ATi Crossfire vs Nvidia SLi

[Knight]

Hey guys,

So im turning 16 soon and the parents said I could get a PC for my birthday/xmas.

Anyway, I started putting a list togeather but my mind is very confusing.

Im looking at running 3 monitors and proberly a switching box for it.

It will mainly be for LFS, Flight Simulator X (Demanding addon scenery, Like BF3) and BF3, maybe CoDMW3

Im either looking at 2x eVGA 560Ti's in SLI and my 450gts from my current rig to run up to 4 monitors. Maybe a Intel CPU (1155 socket) or Phenom from AMD

OR

1x 6970 with AMD Phenom x4 965 (4 core, since I heard 6 core AMD laggs) Would add another later to make it crosfire

[FR4NOx]

I would suggest taking advantage of the Eyefinity abilities and go with the 6970 if you want an immediate multimonitor setup. I currently prefer the 2600/2700k's from Intel because Hyperthreading is actually used well in many programs, the Intels are built on a 32nm chip so they run cooler than 45nm and (I think) faster too, and Intel's Turboboost (which you won't need if you're going to overclock) is handy too, though I think Turboboost has its best use in laptops.

Amd's Phenom II line is getting fairly old, I doubt they have the speed of Intel's current line (wasn't Phenom introduced in 2007 or something similar?), and I've read that Bulldozer was not very good, sadly. :/

The 2500K isn't too much more than a top model 6-core Phenom. Also if you aren't interested in overclocking, the 2500 is worth it or even the 2400. I'm pretty sure a 2400 is about the same price as a 1100T. The i3's are worthy competitors, they have HT...ramble ramble ramble. :3

I'm actually looking at a 6870 myself for 3 monitors paired with a water-cooled 2600k... :3

In summary, I reccomend the AMD card with an Intel processor, or a 965BE (or better) with aftermarket cooling and overclock it.

[Knight]

I see,

Thanks for your help. I have heard the same sort of things. I may watercool my GPU + CPU later hence the Full tower

---

Edit:

What do you think about the 1155 socket EVGA mobo, it seems to be better and much cheaper than the Gigabyte or Asus competitor

[[TC] Stephen]

The 2700k is a waste of money because you can overclock the extra 100mhz yourself. There's no difference between that and the 2600k apart from speed and name.
The best bulldozer chip is equal with the 2500k and in other reviews/benchmarks it has the same performance as the 1100t.

[=WOLF=[NO]]

If you go for ATI and multiple monitors, you need a active Display Port adapter(not included with the cards from what I notised )

Here is a list from AMD: http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Page...ngles.aspx

Not an issue if you have monitors with DP connection though

one 6870 got the option to connect 6 monitors(think the 6900 Series will perform better though): http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-...0-review/4

If you plan on running multiple monitor setup, I reccomend a Card with as much memmory as possible(2GB or more), since the more resolution(amount of monitors) demand more memmory

Hope I was helpfull

NB: Remember getting a solid PSU for the computer, heavy load on GPU + overclock needs "juice"

[Knight]

Yea, Im planning on a 850w from OCZ

[Street]

I have a Phenom II X6 1055T at 2.8Ghz (It's either 2.8 or 2.9) with a GTX 460, obviously nowhere near the standard of GFX you're looking for, but the X6, to me, seems to be very good (not a great deal of experience personally) but I would recommend it.

[Tommer]

Personally I can't live without the digital vibrancy adjustments you can make on nvidia cards.. you can't really achieve the same thing on an ATi so that's my personal preference

[McGherkin]

(2011-10-27 13:39)Tommer Wrote:  Personally I can't live without the digital vibrancy adjustments you can make on nvidia cards.. you can't really achieve the same thing on an ATi so that's my personal preference

+1.

[Kayla]

(2011-10-27 09:45)Knight Wrote:  Yea, Im planning on a 850w from OCZ

jfyi the PSU is where most people are overkilling their computers with. I recommend using this Calculator to see how much Watt you really need
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

just noticed, cause you said 850W :-P use these settings:
Motherboard: High End Desktop
CPU TDP - 90%
System Load - 90%
Capacitor Aging - Leave blank as "Select"
This will show you a good result as recommended

also i'd go for nVidia SLI, but basically it's just about personal preferance

[FR4NOx]

Does anyone know if there's a difference apart from nVIDIA and ATi/AMD apart from the written specs?

Going from an x1650 Pro to a GT240 in a whole new computer (GPU one year ago, PC two years), I didn't notice a difference apart from performance.

[Knight]

Tommer, I love nvidia. But for what my future demands are I simply cannot afford it :'(

Street - Thanks for that, Ive hear some things about the AMD 6 core that it lags with some older applications because they cannot utilise the 6 cores. True?

Michi - It says I need 600W but I would rather overkill it to future proof it, than under do it and have too spend tonnes more later. Also I may overclock

Kenwood - Thats pretty much tho whole point of this thread really. Im not sure where to go.

[FR4NOx]

Well are you planning on doing Crossfire/SLI?

I do think that nVIDIA has nice quality, I'm not positive about ATI/AMD though.

Google around a bit, read reviews watch comparison videos etc.

[=WOLF=[NO]]

Well, I am a Nvidia fan myself, but for MULTI MONITOR, you ned MULTIPLE NVIDIA CARDS, instead of ONE AMD card xD

That was the reason I went to the competitition this time: PRICE!

If you can aford it: NO DUBT Nvidia! if not, go the cheap route

[Knight]

Yea, I think I will go for the 6950 instead of a 6970 because its about the same thing thats $70 cheaper, i can just OC it to match the 6970. Besides much cheaper for a Crossfire later on.

[FR4NOx]

I'm not sure if you can match it with the 6970 because of the different processor count than the 6950, but you can try your best.