So my graphics card died on me :S

31 public posts in this discussion.

Post 1

Hence the title need a new graphics card any1 have any favs or good deals or what too look out for.. wont get 1 till i come back from Hawaii. Hell i might even get 1 cheap while im away... mahaha... <-- has no idea!

Post 2

Budget? Single GPU choice would be GTX 580 if you plan on playing Battlefield 3.

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Post 3

ya, they are awesome :D

Post 4

Quote from rec;400293:
Budget? Single GPU choice would be GTX 580 if you plan on playing Battlefield 3.

Aren't 570's better bang for buck? Will the performance difference be noticable in BF3? Genuine question due to the fact that I'm in a quandary atm of deciding between SLI 570's or a single 570 or a single 580. SLI 570's obviously blitz the other two; but it comes back to price.

Charts, benchmarks 2011 Gaming Graphics Charts, Gamer Index

Post 5

Single 570 and then have a look at the new Radeon 7000 series which should be released in the next 3-4 months and will hopefully offer a significant jump in performance over anything currently on the market. If it doesn't, then you can always get a second 570 in a few months and probably save yourself a few bucks.

Post 6

Single 570 won't cut it if you care to sit around 60fps constantly. Yes it's better value for money. But don't confuse that with actually being better - far from it. ;)

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Post 7

PS. I'd recommend at least a 580, preferably two in SLI, or a single 590 for *good* frames in BF3.

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Post 8

derp? i really don't think bf3's requirements will be that high.

Post 9

System requirements from their website

Minimum requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
RAM: 2GB
Graphic card: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card.
Graphics card memory: 512 MB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

Recommended system requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
RAM: 4GB
Graphics card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850
Graphics card memory: 1 GB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

Why does the digital version need less space then the disc version?

Post 10

Quote from rec;400301:
PS. I'd recommend at least a 580, preferably two in SLI, or a single 590 for *good* frames in BF3.

580's are definitely better, but going by the hardware charts the FPS jump from a 570 doesn't seem to be much?
Metro 2033 is pretty taxing but there's only a 4.2fps difference (1920x1080, 4xMSAA, 16xAF) between the models according to TH. Is there a reason why a 580 will be a league ahead of a 570 in BF3?

I'm not being argumentative - I'm just trying to get to the nuts and bolts of it.

Quote from Tachi;400304:

Why does the digital version need less space then the disc version?

At a guess, I'd say better compression?

Post 11

because rec bought one and he desperately wants it to be worth the money over the 570 ;P

Post 12

Metro 2033 isn't a good benchmark. Look at Frostbite engine frames. BC2 will be a good indication of card performance for BF3.

And I bought a 590 so I can run triple monitor, as its the only single card from Nvidia that can.

I'll probably get another 590 for BF3 though, as I'd like to see 85fps+ constantly - I have 120Hz monitors and dropping around 60fps looks balls.

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Post 13

Hrm. BC2; again about a 4fps difference. However I could understand if BF3 is more 'tailored' toward a 580 and it will shine brighter.
Think I might go with 2x 570's purely due to the price.

Post 14

The only 570's I've seen so close are "superclocked" ones. Most reviews I've seen, such as Hexus.net's, show a 10-12fps gain (a little over 5%) and it tends to drop less frames comparatively.

When you're talking about the difference between dropping to 51fps or dropping to 63fps that's a substantial performance trade off as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, the value equation does come into it, but if the difference is less than a hundred dollars I wouldn't blink twice.

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Post 15

bro i just threw 2 x 5970's in my pc, if u wanna compare that against something else?

goes hard well better then the shiet i used to run anyways ..

buy the best u can, but dont go less then a 580 or 2 570's or equivalent ati side...

Post 16

5970's?

Post 17

It's a fast ATI card - if you check out the benchmark screenies I posted, it tops both of those charts. It's also featured in the benchmark you posted.

In Bad Company 2 while its maximum performance is about 5% higher than the GTX 580, it drops to the same lows as the 570, which is why the GTX 580 is the top-rank on the benchmark you posted (above the 5970) as it maintains a higher frame rate.

It should definitely be considered, but Battlefield 3 is Nvidia optimised, utilising many of Nvidia's propriety technologies and leveraging extra frames in areas that where Nvidia shoots ahead, such as tessellation. And you'd have to deal with ATI drivers. :P

Post 18

I have a 5970, totally not worth it because you have to deal with Catalyst. 580 all the way, I regret my 5970.

Post 19

Quote from rec;400325:
It's a fast ATI card - if you check out the benchmark screenies I posted, it tops both of those charts. It's also featured in the benchmark you posted.

Man, I even checked those graphs to make sure I didn't miss it the first time!
Time for bed :p

Post 20

I remember when bc2 first came out and I was on ATI and would suffer unbelievably shit load times, I think they were up to 5 minutes...
now on nvidia sometimes don't have time to hit the put me in squad button :D
If your main game will bf3 go nvidia!
I thought you had 2 590's rec?

Post 21

sorry 6970's is what i put in.

Post 22

Still haven't bought the second 590, but will do soon.

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Post 23

and here I was thinking we were alike ...

Post 24

so every time a new Graphics card comes out the others whould go down in price .. ?:)

having a look now and getting some prices.. might still have to wait for 3wks and after Hawaii, oh well..

Post 25

I'm running 2x570s in my machine, pretty much nvidia exclusive these days simply because of the drivers (oh and the only two cards i've ever had failed were ati).

Also take into consideration the 'wank' graphics options you normally turn off like bloom. Also, if you can live with with turning turn the AF a notch or two you can save a bit of money.

Post 26

Yeah I'll never get another ATI card. Despite the fact my GTX 295 is failing bad, I'd prefer a broken graphics card than having to wrangle with ATIs broken drivers. I don't understand how they can be so shit.

Post 27

I was complaining about ATi drivers 10 years ago, they still are broked?!?
I'm interested in how do the high end Geforce cards fare in the Darwin heat?

Post 28

My GTX 590 climbs to 90 degrees here in Brisbane if that's any indication. The GTX 580 would run far cooler, though.

Post 29

My GTX580 is sitting on about 31C (ambient temperature is about 16deg atm). That's while playing BF3.

Post 30

my GTX 285 handles a non-aircon room in Darwin while palying BF3 no troubles ;P

but yeah.. obviously not top o the line ;P

Post 31

My 570s in SLI with 20C ambient sound like WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE when playing BF3. Oh wait, that's me.