Maximum PC

As the title says, I'm building a new rig, and aside from other more menial tasks, I specifically want to be able to play Skyrim with all the bells and whistles, some car racing sims, an occasional FPS game and Diablo 3 when it hits. My existing monitor is a Samsung 27 inch, 1920x1080.

I was planning on two MSI Twin Frozr III's 6950's (2gb) in Crossfire. Is that the optimal solution for me?

Thanks for any help with this.


JC

What is your processor?

Processor will be an i5 2500k

JC

Just one 6950/6970 should be enough power at 1080p to play modern games at 60fps. We won't know how well skyrim or bf3 plays well yet, but they probably will be pretty power hungry.

That' being said, the MSi 6950 Twin Frozr II/III's are very nice platforms, a bit a little more expensive than other 6950's (personally worth it). I know the Twin Frozr II's are able to unlock the dies to become a 6970 but I am unsure of the III's. If you can, you'll get a nice little speed boost for free (close to 95% of the current 6950's are able to be unlocked, but amd is now laser cutting the die's to prevent this). $280-$300 for each 6950 is a good price.

Alternatively, you can look on the Nvidia side since the 570's can be had for the same price range as the MSi's 6950's. It's basically the same power if not more than the 6950, but its really dependent on the applications cause it goes back and forth on which card is better. I have the stock 570 and I get around 60fps with everything maxed out in Dirt 3. The 570 beats the 6950 in Dirt 2 with a sizable margin. But be warned, the 570's don't like to be OC by a lot, unlike any other nvidia or amd card. This is due to the VRM dying if you go past the 1.05 or 1.1v settings.

Honestly, I'd say if you are looking to upgrade right now, Just stick with getting one 6950 or 570. It's more than enough speed with any current games out right now to pump it at 1080p. The only thing you'd ever want SLI/CF setups is if you are running triple monitor or a higher resolution than 1080p. If you do decide to SLI/CF, pick one up after the games come up when the same card goes on sale. Remember, Black Friday is around the corner and sales will keep popping up this fall/winter season in anticipation of all these A+ titles coming out soon.

Personally, I just switched from the 5870 to the 570 mainly because the 570 was on sale for 250 a pop and the fact that I just got fed up with amd shitty drivers. The only stable drivers I had was the 10.8 from last year. I'm also glad to be back on nvidia so I can take advantage of CUDA since I was waiting too long for adobe to get off their fat asses and program openCL support into premiere. Never mind that now - watch, openCL support comes out tomorrow... lol

I also have to say that eyefinity support was a nice thing to have for a large desktop across 3 monitors, but completely not practical for panoramic gaming. That was the biggest disappointment when I got my 5870; too much distortions on the side displays causing too many distractions. It was more detrimental than helpful. If I need more than two monitors for regular desktop tasks, I'll add my second 570 to this machine or a cheapy card.

JBaz,

Thanks once again for the extremely helpful information. I had been set on going the 6950 route, but your concerns about drivers for it. I just looked at the Twin Frozr version of the 570 at Newegg as an alternative, and its $70.00 higher than the equivalent 6950 version.........


JC

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/review ... ock_review


Hmmmmmmm..............after just reading the above review, I'm pondering whether a completely new tactic of getting two of these and using them in SLI. With the current rebate on Newegg, that would run me only $388.00.


JC

Not too shabby, $170+8sh AR isn't a bad deal. yeah the 570 is only worth it if you can find them for 280 or less new. Otherwise, stick with the 560 ti's in the $200-240 range. The 560 OC looks like a good alternative to the 6870's for $20 more per card.

Or would I be better with one of these options?

Option One:

2 MSI Twin Frozr II 560Ti's = $450.00

Option Two:

2 MSI Hawk 560Ti's = $490.00

Option Three:

2 Asus 560Ti DCII's = $460.00

Out of those, The MSi Twin Frozr II is going to be the best choice, and they are $210 at us.ncix.com after rebates.

Besides, the Frozrs come factory OC'd.

DCII's are factory OC...

Ooh, whoops. I didn't spot the acronym.

nice post.

Did you sign up just to criticize me?
Welcome to the forum!

If you are interested in the 570. Tigerdirect has the MSI N570GTX Twin Frozor II/III OC for $309 after $15 MIR, and $25 mail in rebate.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7303352&CatId=3669

I know it's a little more than some of the other 570's, but this is OC'd and rather quiet from what I've read. I was looking for an upgrade after I ended up selling my 4850 X2 and picked up one of these. Wanted to go with NVidia this time, and wanted a single card for 1080P.

Not a bad price for the frozr's, but personally, I'd get them and under clock them to stock speeds only because I'm worried about the crappy VRM when OCed, even from the factory. The Coolers more than make up for the price since they are nice and MSi frozr's use good components. Although, I'm not entirely sure if the VRM on the frozr's is the same as the one in the stock ones. It's a problem on most stock 570's, even on nvidia reference boards.

I haven't looked too much into the this since I don't plan on OC my 570's, but they do run hotter than I'm comfortable with (although well within the acceptable rated temps). Personally, I wouldn't spend more than 300 for any 570's since the price per performance drops after that compared to other cards on the market. Even then, its a bit steep price increase for 15-20% more gpu power compared to the $210-230 560 ti's. At least the 560 ti's can OC like a champ.

Still $310 is a good price for them currently.