GTX 470 or HD 5870

[Solex]

Am looking for a graphics card that can handle 3 24" monitors, the two i found that were around within my budget were the GTX470 and the HD 5870. When i was doing research on these cards i found that some ati HD 5XXX cards suffer from GSOD and flickering (when theres is another monitor connected to the card). While the GTX cards consume lots of power when loaded and produces high temperatures on the chip.

Now the question is should i get the GTX470 and wait for the new HD 6xxx (rumor is getting released in late oct 2010) / GTX 5XX (released end of this year maybe...) or get the HD 5870 hoping that ATI will release a stable bios for their cards?


Thxs,

Solex

[scaryjim]

A GTX470 can't run 3 monitors. It has 3 outputs, but can only drive 2 simultaneously. You need an ATI card that can run Eyefinity, which means any ATI 5-series card with at least one DisplayPort output.

Although if you mean handle gaming on 3 24" monitors, then yeah, you're talking about a 5870 at least, if not a 5970.

[Pob255]

AFAIK the GTX470 cannot run 3 monitors, they can only run 3 moniotrs when you use 2 cards in sli mode

question, what are you planning to do with your 3 monitors?

if all you are doing is running a desktop, ie no games or 3d work then you don't need something this power full to run 3 monitors.
Also be aware that to use eyefinity, ati's system of basically combineing 3 monitors into on big monitor, requires one monitor to have display port connection, you can get around this but you need an active display port adaptor, the cheap display port adaptors are passive and do not work, active ones are more expensive.

EDIT: damb you jim! you've beat me to it again.

[Solex]

I'll be generally be using the monitors for gaming and watching movies mainly. So am guessing that there no single nvidia card that can support 3 monitors until i SLI them?

[Pob255]

Correct, AFAIK the only nvidia cards that can support more than 2 are the some of the pro/workstation cards which are 5 times the cost and don't play games well.

If you can use sli (most p55 and x58 motherbioards can) then 2x gtx460 1gb would be a good option, cost around £360

[dcwt2010]

The SLI GTX460 solution should definitely be considered given how will Nvidia's SLI scale but question is what does the OP intend to do with his setup? Is it gaming on 3 x 24in monitors?

[Solex]

yes its gaming, watching movies and general web surfing with those 3x 24" monitors.

[dcwt2010]

What kind of games do you play? It might be a stretch to play at full settings on 6000x1080 ish resolutions. You'll need SLI 470 or XF 5870!

[Solex]

i play fps games like mw2, metro 2033 etc. As thoses cards you suggested provide abit more frames than the 460 SLI, i don't its worth buying atm. i'll wait till these companies release or improve their Architecture, hopefully reducing the prices of those 470 & 5870 cards...

[xNuSeNsE]

5870 is definatly your best bet it out-performs the gtx 470, it's quieter, consumes less power and has eyefinity which is exactly what you want.

[kmufc77]

I have owned both cards and found that the GTX 470 overall was better for gaming.

The GTX 470 simply had better minimum frames rates and overall gameplay was a lot smoother.

On paper the 5870 is the faster card but i had a better gaming experience and less driver issues with the GTX 470

[kalniel]

I have owned both cards and found that the GTX 470 overall was better for gaming.

The GTX 470 simply had better minimum frames rates and overall gameplay was a lot smoother.

On paper the 5870 is the faster card but i had a better gaming experience and less driver issues with the GTX 470

But as already mentioned in the thread, the GTX470 can't do 3 monitor gaming so has to be ruled out.

[kmufc77]

But as already mentioned in the thread, the GTX470 can't do 3 monitor gaming so has to be ruled out.

The word your looking for is Eyefinity

[kalniel]

The word your looking for is Eyefinity

That's the AMD solution for a single card, yes, but you can also do it with 2xnVidia cards.

[nibbler]

The word your looking for is Eyefinity

Apart from the fact that it is 'you're' and not 'your'... (my pet hate)

That's a bit like saying that AMD cards can't do SLi..?

[kalniel]

That's a bit like saying that AMD cards can't do SLi..?

In that he's referring to it by brand name? Kind of, but nVidia can't do 3 monitors from one card simultaneously, regardless of what the tech's called