Been out of the PC scene for a while...which of these is recommended?

[PspKicks316]

Would you guys recommend a pair of ATi Radeon 5870s in Xfire or a single Radeon 5970?
Can the 5970s do Xfire? Or are they dual GPU cards?

I know I've always been a fan of nvidia over ATi, but it seems that, at least for now, ATi are overtaking nvidia in the GPU market.

When is nvidia's newest GPU coming out? What's it's name?
I haven't been keeping up lately.

[~:Dhruv:~]

That would be the Nvidia Fermi , coming out in March and probably well worth the wait.

[PspKicks316]

Looks awesome... I wonder how well it'll compare to the radeon 5900s.
 
I'm worried about price too.

I'm thinking dual 5870s until the price drops.

[budgray19]

yea if u still want a answer. go for the crossfire 5870's 2 are better than 1 even tho that one is better.

i remmember there being a card that has 2 gpus in it

[PspKicks316]

I think the 5970 is the dual gpu version of the 5870 but oh well.

I'm gonna start with 1 5870 then once I get more money, I'll get a second one (same with the BenQ 22" V2200s).
Completely revamping and upgrading my home theater setup and building a comp this month most likely. Can't wait.

Planning on:
Core i7 920 OC'd to 4.6GHz
Asus P6x58 mobo with Sata 3.0 and USB 3.0
Dual 5870s
12GB OSZ Gold 1600MHz DDR3
Dual 1TB hdds in a raid config
128GB SSD
1000w psu
5.1 Channel surround sound along with SPDIF going to my 7.2 channel home theater setup
Dual BenQ V2200s along with an HDMI cable running to my HDTV

Not sure on the case and whether or not I'll spend the extra $500ish and upgrade to water cooling.

[~:Dhruv:~]

Dude...  i was like omg after looking at the specs. How much money is that gonna run you AND where do you get so much cash from ???

[budgray19]

make sure u get a modular psu
i like rosewill myself very good brand. i ahve one myself and no probs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16817182188

[PspKicks316]

Not bad. I like it.

I've decided on a case, too.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=AA75877
I was thinking about Thermaltake's refrigerant cooled case, but it seems like too much of a hassle and too much maintenance when start it, and too risky with overclocking.

Dhruv, this is all starting after I shell out $1200 to upgrade my home theater setup from a 5 channel receiver and computer speakers from like 10 years ago... to a nice new 7.2 channel setup, 250w powered sub, 2 floorstanding front speakers, 2 surround, 2 read, and a center. The desktop will be hooked up to this through S/PDIF.

As for the money... I've got a nice short-term "job" I've come across, earning a lot for little work. If all goes well, I've got roughly $3200 or more by the end of the month, and then my birthday is in March. I can get the home theater setup, start the computer, and then slowly work my way up to what I want.

[~:Dhruv:~]

wow, good job mate ! Liking the home theatre too. Assembling it yourself or going in for a pre configured/assembled ht system ? 

[mintybacon]

you realize if you get 2 5870's then its like $800 but if you get one 5970 thats $600 for the same amount of power and you can still cross fire it...quad GPU's yummy
if you have the cash for it and you actually need the power go for one 5970 over 2 5870's

[PspKicks316]

The 5970 does look really nice.. and it would save me money and space...

I'd need to pick up a Display Port to HDMI adapter though. I don't think you can buy a straight cable adapter. That's cuz I need 2 DVI and 1 HDMI port.
Maybe I'll do that.

If anyone's interested:
Motherboard
CPU overclocked to ~4.6GHz
RAM 12GB DDR3 1600MHz
ABS 1000w PSU
5.1Ch surround sound
Dual BenQ V2200s
XFX 5970
TT SwordM Case
Also a 128GB SSD, 300GB WD Velocirapter, and most likely a Raid 10 setup with 4 1TB drives.
Haven't chosen the watercooling blocks yet.
Those aren't necessarily where I'm getting each part, either, as I can get them cheaper elsewhere and from my friend.


And Dhruv, custom ftw.
Onkyo TX-SR607 7.2 Channel Receiver
Polk PSW505 Sub
Dual Polk Monitor 70s for front speakers
Polk CS2 Center speaker
Polk Monitor 30s for rear/surround