Widescreen Gaming Forum

So I am about ready to order my GFX card for my eyefinity setup (which will be 3x2709w). My question is will a single 5870 be able to handle this res on most games (specifically Dragon Age: Origins, Bioshock2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Starcraft 2, Dawn of War II, Left for Dead 2, Team Fortress 2) on high-very high settings? Or will I need a CFX type setup to accomplish this?

I would suggest CrossFire might be an idea... however, if you can wait until the "5876" with 2GB of VRAM is around, as that might cope with the ultra-high resolutions of EyeFinity better than a 1GB card anyway. I think the 5800 series architecture still has a lot of room to stretch it's legs if potential bottlenecks are removed...

So here's another question then. I am inherently an Nvidia guy, specifically eVGA as brand. Are there any brands in the ATi space that provide a "step-up" program like eVGA does? Then I could confidently purchase a 5870 now and "step-up" to the 5876 or possibly a 597x in the future.

Nope. Only eVGA has a 'step up' program. :(

Wish more companies did, but there we are.

Ok so then without a step program I am pretty much set on getting a single 5870 for now (a CFX setup would be too cost prohibitive at this point). What would be the best bet as far as single 5870's are concerned? Any manufacturer's i should stay away from? I know XFX has the dbl lifetime warranty gimmick, but is there a better overall brand?

I've had Powercolor cards in the past serve me well, I'm running an XFX 4870X2 at the minute but I have no brand loyalty... I get what is cheapest at the time. ;) Only thing I'd say is steer clear of Sapphire - their RMA service is appallingly slow.

The Asus cards seem to have a better BIOS for overclocking than the others, but they're often are the higher end of the 5870 price bracket. At least in the UK.

DON'T CF dude!!!!

I have 2x5870s and have huge stuttering problem. As far as I know a lot of other users have the same issue.

Just get a single 5870 or wait the 5870 ef edition.

5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

5970 is out of my price range, and also very difficult to actually find in stock.

5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

eh it's more or less a 5850x2.

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