Are you running ATI 5870, 6870 or Nvidia 460?

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by klem

I usually build my own. I proposed my parts list to Scan, looking for a discount and they came back with an adaptation of their Black Ops system. Their core product was an Asus Sabertooth mobo, i7 950 o/c to 4.2GHz, 6Gb memory, plus the other bits I wanted. I think theirs was cased but they put in the case I asked for, they seem flexible.

Well if you add all the parts for your system to your cart (using 'Today Only' for deals, and it doesn't come to much less than they'll build it for you, you have all the details to make the best choise for you. I bought an i7-930, 6gig 1600 ram, asus p6x58d-e for £434 ( a month or two ago) and when I added the other parts and compared to a pre OC'ed system it was a big saving (but it might not be for you).

I think I'm likely to wait the rest of this month to hear about the 6970 "due for release in November".

The 69xx series has been pushed back to Dec 13th for the information release, so the cards will hopefully be out soon after that.

It should top the 5870 and is optimised for Tesselation although Oleg has just stated that SoW doesn't use Tesselation but "could be considered for about 4-5 years time upgrade"

He's mentioned a few times about tesselation, and at the moment it looks like the cards that are better at tesselation won't get a benefit. 4-5 years will probably get extended, and we'll get new cards again by then.

The AMD website stated a 500W PSU for a 5870 system and I went 600w to allow for one more 5870 in the future. I have a 750w in the cupboard but it doesn't have four 6pin PCIe lines (although I think I can adapt the molex 4 pins for a second card). I'll look at a larger PSU though.

I have a 5 year old 600W psu, which should do me for a new single GC, but I wish I had more power available, and could SLi/CF if I wanted.

[klem]

Originally Posted by Triggaaar

....I added the other parts and compared to a pre OC'ed system it was a big saving (but it might not be for you).

The 69xx series has been pushed back to Dec 13th for the information release, so the cards will hopefully be out soon after that.
.....

The assembly/overclocking/testing is costing me about £50 which I think is a very fair price for an o/c I would be afraid to push for

Where did you get that 13th December date from? I keep coming up against a wall of silence or "can't say due to Non Disclosure Agreements".

Flanker
yes power and heat are one of my (secondary) drivers

SQB
Thanks for that but I found Toms Hardare website and several others placed the 6870 below the 5870 on gaming tests and one of those sites had similar benchmark results to your link but said "benchmarks aren't everything" (don't necessarily reflect the real world of gaming). You're right about the price but I can afford either so it's down to what will run SoW best out of the two. If the 6970 is going to cost much more than the 5870 it's looking like a straight choice for me between 6870 and 5870. Both have their advantages. The 5970, 480GTX and 580 are beyond my reach.

btw I did check the card lengths which is one reason why I chose that case.

[SQB]

yes, that is true, benchmarks dont reflect everything. truth is the 5870 is i teeny weeny bit better, but nothing to make it worth the extra 100 bucks. All this benchmark shows is the difference is so marginal sometimes the "worse" card beats the "better" one.

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by klem

The assembly/overclocking/testing is costing me about £50 which I think is a very fair price for an o/c I would be afraid to push for

Wow - I enjoyed doing the OC myself, and learning in the process, but £50! When I looked at Scan's OC'ed components (and overclockers) I was looking at £200.

Where did you get that 13th December date from? I keep coming up against a wall of silence or "can't say due to Non Disclosure Agreements".

here - although the link on the first post is down now, it worked when I first read it. I've read a few other places about the details being released in week 50, I'm pretty sure it's official. The 6850 and 6870 were on sale about the same day that the details (benchmarks, reviews etc) were released, so hopefully that'll be the same this time around.

[klem]

Thanks Triggaaar,

that's really depressing. I read through a fair bit of that thread and several of the links. It seems a fair bet the 6970 won't be out before Christmas unless AMD are sandbagging a little.

I now have to decide whether to go 5870 or get the rig minus the Graphics card and throw in my 7800GTs and wait until the 6970 is available. At least then I will know the performance and the price.

Or can I be patient enough to wait until Q1 2011.
Would probably make sense. Prices may have dropped on the 5870 if the 6970 doesn't turn out to be as good as the hype. Or not.

nnnnnngggg.... I want it now!

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by klem

that's really depressing. I read through a fair bit of that thread and several of the links. It seems a fair bet the 6970 won't be out before Christmas unless AMD are sandbagging a little.

I didn't get the feeling that it won't be out for christmas. It's the information they've delayed, and if it's not going to be ready until after christmas, releasing the info on the 13th December doesn't make sense - ie, it's too late to stop some people buying a 580 before the 13th (they could release the info now if it's good news) and it's a bit early if the product still won't be ready. But we'll see.

I now have to decide whether to go 5870 or get the rig minus the Graphics card and throw in my 7800GTs and wait until the 6970 is available. At least then I will know the performance and the price.

It depends if there's a lot of games you're desperate to play now. I've built a new PC and I'm still using my 6600GT, as I'm in no hurry to get new games, and I want a card for SoW. If it's really for SoW, wait (not just for the 6970, but system requirements would be nice).

Would probably make sense. Prices may have dropped on the 5870 if the 6970 doesn't turn out to be as good as the hype. Or not.

I don't think the 5870 will see much proce drop before we know about the 6970. If that turns out to be a good card and a decent price (and while I doubt it'll be as fast as the 580, it'll be faster than the 5870, crossfire better etc, and probably be a reasonable price), the 5870 should then see price drops.

[Hatch]

My 2cts : Wait till SOW comes out and use your current card or a very cheap on the new rig till then.
(If that's possibel).
No use buying a nice card now and realising SOW is more demanding when it come's out.
That'll save some budget for a super card to get all the eye candy.

At least that's why I 'm waiting

[klem]

I have decided to wait a month (until the supposed week 50 release) before deciding on the GPU and buying the package. It wasn't an easy decision.

Having unusually spare cash in the bank at risk from all of life's little foibles is like having a Ferrari on the drive but you can't find the key !

The 6000s out now are priced just at or above the 5000s they replace. I'm hoping the 6970/5870 situation will be the same.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and advice. And any more that may come. I'll keep you posted.