Video Card Recommendations

[Bodhi]

I am getting more than a bit tired with the AMD SLI issues on almost all the new games that are out there.  I have 2 AMD 6990's in Crossfire setup and would like to explore trading them out for 2 Nvidia cards (or 1 if it is capable) that are not going to cause the same issues.  My games should be able to run on ultra settings, but I have no desire to spend $1K per card.

I have looked at quite a few reviews, but am curious what ya'll think... Any suggestions?

[-ammo-]

Maybe a single GTX780?  Still expensive but should give you the performance you want.

I have a GTX770 which would run AH with all the eye candy maxed at 1080P.  However, when I upgraded to a Viewsonic VP2770 (2560 x 1440), I had to push one or two of the sliders down a bit.  The card did fine at max eye candy until I got in a furball near a base with a bunch of GVs then I saw FRs drop to the teens.

[Debrody]

I am getting more than a bit tired with the AMD SLI issues on almost all the new games that are out there.  I have 2 AMD 6990's in Crossfire setup and would like to explore trading them out for 2 Nvidia cards (or 1 if it is capable) that are not going to cause the same issues.  My games should be able to run on ultra settings, but I have no desire to spend $1K per card.

I have looked at quite a few reviews, but am curious what ya'll think... Any suggestions?

Well, first the AMD will always have SLI issues    Their multi-GPU system is called Crossfire.
Then, you have 4 GPUs linked together, 4-way SLI/CF will never scale up as well as a 2-way or a single GPU.

I have no idea what games youre playing and in which resolution, but for one full-hd monitor, a single 780/290 must be enough for any existing game. SLI/CF only worths it if you link together the fastest GPUs.
Double 780ti-s or 290x-s will do well for a good couple of years. The raw calculating capacity might be less than the dual 6990s, but the better scaling might result better in-game fps, also the only 2 way sli/cf must reduce the stuttering.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Well, first the AMD will always have SLI issues    Their multi-GPU system is called Crossfire.
Then, you have 4 GPUs linked together, 4-way SLI/CF will never scale up as well as a 2-way or a single GPU.

I have no idea what games youre playing and in which resolution, but for one full-hd monitor, a single 780/290 must be enough for any existing game. SLI/CF only worths it if you link together the fastest GPUs.
Double 780ti-s or 290x-s will do well for a good couple of years. The raw calculating capacity might be less than the dual 6990s, but the better scaling might result better in-game fps, also the only 2 way sli/cf must reduce the stuttering.

The latest AMD driver was touting 98% scaling in 4k using dual or quad gpu. No idea if they can keep the promise though.

[Rich46yo]

Im kinda wondering about your AMD SLI issues. From what Ive been hearing their newer drivers have been pretty good. You have older cards and Ive mostly been hearing about the drivers for the newer cards. But they are still very nice cards. I wonder what the specs of your system are before diving into a AMD vs NVidea thing.

[Chalenge]

This:

I wonder what the specs of your system are before diving into a AMD vs NVidea thing.

I believe if you are having trouble with the 6990s that the same trouble is likely to follow a transition into NVidia.

[guncrasher]

bodhi have you tried using only one card and see what happens?


semp

[Debrody]

The latest AMD driver was touting 98% scaling in 4k using dual or quad gpu. No idea if they can keep the promise though.

Last time i have seen a CF test, the performance gain was between 60-90% on a dual GPU setup, depending on the game. True, it was more than a year ago, with doubled 7870s, i7, 16 gigs of ram.

An average 75% is still a pretty good result. I guess, nearly 100% gain is only reachable in GPU-calculating tasks, such as rendering or converting.

[Zerstorer]

I am getting more than a bit tired with the AMD SLI issues on almost all the new games that are out there.  I have 2 AMD 6990's in Crossfire setup and would like to explore trading them out for 2 Nvidia cards (or 1 if it is capable) that are not going to cause the same issues.  My games should be able to run on ultra settings, but I have no desire to spend $1K per card.

I have looked at quite a few reviews, but am curious what ya'll think... Any suggestions?

I'm running my third Nvidia based SLI / surround setup in 6 years.  I've never had any issues to speak of other than with older games which can't or don't easily support surround. 

On a side note:  I gave up on AMD from a CPU perspective after my last build and now run Intel.  It pains me to admit, but AMD can no longer state the have the best "bang" for the buck as they could in the past.  AMD CPUs could almost never go head-to-head with Intel, but the cost to performance ratio was always nice....that's not the case anymore.  Intel is still expensive, but AMD performance appeared to hit a glass ceiling last year i.e. I wouldn't have seen a performance jump of significance if I had updated the CPU I was then running (6 core Phenom Black) to the latest AMD models.  I have, however, seen a good jump going to an i5. 

Hopefully AMD will bounce back in a few years (they usually do), but I fear they may slowly be heading the way of the dodo bird.  That would be a shame...Intel needs to have a competitor of somekind or the consumer will be the one to suffer.  :-/

[Debrody]

It pains me to admit, but AMD can no longer state the have the best "bang" for the buck as they could in the past.

Bought my CPU for 110$, in 2010, as a phenom II 555 BE. Still runs great as a phenom II 955, can reach 3.8 GHz at stock voltage. While its not blazing fast, still enough for me, being a couple percents faster than the newest i3s.
A comparable C2Q was 250$ at that time, even a new i3 is 150 now. The newest i7, what is exactly twice as fast as my cpu, is 350$ - 4 years later.

Bought a Radeon 5830 for 150$ in 2010. The just as fast 7770/260 is 170$ right now while the slower 650ti is 160$.

I know, prices suck in this country. If i had the money, i would buy intel now though.

[Zerstorer]

Yeah...the prices are not significantly better here. Every time I buy Intel my pocketbook throbs with pain....which is why I only do so about every 5 or 6 years.

[Skuzzy]

AMD is all but given up on the desk top market.  

They are putting the bulk of their CPU development dollars into mobile and server solutions.  They have a good shot, in both of those markets.

I see complaints about SLI and Crossfire all the time.  It is all about the profiles.  The SLI profile for Aces High sucks and is going to get worse when we release the next update as that profile was based on a very old version of the game and was never right to begin with.  The Crossfire profile is not any better.

Personally, I avoid multi-gpu solutions at all costs.

[Bodhi]

Rich,
I have the following for a system...
Intel I5-2500 3.3 GHz
16 Gig Ram
Win 7 (64 bit)
2 X AMD 6990's in Crossfire setup
All liquid cooled to include the RAM.

Problems I get are all related to the Crossfire issues with these cards.  FWIW, it is a widely known problem and every new installation just requires more messing around with settings to get some sort of half arsed way to play a game.  In my eyes, AMD just plain sucks.  All I want to do is load up a game and play the damned thing.  I don't want to spend a ton of hours just trying to figure out how to get it to run with what should be a kick arse setup.

[Bodhi]

bodhi have you tried using only one card and see what happens?


semp

Yeah Semp, but a lot of times that does not work....

[Chalenge]

It's your motherboard that is holding you back.