Did you or are you going to build your computer?

[Koyan]

Yes, except for the first one i'm always building new rigs myself. I'm not going for the most recent top o/t line components but one generation before them. This way i save money and am still uptodate for about 450 Euro's, each upgrade. Current machine:

Q9650
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
Sapphire HD5870
4 Gigs DDR3 ram
2 small HD's 80 and 275 G (don't need much)

[Tacoma74]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

Nice as it sounds - this will kill the card quickly. I wouldn't recommend it. 6970 already runs hot as it is. Besides that, there are power limitations for running 6970 BIOS on a 6950 card.

Ah, I had no idea. I'm more of an nVidia guy myself. Just read something about it awhile ago in a video card shootout. Shows how much i know about ATI stuff

[mazex]

My first home built rig was a 486 Dx50 - this is the one I'm itching to buy now when the B3 chipsets arrive (and I know how demanding CoD will be):

Intel Core i7 2600K 3,4GHz Socket 1155
Noctua NH-D14
Asus P8P67 Pro B3
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9 2x4GB DDR3
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 OC HDMI Dual-DVI 1280MB
Antec P193
Antec TruePower New Series 750W

Maybe going for a GTX580 instead... Or... Mmm...

[kimosabi]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

Nice as it sounds - this will kill the card quickly. I wouldn't recommend it. 6970 already runs hot as it is. Besides that, there are power limitations for running 6970 BIOS on a 6950 card.

The deal is that the cards have differently binned memory chips. It is a bit of hit and miss but in most cases you won't "kill the card quickly". Many does get artifacts though and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's not overclocking on a regular basis as it includes using MSI Afterburner/Asus Smartdoctor, BIOS flashing and modding scripts to get a good shader activation.

Or, if you're unlucky, you get a card which is among the least scoring cards at the factory test. Most chips are good enough for a 6970 but any chips with least amount of imperfection will be used in a 6970, not 6950, so a 6950 is pretty much chips who didn't make the cut to be mounted on a 6970. The shaders are locked for a reason.

[T}{OR]

I didn't feel like writing that much, so "killing it quickly" filled the description.

Originally Posted by mazex

Maybe going for a GTX580 instead... Or... Mmm...

Switch that 2600k for 2500k and get yourself a 580 instead of 570.

[mazex]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

Switch that 2600k for 2500k and get yourself a 580 instead of 570.

Yep - that could be a good solution... The HT sure is useless for gaming today at least - don't know about the larger cache though?

EDIT: nah, the cache sure does not seem that important. Either I'll follow you advice or go for both

[T}{OR]

Originally Posted by mazex

EDIT: nah, the cache sure does not seem that important. Either I'll follow you advice or go for both

Or wait and see how 590 performs (due out on 22nd), since you have money for both.

[mazex]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

Or wait and see how 590 performs (due out on 22nd), since you have money for both.

Well, it may become a screaming toaster like the 6990 At least it could make the 580 drop in price a bit...

EDIT: and yes I have the money but I like to feel like i don't waste them for no good (and therefore you i5 advice really fits the bill )

[T}{OR]

Np.

Originally Posted by mazex

... At least it could make the 580 drop in price a bit...

That is what I am waiting for too.