Best graphical option for £300?

[RabidDeathGnome]

From searching around Xfire and SLI seem to have come a big way in the past four years.

Where I used to just look at single cards I've been told by some friends I should look at some cheaper cards (particularly ATI's offerings) in Xfire/SLI.

The main contenders are 6870CF, GTX570 or 6970. I have a feeling the 6870CF will give the best performance, not too sure about heat though. However, I could, if I wanted to, buy another GTX570/6970 in a year or so for cheap (probably about £130) and boost performance. It would be limited the 6870CFs.

[shaithis]

I would stick to a single card, especially with a 20" monitor. Crossfire and SLi, while getting better, can still be a pain at times. Some drivers have difficulty installing with no rhyme or reason. New games can have a lot of issues until new profiles and/or game patches are released....some people still get stuttering.....

The GTX570 or 6970 would probably be a bit overkill. If your adamant to spend around 300 though, I would tend to lean towards the 570, mainly because I'd find it hard to buy a 6970 when there's a good chance you could unlock a 6950 instead.

[RabidDeathGnome]

I would stick to a single card, especially with a 20" monitor. Crossfire and SLi, while getting better, can still be a pain at times. Some drivers have difficulty installing with no rhyme or reason. New games can have a lot of issues until new profiles and/or game patches are released....some people still get stuttering.....

The GTX570 or 6970 would probably be a bit overkill. If your adamant to spend around 300 though, I would tend to lean towards the 570, mainly because I'd find it hard to buy a 6970 when there's a good chance you could unlock a 6950 instead.

"Unlock"? Two 6950s are only £320. In theory, if you could unlock them both would that not slaughter a single 6970/GTX570 if its equivalent to 6970CF?

I may be getting a bigger monitor too, hence why I'm spending a fair whack.

[dfour]

They have to the the 6950 2 gb version 1 varients so are more like £380 - £400 a pair and would play like a pair of 6970's.

Just buy a single card for now and then get anohter down the line when they have been superseeded if you have to.

[planet436]

I would only really recommend SLI if going to be gaming over multiple monitors or at 30" resolutions with all eye-candy. Whereas it has improved a lot over the last few years, getting the drivers working can be a total PITA.

My brother has 5850s xfired and every single new release has major issues with his setup. Some established games it works fine, new titles and indi games not so much.

[jim]

Just get a single card. Trying to dump that much heat really is not a lot of fun.

[RabidDeathGnome]

Looks like an almost unanimous vote then. Looks like I'll try to get an SLI/Xfire capable board but get a single GTX570/6970 and then add another one in a year or two.

[GIGN]

Yeah, definitely go for the 570. To be honest, you might not even need a second one in a year's time. The graphics on console games have pretty much reached their peak, and let's be honest... most PC games coming out these days are just ports with little improvement, little optimisation, etc. So until the next consoles come out, we should be alright (though of course a 2nd card would boost FPS even more).

[IronWarrior]

"Unlock"? Two 6950s are only £320. In theory, if you could unlock them both would that not slaughter a single 6970/GTX570 if its equivalent to 6970CF?

I may be getting a bigger monitor too, hence why I'm spending a fair whack.

Two 6950's beat a single 6970 and I believe they can even beat a GTX580 SLI in BFBC2 for an example: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...ty-vs-sli.html and that's not even unlocking them to 6970's.