (which will give you 1 GB VRAM in Crossfire) when you have a game that uses more than a 1GB of VRAM. It should also help when using higher amounts of Anti-Aliasing and give you a smoother experience over all.


Thanks- I was hoping someone would point that out. :cheers

I am in the same boat.. but I also hear very mixed things about crossfire + eyefinity + vsync also... and I need my vsync.. and the dreaded stuttering issue.. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of the 2GB asus 5870s and selling my 1gb 5870... I think that extra memory will come in handy running crossfire + eyefinity.. but it's a lot to spend to introduce new headaches to an otherwise very solid running system.. just need a little more GPU horse power though.. decisions decisions..

I am in the same boat.. but I also hear very mixed things about crossfire + eyefinity + vsync also... and I need my vsync.. and the dreaded stuttering issue.. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of the 2GB asus 5870s and selling my 1gb 5870... I think that extra memory will come in handy running crossfire + eyefinity.. but it's a lot to spend to introduce new headaches to an otherwise very solid running system.. just need a little more GPU horse power though.. decisions decisions..

Well,in the end,i plumped for a 5970........

Although my motherboard has 2 x PciE slots,only 1 was x16,the other was x4,and i didnt want to muck around with
putting another motherboard in for crossfire.

And like yourself,i just needed a bit more grunt on the GPU side of things for triple screen gaming.

Although not as fast as 2 x 5870,should be better for noise and heat.....

_________________
Case : Lian Li PC-A77FA Motherboard : Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z CPU : i7 [email protected] Memory : Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz GPU : MSI 680 GTX Lightning Screens : 3 x Dell U2311H PSU : Corsair AX1200 Hardrive : 1 x Western Digital 1TB SATA III 6

Although my motherboard has 2 x PciE slots,only 1 was x16,the other was x4

The "drop" in performance would be like only 1 - 2 %.

[quote] Although my motherboard has 2 x PciE slots,only 1 was x16,the other was x4

The "drop" in performance would be like only 1 - 2 %.

This +1
Also here is a review and benchmark of running a 5870 at 1x, 4x, 8x, and 16x pci-e lanes :)

_________________
| Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WiFi Skt2011 | i7 4820k @4.4GHz Watercooled (Ivy Bridge-E) | Corsair Vengence 32GB @2133MHz 11-11-11-27 2T Quad-Channel (8x4GB) | AMD R9-Fury-X 4GB @1140/505MHz + EKWB Watercooled | 256GB Crucial MX200 SSD | 8x 1TB Samsung F3 SATA-II | Corsair 850W TX PSU | 3x Dell S2209W 22"wide TFT's (5760x1080res) | Logitech Z-5400 5.1ch speakers | Win7 Ultimate x64 |

I am in the same boat.. but I also hear very mixed things about crossfire + eyefinity + vsync also... and I need my vsync.. and the dreaded stuttering issue.. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of the 2GB asus 5870s and selling my 1gb 5870... I think that extra memory will come in handy running crossfire + eyefinity.. but it's a lot to spend to introduce new headaches to an otherwise very solid running system.. just need a little more GPU horse power though.. decisions decisions..

Well I just finished installing my 5970 "replacements"... 2 ASUS Matrix Platinum 2GB 5870s.

So far, very pleased. I'll be benching the next few days, as well as tweaking to see how much I can squeeze out of these suckers. (So far, I am hitting about 990 MHZ on core- temps are hovering JUST under 80C. Once I have core established, I'll get to memory).

I'll get some comparisons up to my 5970 once I have enough benches together.

ONLY negative is what was mentioned about noise and heat- they are LOUD when the fans are jacked, and without 80%+ fan speed, temps can quickly get to the high 80s, which I do not like.

Also, it may be placebo, but Bad Company 2 just feels "smoother". It seemed to "stutter" on my 5970, whereas on these, it is smooth as silk.

More to come! Stay tuned... :rockout

[quote] Although my motherboard has 2 x PciE slots,only 1 was x16,the other was x4

The "drop" in performance would be like only 1 - 2 %.

Is that all !

hmmmm......didnt realise the margin was that insignifcant.

How much quicker in percentage terms would you say 2 x 5870 are quicker than 1 x 5970 ?

_________________
Case : Lian Li PC-A77FA Motherboard : Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z CPU : i7 [email protected] Memory : Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz GPU : MSI 680 GTX Lightning Screens : 3 x Dell U2311H PSU : Corsair AX1200 Hardrive : 1 x Western Digital 1TB SATA III 6

It depends on where the 5970 is clocked at.

if the 5970 is at 5870 speeds there is hardly any diffrence.

keep the 5970 and get a 5850 for tri-Fire! :P

Nice.. I am looking forward to your results.

the other consideration I have is my gigabyte x58 mobo will go into 8x 8x 16x 4x mode because I would have 4x pci-e devices installed (raid card 4x, sound card 1x, and then two video cards) so I was thinking a solo 5970 might be the best fit for me... but I am reading the 5870 does very well on an 8x pci-e 2.0 interface... but with one in an 16x slot in 8x mode, and one in a 16x slot in 16x mode not sure if that will make some stuttering or something...

Well I just finished installing my 5970 "replacements"... 2 ASUS Matrix Platinum 2GB 5870s.

So far, very pleased. I'll be benching the next few days, as well as tweaking to see how much I can squeeze out of these suckers. (So far, I am hitting about 990 MHZ on core- temps are hovering JUST under 80C. Once I have core established, I'll get to memory).

I'll get some comparisons up to my 5970 once I have enough benches together.

ONLY negative is what was mentioned about noise and heat- they are LOUD when the fans are jacked, and without 80%+ fan speed, temps can quickly get to the high 80s, which I do not like.

Also, it may be placebo, but Bad Company 2 just feels "smoother". It seemed to "stutter" on my 5970, whereas on these, it is smooth as silk.

More to come! Stay tuned... :rockout