What GPU setup do you go with ? 4gb 5970 or SLI GTX 480 adults, come in please.

[bizzmeister]

I think it's more because it keeps 2 cards sandwiched in SLI atleast a bit away from eachother, atleast so they don't touch eachother lol.


How can it be possible to get that low load temps when you have 2 480s sandwiched together??
I have ONE 480 in a well ventilated Antec 1200 case and my loadtemp in GTAIV (GTAIV isn't that GPU demanding, more CPU demanding) is 91c or over.
There is absolutely not a chance that you can get max 83c in metro 2033 and 2 480 sandwiched, it's impossible.

Well, looks like I'll have to make a video. You do realize that the HAF 932 comes with a HUGE 230 mm side panel fan that blows right at the cards right ? The venting in this case is awesome. I can even remove that 230mm fan and install 4 120mm antec fans but I prefer the oem one, its really quiet. I cant even hear my system right now. Just barely.

 

[VF31Tomcatters]

LIke I said on Honda Tech Arbi, you have a siiiick rig and you're a little nuts too haha.

 

[bizzmeister]

LIke I said on Honda Tech Arbi, you have a siiiick rig and you're a little nuts too haha.

hahah :beer:


Thanks Kev

 

[Blackbird]

Well, looks like I'll have to make a video. You do realize that the HAF 932 comes with a HUGE 230 mm side panel fan that blows right at the cards right ? The venting in this case is awesome. I can even remove that 230mm fan and install 4 120mm antec fans but I prefer the oem one, its really quiet. I cant even hear my system right now. Just barely.

Yes i know.. but didn't think it would make such a huge difference.
Well HAF 932 seems to have MUCH better cooling performance than 1200 then, i should have bought HAF 932 instead of 1200 because i thought 1200 is the case with best cooling performance.

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

I think it's more because it keeps 2 cards sandwiched in SLI atleast a bit away from eachother, atleast so they don't touch eachother lol.


How can it be possible to get that low load temps when you have 2 480s sandwiched together??
I have ONE 480 in a well ventilated Antec 1200 case and my loadtemp in GTAIV (GTAIV isn't that GPU demanding, more CPU demanding) is 91c or over.
There is absolutely not a chance that you can get max 83c in metro 2033 and 2 480 sandwiched, it's impossible.

maybe his room is cold?

 

[anonmoniker]

How can it be possible to get that low load temps when you have 2 480s sandwiched together??
I have ONE 480 in a well ventilated Antec 1200 case and my loadtemp in GTAIV (GTAIV isn't that GPU demanding, more CPU demanding) is 91c or over.
There is absolutely not a chance that you can get max 83c in metro 2033 and 2 480 sandwiched, it's impossible.

I max 87c with volted sandwiched cards at 870/2150. It's called custom fan profiles on your cards and appropriately placed casefans. Hope this helps.

 

[bizzmeister]

Alright guys, got my first 1080p HD youtube vid coming up in less than 45 minutes. Its uploading right now. Its a HEAVEN 2.0 Benchmark @ max settings with extreme tessalation. Hope you guys like it.

I will post it up once its live within 45 minutes.

 

[Digital Viper-X-]

Alright guys, got my first 1080p HD youtube vid coming up in less than 45 minutes. Its uploading right now. Its a HEAVEN 2.0 Benchmark @ max settings with extreme tessalation. Hope you guys like it.

I will post it up once its live within 45 minutes.

I thought you were going to do metro

 

[bizzmeister]

I thought you were going to do metro

I will do that again. Im sorry I havent even posted the Heaven benchmark yet. The video is done and on my channel. Im making a new thread for that but i havent posted because youtube is still processing it an hour after the upload. The video quality isnt set yet. I didnt know it takes this long to process 1080p video on youtube. Im waiting for it to fully process before i post it.

 

[bizzmeister]

OMG! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a month of waiting! Newegg finally got the Sapphire Toxic 2GB 5870's in stock and I ordered 2 of em to cross-fire for my eyefinity setup! Should be here tomorrow, can't wait!

 

[Mr. K6]

OMG! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a month of waiting! Newegg finally got the Sapphire Toxic 2GB 5870's in stock and I ordered 2 of em to cross-fire for my eyefinity setup! Should be here tomorrow, can't wait!

Looking forward to a post of your experiences/opinion (and perhaps some photos ). Enjoy your new cards!

 

[harmattan]

Looking forward to a post of your experiences/opinion (and perhaps some photos ). Enjoy your new cards!

Second this. I'm pretty much resigned to sticking with my triple 480s for the time being, but might sell them if you have a good experience/improved performance in Eyefinity over 1GB

 

[ELox]

OMG! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a month of waiting! Newegg finally got the Sapphire Toxic 2GB 5870's in stock and I ordered 2 of em to cross-fire for my eyefinity setup! Should be here tomorrow, can't wait!

Nice! I will also put in that I'm very interested in what these cards can do in eyefinity situations. The recent review of the Asus 2GB 5870 showed at 2560x1600 with single card it was able to add more AA than the 1GB reference 5870 in Splinter Cell Convivction, I think the rest of the titles weren't giving major performance increases. I was really hoping they would have some eyefinity numbers for the 2GB but no such luck. Glad you finally have your cards and looking forward to some results.

Maybe someone out there with a similar setup but with the 1GB cards can be used as a baseline, if not there are plenty of reviews with #'s for 1GB 5870's in crossfire anyways.

 

[heatlesssun]

Second this. I'm pretty much resigned to sticking with my triple 480s for the time being, but might sell them if you have a good experience/improved performance in Eyefinity over 1GB

I'm in the same boat. Still needing to start my new build and order three Alienware OptX™ AW2310 23" monitors but not in rush until 3D Surround is avilable.

 

[bizzmeister]

Looking forward to a post of your experiences/opinion (and perhaps some photos ). Enjoy your new cards!

Will do man, for sure. Should be here tomorrow according to tracking, I live close by their warehouse even regular shipping usually gets here on the next day.

Second this. I'm pretty much resigned to sticking with my triple 480s for the time being, but might sell them if you have a good experience/improved performance in Eyefinity over 1GB

I will keep you all updated, im really excited about em.

Nice! I will also put in that I'm very interested in what these cards can do in eyefinity situations. The recent review of the Asus 2GB 5870 showed at 2560x1600 with single card it was able to add more AA than the 1GB reference 5870 in Splinter Cell Convivction, I think the rest of the titles weren't giving major performance increases. I was really hoping they would have some eyefinity numbers for the 2GB but no such luck. Glad you finally have your cards and looking forward to some results.

Maybe someone out there with a similar setup but with the 1GB cards can be used as a baseline, if not there are plenty of reviews with #'s for 1GB 5870's in crossfire anyways.

Me too man, thanks. Ive been waiting for a long time now , this backup pc has been holding me over only because of the 5850 and eyefinity setup lol. Now I can finally move my eyefinity setup to my main pc!

I will do as many reviews as possible with these things. Gonna pick up Just Cause 2 tomorrow too once everything is hooked up to the new pc and all.



EDIT: ***** BTW guys, these cards sold out literally like 10 minutes after I got mine lol. I wonder how many newegg got in stock today after not having them for over a month lol.

 

[amdgamer]

OMG! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a month of waiting! Newegg finally got the Sapphire Toxic 2GB 5870's in stock and I ordered 2 of em to cross-fire for my eyefinity setup! Should be here tomorrow, can't wait!

I thought you just got a pair of Fermis for your rig? Either way congrats on your purchase as those are indeed very elusive at the moment. I would like to jump to an Eyefinity setup as well, although now i've got to figure out a way to make some room on my desk. My Toshiba HD-DVD player sits on one side of the TV, and my gaming rig on the other on my desk.

I think the mistake I make when I had my gaming rig put together is that I went with the AMD Limited Edition HAF932 case. As a result, I don't have that bigass 240mm side panel fan that you have on yours. I do have a very pretty AMD Dragon on the clear plexiglass panel. I wonder if I can order the side panel like yours for my HAF932 since more ventilation might be nice.

 

[vjcsmoke]

I thought you just got a pair of Fermis for your rig? Either way congrats on your purchase as those are indeed very elusive at the moment. I would like to jump to an Eyefinity setup as well, although now i've got to figure out a way to make some room on my desk. My Toshiba HD-DVD player sits on one side of the TV, and my gaming rig on the other on my desk.

I think the mistake I make when I had my gaming rig put together is that I went with the AMD Limited Edition HAF932 case. As a result, I don't have that bigass 240mm side panel fan that you have on yours. I do have a very pretty AMD Dragon on the clear plexiglass panel. I wonder if I can order the side panel like yours for my HAF932 since more ventilation might be nice.

You can. Coolermaster sells HAF932 side panels, however the 230mm fan usually doesn't have a dust filter, so you're going to have to weigh the airflow benefits vs the dust problem. I installed my own filter material because otherwise the inside of the case got way too dusty.

 

[bizzmeister]

I thought you just got a pair of Fermis for your rig? Either way congrats on your purchase as those are indeed very elusive at the moment. I would like to jump to an Eyefinity setup as well, although now i've got to figure out a way to make some room on my desk. My Toshiba HD-DVD player sits on one side of the TV, and my gaming rig on the other on my desk.

I think the mistake I make when I had my gaming rig put together is that I went with the AMD Limited Edition HAF932 case. As a result, I don't have that bigass 240mm side panel fan that you have on yours. I do have a very pretty AMD Dragon on the clear plexiglass panel. I wonder if I can order the side panel like yours for my HAF932 since more ventilation might be nice.

Ya did have those 2 EVGA SC GTX 480's, they were awesome but no multi-monitor support made them useless for me. And nvidia eating their own shite and not releasing anything made up my mind rather quickly. Sent them back in for a full refund.

And thanks man, all I have on my desk is the monitors,keyboard and mouse with some other misc stuff. My comp is underneath my desk with a lot of room to spare. I have no problems with dust and this HAF 932. I dont know, maybe I havent had it long enough ? And im sure you can get that side vent fan too. They must sell that seperately.


Now im just sitting here waiting for my cards as UPS Tracking shows OUT FOR DELIVERY @ 4:32am. Anxiously waiting now lol.

 

[cooter]

Ya did have those 2 EVGA SC GTX 480's, they were awesome but no multi-monitor support made them useless for me. And nvidia eating their own shite and not releasing anything made up my mind rather quickly. Sent them back in for a full refund.

And thanks man, all I have on my desk is the monitors,keyboard and mouse with some other misc stuff. My comp is underneath my desk with a lot of room to spare. I have no problems with dust and this HAF 932. I dont know, maybe I havent had it long enough ? And im sure you can get that side vent fan too. They must sell that seperately.


Now im just sitting here waiting for my cards as UPS Tracking shows OUT FOR DELIVERY @ 4:32am. Anxiously waiting now lol.

I think you did the right thing. I feel the eyefinity setup would be more fun to game on then a single monitor setup (which is what i have......)

its not all about the most power, its about how immersive the experience is. Let us know your thoughts on a 480 SLI setup VS 5870s CF with eyefinity. I would like to konw which you liked more.

 

[bizzmeister]

I think you did the right thing. I feel the eyefinity setup would be more fun to game on then a single monitor setup (which is what i have......)

its not all about the most power, its about how immersive the experience is. Let us know your thoughts on a 480 SLI setup VS 5870s CF with eyefinity. I would like to konw which you liked more.

lol thanks man. I will definitely post up impressions and a lot of videos on my youtube channel for you all to see. I pretty sure the GTX 480 SLI setup will be stronger in some games and likewise with the Toxic 2GB 5870's, they will be stronger than the GTX 480 SLI's in some other games.

Only difference is, I have 4GB of VRAM to mess around with @ 5760x1080 so I automatically assume this should perform better with my setup but we will see. Still waiting on UPS guy. Im hoping he gets here before I have to leave.

 

[amdgamer]

Ya did have those 2 EVGA SC GTX 480's, they were awesome but no multi-monitor support made them useless for me. And nvidia eating their own shite and not releasing anything made up my mind rather quickly. Sent them back in for a full refund.

And thanks man, all I have on my desk is the monitors,keyboard and mouse with some other misc stuff. My comp is underneath my desk with a lot of room to spare. I have no problems with dust and this HAF 932. I dont know, maybe I havent had it long enough ? And im sure you can get that side vent fan too. They must sell that seperately.


Now im just sitting here waiting for my cards as UPS Tracking shows OUT FOR DELIVERY @ 4:32am. Anxiously waiting now lol.

Hopefully they won't somehow manage to disappear

I've had that happen before with UPS shipments a long time ago. I can't wait for you to post some pics as i'm insanely jealous. You guys now have the chance to buy all the cool video cards as I couldn't even find any 5870's in stock and had to settle for two 5850's.

 

[bizzmeister]

Haha, if they disappear I'm certain somebody will lose their life lol. I'm still waiting for UPS. It's now 12:23pm. Come on!!!

 

[amdgamer]

Haha, if they disappear I'm certain somebody will lose their life lol. I'm still waiting for UPS. It's now 12:23pm. Come on!!!

This is the way it usually works. They know that you are looking foward to this shipment. They cannot steal your stash as they would otherwise lose their job. They cannot damage your stash intentionally because they know that UPS has gotten a bad rap for how packages have been treated. Therefore, they are going to do mentally torture you and make sure that your house is the very last delivery they make on their run before they turn back to the hub for the end of their shift.

Of course i'm seriously joking, but this does happen to me whenever I order something that I am really anticipating. Everytime I order something I really want, it doesn't get here till like 7:23pm at night.

 

[bizzmeister]

And they are here and installed! woot. Too bad I dont have time to even mess around today! I gotta run but I will be back on this thing testing all night tonight. And I will post way more stuff tomorrow.

Up and running right now on my main pc. Just installed 10.4 and the latest application profiles.

 

[harmattan]

And they are here and installed! woot. Too bad I dont have time to even mess around today! I gotta run but I will be back on this thing testing all night tonight. And I will post way more stuff tomorrow.

Up and running right now on my main pc. Just installed 10.4 and the latest application profiles.

Ooohweee boy, them some fine lookin' cards. I'd ditch my 480s and pick up a pair if only you could watercool them (the PCB is custom so regular blocks don't fit...)

 

[bizzmeister]

haha thanks before I leave, I notice that 1 gpu is sitting at 69c idle and the other at 31c idle. Normal ?

 

[EvilViking]

Nice setup

 

[amdgamer]

And they are here and installed! woot. Too bad I dont have time to even mess around today! I gotta run but I will be back on this thing testing all night tonight. And I will post way more stuff tomorrow.

Up and running right now on my main pc. Just installed 10.4 and the latest application profiles.

That some nice porn right there. Personally, i'd rather have these than fake titties any day of the week.

As far as your temps go, usually one is going to be hotter in crossfire mode, but i'm not sure about that big of a temperature difference between your cards. What do they run under full load? I wonder if the cards idle at higher temps since you have Eyefinity setup.

 

[VF31Tomcatters]

Very nice Arbi! They finally came, I was beginning to wonder when you'd be getting those video cards. I'll fly down to check out this weekend. . Keep us apprised on how they perform.

Edit: I didn't even know that you got them today since I usually check your thread on H-T first lol.

 

[vjcsmoke]

Why do you have them sandwiched together? Don't you have an extended crossfire bridge?

 

[bizzmeister]

Nice setup

Thanks man.

That some nice porn right there. Personally, i'd rather have these than fake titties any day of the week.

As far as your temps go, usually one is going to be hotter in crossfire mode, but i'm not sure about that big of a temperature difference between your cards. What do they run under full load? I wonder if the cards idle at higher temps since you have Eyefinity setup.

No idea bro, just ran a 1 min furmark demo @ 640x480 windowed with 8xMSAA for 60 seconds and the highest the 1st gpu went was 76. It would up to 91ish on the GTX 480 SLI setup on this same test i would do.

Very nice Arbi! They finally came, I was beginning to wonder when you'd be getting those video cards. I'll fly down to check out this weekend. . Keep us apprised on how they perform.

Edit: I didn't even know that you got them today since I usually check your thread on H-T first lol.

lol haha :beer: . I will definitely keep you all informed on it. Haven't got around to posting on HT yet.

Why do you have them sandwiched together? Don't you have an extended crossfire bridge?

Ya man, that was stupid mistake of mine that ended up costing me $35 for an extended bridge a couple weeks back when I didnt even need it. Im blind dude lol. I thought the x16 slots were spread out more than what they are , forgot to double check and wasted $35 for nothing lol. There are only 2 x16 slots on the gigabyte ex58a-UD5. And it goes like this:

x16 pcie express

x8 pcie express

x16 pcie express

and final product is how it looks in those pics.


Now to game testing for the first time!

 

[bizzmeister]

Alright guys, so i played my first game on this new setup. I picked Bad Company 2.

All settings on VERY HIGH. 4xMSAA / 16xAF with HBAO off & vsync off @ 5760x1080.


Honestly, im not impressed. Its getting like 40-60fps. Im kinda disappointed if anything. The fan noise is just as bad as the GTX 480 SLI setup. Hell, it honestly seems louder, i dont know if its because its a higher pitch noise or what.

GPU temps while playing Bad Company 2, the highest I saw:

1st GPU: 87c
2nd GPU: 71c


:/

Gonna try out some others.

 

[bizzmeister]

Tried out Crysis Warhead:

Big time fail. Couldnt even get it to load at 5760x1080. The far left screen was just flickering like crazy. Nothing like i had seen before.


Tried out L4D2, showing 120fps, felt like 40fps.


Man, Im seriously like depressed right now. FUCK.......... After spending a $1000 and seeing this as the result, im not happy at all. I was going to get Just Cause 2 but now im certain it'll run like shit, so I'll just keep my $50. I dont know what to do now.

 

[amdgamer]

Tried out Crysis Warhead:

Big time fail. Couldnt even get it to load at 5760x1080. The far left screen was just flickering like crazy. Nothing like i had seen before.


Tried out L4D2, showing 120fps, felt like 40fps.


Man, Im seriously like depressed right now. FUCK.......... After spending a $1000 and seeing this as the result, im not happy at all. I was going to get Just Cause 2 but now im certain it'll run like shit, so I'll just keep my $50. I dont know what to do now.

Do you have the latest patches for Crysis? Maybe someone around here could help you out, or you could also try searching the official game forums, or AMD's official forums to see if other people have any solutions.

 

[Mr. K6]

Crysis has always ran like shit on multi-GPU setups for me: 4870CF, GTX295, and now 5850 CF, it doesn't sync properly and it feels very framey despite reading 60FPS+. I'd imagine Eyefinity would only exacerbate these shortcomings. I'm sorry to hear you're not liking your setup. It's surprising that the cards are so loud as well, maybe a reference version would have been quieter? I would try playing around with drivers and patches before calling it quits. Also, how does the setup respond to overclocking?

 

[Astrodave]

sorry biz that blows. i know you were happy with your 480sli setup and those leaked surround drivers today might have at least gotten you through until the finals come out. its never fun when you shell out a lot of coin and have problems. i figured these babies would run great for you. major pita...

 

[shansoft]

Tried out Crysis Warhead:

Big time fail. Couldnt even get it to load at 5760x1080. The far left screen was just flickering like crazy. Nothing like i had seen before.


Tried out L4D2, showing 120fps, felt like 40fps.


Man, Im seriously like depressed right now. FUCK.......... After spending a $1000 and seeing this as the result, im not happy at all. I was going to get Just Cause 2 but now im certain it'll run like shit, so I'll just keep my $50. I dont know what to do now.

is your CCC AI on advance or standard?

check your AA method, SSAA or ADAA or MSAA...

and Crysis issue, it always runs like shit in Multi-GPU.. I have horrible experience with it since GTX 260 SLI .... that is why I went to Crossfire setup, but it certainly didn't help too much..

 

[bizzmeister]

Do you have the latest patches for Crysis? Maybe someone around here could help you out, or you could also try searching the official game forums, or AMD's official forums to see if other people have any solutions.

I have it through Steam bro, if there are any updates, it'll automatically download so Im sure it's already up to date.

Crysis has always ran like shit on multi-GPU setups for me: 4870CF, GTX295, and now 5850 CF, it doesn't sync properly and it feels very framey despite reading 60FPS+. I'd imagine Eyefinity would only exacerbate these shortcomings. I'm sorry to hear you're not liking your setup. It's surprising that the cards are so loud as well, maybe a reference version would have been quieter? I would try playing around with drivers and patches before calling it quits. Also, how does the setup respond to overclocking?

Ya Ive heard that too but I didnt even get to play bro. The main menu was flickering like a mad man. It looked like my monitor was going to explode. And ya, these cards are loud dude. Just as loud as the GTX 480 SLI setups. So I really dont know what people are smoking when they say the toxic 5870's are much more quiet. I have the latest 10.4 ati drivers with the latest application profile download. I haven't even tried to overclock and probably wouldnt. Thats the main reason why I waited this long for the sapphire toxic one, comes factory overclocked @ 925/1225.

sorry biz that blows. i know you were happy with your 480sli setup and those leaked surround drivers today might have at least gotten you through until the finals come out. its never fun when you shell out a lot of coin and have problems. i figured these babies would run great for you. major pita...

Ya man :/ . Ya I honestly thought this was the answer to all my issues. I guess not :/. Because if thats the case, I'd rather run the GTX 480 sli setup if its this noisy and the temps are high.

is your CCC AI on advance or standard?

check your AA method, SSAA or ADAA or MSAA...

and Crysis issue, it always runs like shit in Multi-GPU.. I have horrible experience with it since GTX 260 SLI .... that is why I went to Crossfire setup, but it certainly didn't help too much..

I never touch CCC. I let it sit the way it is when you download it. I never mess with those settings because I never have issues.

 

[shansoft]

I never touch CCC. I let it sit the way it is when you download it. I never mess with those settings because I never have issues.

sounds odd to me about L4D, it run smooth as silk when I used a 5970 on it..
and I did run 2xSSAA on it, 4xSSAA cause stutter due to lack of VRAM.

about Crysis flickering, not quite sure what exactly is happening, but it never happen to me when I used it.

also, if you find games stutter when its not suppose to, like L4D, you might want to check one of ur card might be defective..
I have encounter that problem twice with ASUS 5870 CF, but figure out one card is defective that caused the issue. After find out which card is the bad one, and swap it with a XFX one it works like charm..

also, not quite sure why your temp is so high or so noise, but it never goes above 45% fan speed or go above 82 when I crossfire it with all reference card, it was pretty darn quite..
maybe sapphire fan just suck..

I try to stay away from non-reference 5870 as much as possible all of them are horrible beside ASUS one and PowerColor..

 

[bizzmeister]

If I end up returning these this upcoming monday morning. Im either waiting on the 4GB 5970 and calling it a day or picking up SLI GTX 480's again. I figured im screwed either way as it sits.