this ... always provide a price limit, because we need to know what's the best for you. The best is obviously the most expensive card there is, but that's not the best for you. deltatux
"The best is obviously the most expensive card there is" Thats the problem I'm having here. It's simply not true but it is the mentality of this forum. The highest performing cards are not always the most expensive. Look on newegg. There are lots of card's priced above the gtx560ti that do not perform as well. I'm asking the same question my friend asked me what is the least expensive card that will play bfbc2 good on his 24" screen. Simple right? What is the lowest price card that would play bfbc2 @ 1920x1200 with good iq and fps?
Here's the thing, the most expensive card, the GTX580 do outperform every single card out there, it can reach insanely high framerates. However, it's not the best card for someone's price range and set up. It's the best in the technical sense, but not in the sense of a certain set-up. It's not really a mentality of the forum, but in all geek's mind, if you can afford it, the best card there is indeed the GTX580. It's almost like saying, if you can afford it, the best car is a Bugatti ... the car is really fast and all, but is it really needed for the masses? Nope but damn is it fast. For a 24" screen, I'd say nothing more than a Radeon HD 6870 or a GTX460 (the 1 GB variant) is the best price/performance currently. deltatux
do you really have to take things word by word ?? i believe "the most expensive" is the highest tier, not the highest money can buy, people here are reasonable enough, i've been here long enough, and yes, they suggest some crazy setups, but with their needs it suits them. I mean, when someone ask, the most expensive, why would anyone suddenly opt for an Ares card, its just stupid. Or saying the most expensive would be the Quadro FX5800.. that even doesnt make any more sense. It's just your understanding that's wrong. i dont mind telling someone to get tri 580 SLI, if they've got the money, and feel 2 580 SLI is still not enough for them, nothing wrong with that. you cant just ask "playable framerate + iq", people have different standards, a lot of people here wants flat 60 and no dips, well i have no problem as long as its above 35 and no dips below 30, but not here. So you cant just ask that question, it's like creating a thesis without any theories or concepts. just like deltatux and the others say, the budget and how many you're willing to spend is what matter most, so you can get the most balanced rig.
Not exactly true. If you're using an Athlon64 X2 3600....there will be little difference in the way of performance between a GTX260 and GTX580, as the processor can't push enough data to the graphics card to allow the card to run at it's full potential. That's why people single you out for build advice.... At stock clocks, the HD6970, GTX480, GTX570 and GTX580, all outperform the GTX560Ti. What you're missing is that price varies by country, as do available retailers/etailers. Newegg is only available in the US and Canada. Pricing also varies by vendor, as Visiontek has an HD5870 that is priced above $500 ($539.99 + shipping). You really can't determine which is "best" based on price. Everyone has their own preference and price range as well as desired performance. I use a GTX460....some would be perfectly happy with a GTS450....others a GTX470 or higher. What games are being played also effects what card is "best". For some games, HD6970 is "best"...others, GTX580. You can't just start a thread and ask "What's the best card I can get"...because you're going to get people's personal preference shoved down your throat. I refuse to make a suggestion without knowing a budget, system specs and resolution....in most cases I'll ask for a list of desired games as well. I also don't recommend "high-end" systems as a matter of principle. In most cases, the cost/performance ratio of "high-end" components doesn't balance out. Take for example, an i7 980X at $1000 compared to an i7 950 at $280. In most cases, the extra 270mhz and 2 cores aren't going to have a major impact on performance. More than triple the price, for less than 50% performance increase is just completely unjustified....even with the extra 2 cores. I generally recommend something in the Core i5 700 series, i5 2500K, Core i7 800 series or i7 2600K from Intel as I don't have any experience with AMD's current AM2+ or AM3 processor lines or any personal, hands-on knowledge of their performance levels. I also don't recommend the same build to everyone either as not everyone has the same needs/desires. For some people, my system is overkill....for others, it's not enough. My recommendations vary based on what someone wants/needs....but I will NEVER, under any circumstances, recommend a platform that is scheduled for EOL (like Sckt 775).
A 6870 with a phenom II X4 955 would be fine, however as bulldozer is round the corner, I would recommend waiting for that.
I went from TWO gtx 260s to one 5670 and let me tell you sli scales very well it was like my computer was a beast like it had a single gtx 295 nuff said. I think two lesser cards will scale just as good as a single card Ive had multi gpu for years now you cant go wrong. whats faster single turbo or twin turbo do the math.
Thing is, sure CrossFire and SLi are great when they work, but a nightmare when it fails hard lol. Thing is, unless you absolutely love spending hours tweaking, you might not necessarily like to debug multi-GPU setups. Regardless, you CANNOT compare 2 GTX 260s to a measly 5670s. Of course, the GTX260s are going to win in every aspect, even 1 of them can beat a 5670. A fair comparison would be a 5770 going against a 260. deltatux
A 5670 would've been a downgrade from even a single GTX 260. I mostly agree about two cards being better than one. However, a lot of people forget to factor in the cost of electricity, motherboard and power-supply into the price/performance ratio of a multigpu setup. Driver support is a significant concern when stringing together older cards as well (eg 9800GTX's mentioned earlier in the thread).
I just received my new AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition and my GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066. Hope things move along better now!
