Nvidia SLI or 5870 for ArmA 2?

[Ish 11]

I know the card isn't out yet. But I'm treating myself an early birthday present for myself.. I'm getting either some sort of SLI config OR a 5870.. Same performance as 295 but only single core. From what I've understand the sli support right Now, is a bit so so. So im thinking the 5870 is the better choice. It's also the cheapest aside from 260 sli..

Quite a dilemma really. I don't want too wait, since I've just bought a brand new computer aside from the GPU (wanted too wait for 5870). But still I wanted too hear your opinion on this.

I'm on P6T v2 Deluxe, 6 Gig's of XMS3 7-7-7-20 and a 920 i7..

Opinions? Suggestions,? Ideas? :j:

[koroush47 10]

SLI is a gimmick really.

It is only like a 20 percent increase in performance. So your money is going to waste.

Get the single card solution.

[Ish 11]

5870 it is :) Unless someone else can convince me. If you wanna add too the anti sli argument, thats fine too. The card isn't out in stores yet in Sweden and will probably go really fast when they do. And i don't think i'll sit and mash F5 so :)

[LJF 0]

Crossfire can improve performance by up to 98%, FC2 I think did that (40fps to 79? Something like that), but ArmA2 ... 5870 all the way, I wish I had one :D

[Ish 11]

Yeah cause I was contemplating getting the 260 sli setup after seeing benchmarks on how it's as good as 285 sli. But I just don't dare use sli in arma 2 atm.

I got 8800gts (g92) in sli.. But i've removed one card and still get the same fps.

The other drawback with sli/CF is that it takes up space. Space that I have but still.

I have a soundcard as well, which is pretty big so it's a very snug fit in the pci(e) area of the mobo. I really think the 5870 is gonna do wonders in arma. Sama performance as 295 with One core. And since sli isn't exactly ArmA 2's forte, I'm wondering if the 2nd core in 295 is just 'there' not doing anything. Since I'm mostly playing Aion atm I guess i can bear it a bit longer on the 8800.. And besides, I was playing without whine before i got the processor/mobo and ram upgrades that added 10-20fps :p

[Thirdup 0]

5870 it is :) Unless someone else can convince me. If you wanna add too the anti sli argument, thats fine too. The card isn't out in stores yet in Sweden and will probably go really fast when they do. And i don't think i'll sit and mash F5 so :)

You know that you're going to wish you had waited for the new nVidia 300 series (coming soon!)

;)

[ICE-Raver 10]

SLI is a gimmick really.

It is only like a 20 percent increase in performance. So your money is going to waste.

Get the single card solution.

Really? Are you running SLI?

SLI performance differs by game. Some games have huge increases and some not so much.

For me in Arma 2 I got a very nice gain going from a single 280 to dual 280's.

However if I were him I would go with the 5870 or wait for the 300 series. It's late in the game to be buying 200's unless you can get them on the cheap.

Personally I intend to go the 300 route x2 sli when they arrive if the benchmarks and reviews on them are as good as everyone believes they will be.

Edited September 23, 2009 by ICE-Raver

[Ish 11]

Well theres always something new coming so :) When does the 300 series arrive? As I said eariler, i've been playing on two 8800's up til Monday. Which is when i upgraded everything except the GPU, and i still got 10-20 fps increase. I think I can wait a couple of more months. Plus i play more Aion than ArmA 2 atm which runs more than fine as it is.

But it's interesting because 5870 is as good as 295 basically, and they're releasing a new series! I mean surely i can get off cheaper buying the 260 equivalent of the 300 series cheaper than the 5870 and get better FPS?

There's only that worry about ArmA 2 + dual video cards...

---------- Post added at 06:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 AM ----------

Anyone American here? I just checked on newegg, and it's listed price is 379.99 usd..

The rumored asking price in Sweden is 559.147 USD (using www.xe.com currency conversion).. I sure hope thats not true..

[maddogx 13]

You know that you're going to wish you had waited for the new nVidia 300 series (coming soon!)

I wouldn't say Q3 2010 is "soon". :)

[Ish 11]

One 5870 Ordered :)

[=wfl= sgt bilko 10]

I'm amazed by all these people who can afford to run out and by a new GFX card every now and then.

However I'd be even more amazed if we would actually see some major performance fixes in the game engine soon (I seem to recall that we were told that it was in line for v1.04).

[Ish 11]

Truth be told, I don't even have an income. I got about 200k SEK in insurance from when I got diabetes two years ago, roughly 30k usd.. check on xe.com if u must, i'm just guesstimating here.. And as I said, it's a birthday present too myself, it's not like I do this every day. My last computer was two years old. Only thing I've bought in between was an extra GPU.

Edited September 23, 2009 by Ish

[doakwolf 10]

Nice! I'm most jealous of you!!! (about the 5870 - not the diabetes and insurance pay-out).

I'll have to wait until the price drops somewhat. Particularly in Australia, the mark-up is high. About $650 here and only $369 in the USA (which is about $420 once converted so $230 for import..).

Not to mention I've only had my 4890 for a few months, and I'm happy enough with that for now! :D

I'm keen to see the potential these 5800s can show once we see some DX11 games on the market!

Jero :)

[Ish 11]

Hehe thats understadable. Diabetes type 1, so imo not that big of a deal. Ofc I'd rather not have that than 30k usd, but yeah. Here I am :)

Yeah it's about 100 usd more here as well, but I could't wait lol.

[Alex72 1]

However I'd be even more amazed if we would actually see some major performance fixes in the game engine soon (I seem to recall that we were told that it was in line for v1.04).

Who said that? People on the forum or BIS? I never heard it from official sources. But there is often a lot of talk going on all over the internet and too many that doesnt really double check sources. Maybe they did say that and i never heard it though?

What i am pretty sure of however is that BIS is working to get the performance up. Im making that assumption based on their earlier games and more importantly my own ARMA2 experience atm. However i do not know when something amazingly obvious will enter a patch.

Personally i have gotten much better performance since ARMA2 v1.0. It was a lag fest back then, and now im playing much higher settings plus far longer VD with better FPS. The trees could be "lighter" though, but i know BIS is at least taking note of it since their activity in the thread concerning the matter.

Alex

[Fred DM 0]

the point of the new ATi card is Dx11 support. unless you plan on getting both Windows 7 and DIRT 2 (world's first Dx11 game) day 1 there's not much of a point in buying a 5870 early.

if you want a card to increase performance in ArmA 2, i'd wait for the prices to drop on the new ATi cards and for Nvidia to follow up with their own Dx11 cards, which will put some pressure on ATi.

that is, unless you have money to waste.

[[GLT] Legislator 66]

Who said that? People on the forum or BIS? I never heard it from official sources. But there is often a lot of talk going on all over the internet and too many that doesnt really double check sources. Maybe they did say that and i never heard it though?

Click me

the second area we're prioritising is improving performance, especially in urban areas, of course there will be other things addressed in 1.04 but it's too early to go into details about those just yet.

Well ... I'm not the only one who didn't notice performance improvements :cool: To expect them "soon" is unlikely. Increasing performance in a way you'll notice it (10 fps + minimum on every system) is a lot of hard work and takes some more time.

[reilar 10]

One 5870 Ordered :)

I'm living in Sweden too.

Which manufacturer did you order and from where?

[evilfury 0]

the point of the new ATi card is Dx11 support. unless you plan on getting both Windows 7 and DIRT 2 (world's first Dx11 game) day 1 there's not much of a point in buying a 5870 early.

if you want a card to increase performance in ArmA 2, i'd wait for the prices to drop on the new ATi cards and for Nvidia to follow up with their own Dx11 cards, which will put some pressure on ATi.

that is, unless you have money to waste.

Well new drivers by nvidia will be here soon. Have soon? Q3 of 2010 is soon for them... :D

Single gpu card=less problems, less heat, less noise.

Well it will be interesting to see when drivers will mature. I think 5800 series will show there real power than.

[H-street 10]

Check out

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/09/22/amds_ati_radeon_hd_5870_video_card_review/8

Arma II has proven itself to be a challenging game for hardware. We were a bit worried when we started with this game because the general consensus is that it is CPU limited, or just plain bad coding, and not necessarily GPU limited. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we found that the new Radeon HD 5870 allowed us to enable the highest possible settings, save for the visibility slider, at 1920x1200 and have a very incredible experience at 2560x1600!

[-Gus- 0]

I'm living in Sweden too.

Which manufacturer did you order and from where?

Komplett.se, they had a dozen cards earlier today for delivery the 26th. I ordered the Sapphire one that was bundled with Grid2, however there is no difference between the different manufacturers as of yet, besides the sticker :)

[Ish 11]

I'm living in Sweden too.

Which manufacturer did you order and from where?

Sapphire from komplett.. I got it like 30min after they released it see:

http://www.sweclockers.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=879045

---------- Post added at 03:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:28 PM ----------

Komplett.se, they had a dozen cards earlier today for delivery the 26th. I ordered the Sapphire one that was bundled with Grid2, however there is no difference between the different manufacturers as of yet, besides the sticker :)

The Asus one i think comes with volt software, but i guess u can download that separately with any card, as it's the same chip and everything :)

[bangtail 0]

SLI is a gimmick really.

It is only like a 20 percent increase in performance. So your money is going to waste.

Get the single card solution.

What?

Please, if you are going to comment on technology, avail yourself of the facts as opposed to talking crap and misleading people.

Just to clear up the confusion, the single GPU GT300 is on track for DECEMBER, not Q1 2010 and ATI and Nvidia's "2 in 1" cards are scheduled for Q1 2010.

Finally, as far as A2 goes and in a non CPU limiting situation (AKA not Chernogursk), 2 x 285 will make short work of 1 x 5870. Yes, SLI involves more heat etc and I don't generally recommend SLI to non enthusiasts, but it is the faster of the two.

Eth

Edited September 23, 2009 by BangTail

[InFireBaptize 0]

I know the card isn't out yet. But I'm treating myself an early birthday present for myself.. I'm getting either some sort of SLI config OR a 5870.. Same performance as 295 but only single core. From what I've understand the sli support right Now, is a bit so so. So im thinking the 5870 is the better choice. It's also the cheapest aside from 260 sli..

Quite a dilemma really. I don't want too wait, since I've just bought a brand new computer aside from the GPU (wanted too wait for 5870). But still I wanted too hear your opinion on this.

I'm on P6T v2 Deluxe, 6 Gig's of XMS3 7-7-7-20 and a 920 i7..

Opinions? Suggestions,? Ideas? :j:

would this make you go SLI?

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/336235/Ten-Big-Companies-That-Are-Veering-Toward-Bankruptcy?tickers=AMD,LVS,S,M,GT,MYL,HTZ

[Ish 11]

Let me explain..

I AM a nvidia guy, however this is The best card on the market today aside from the 295 depending on the game of course. I play ArmA 2, which does not fully support dual GPU's. Hence not the 295's full potential. I could gamble and hope for a proper sli patch, or I can buy the cheaper single cored 5870, which takes up less space, is cooler and quieter as well as being more economical. Basically, I'm too eager too wait for the 3xx series ;)

AMD won't go bankrupt. Hell Koenigsegg is buying SAAB ffs!! Surley there would be financial backing for AMD should the need arise.