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4Gb 5970 VS. 4Gb 5970 Which design is better?

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Younglin

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Location
Calgary, Alberta, CANADA!
Anyway let the "these cards are overkill" comments begin. :)

It is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title :p

I can't really comment, but 2x256 sounds really fast.. I thought every 5970 had 2x256. Anyway the Sapphire has sick cooling and will probably get better overclocks.
 
They both have 2x256bit memory buses, it's just the Eyefinity edition has 2GB of memory per GPU. This card is best if you plan to game at 1920x1200 or higher with high levels of AA and AF on, otherwise it's a bit pointless.
 
They both have 2x256bit memory buses, it's just the Eyefinity edition has 2GB of memory per GPU. This card is best if you plan to game at 1920x1200 or higher with high levels of AA and AF on, otherwise it's a bit pointless.

Even 1920x1200 is ridiculous in my opinion. 2560x1600 is the minimum. But really this 4GB is like you said for a nice Eyefinity setup.
 
DUDE. i vote the Asus card for sure!
the cooler just looks so much more appealing, both in shape and colour.
the Sapphire's cooler does look more effective...but i would still take the Asus.
if you're worried about cooling if you overclock it...who needs to overclock a 5970 :p
 
DUDE. i vote the Asus card for sure!
the cooler just looks so much more appealing, both in shape and colour.
the Sapphire's cooler does look more effective...but i would still take the Asus.
if you're worried about cooling if you overclock it...who needs to overclock a 5970 :p

Well, if you play DirectX 11 games at 7680x1600 you'll love that extra speed. Perhaps you even need it. I seen someone play 7680x1600 DiRT 2 with one XFX 5970 2GB Black Edition and he had to turn DirectX 11 off and go back to 9 because it was too hard on the GPU and not getting well enough frames. Even if it was a 4GB it would still be pushing it. Let alone future games. And I think DiRT 2 isn't even a demanding game compared to some other titles out there.
 
Even 1920x1200 is ridiculous in my opinion. 2560x1600 is the minimum. But really this 4GB is like you said for a nice Eyefinity setup.

Well, with a 1GB card at 1920x1200 you'll run out of memory if you slap on 8xAA. I kind of agree with what you're saying though, at 1920x1200 technically there is a benefit, but this could be done by a 2GB 5870 if such a thing existed. This is really made for Eyefinity.
 
That Asus card is a beast.. :shock: But it sure looks friggin' sweet! :rock:

When AMD released its dual-GPU card, it could have pushed the clock speeds higher, but, instead, had to lower them in order to stay under the 300W limit of the PCI Express interface. In its new card, however, ASUS strove to circumvent this limitation by outfitting its product with no less than three PCI Express power connectors. With the power issue out of the way, the hardware maker was then able to make the GPU run 17.20% faster than the stock card. The memory also operates 20% faster than that of the reference model.
 
I'll probably go with the sapphire. I'm going to put it underwater and definitely will be overlocking. I'm going to run 3 x 2560 x1600 so I need as much power as possible. Once the price drops I'll get a second and run crossfire. =]
 
I'll probably go with the sapphire. I'm going to put it underwater and definitely will be overlocking. I'm going to run 3 x 2560 x1600 so I need as much power as possible. Once the price drops I'll get a second and run crossfire. =]

With 3x 2560x1600 you will indeed, want a card like this. If you're removing the cooling anyway.. just go with the cheapest (if there is a difference in price).
 
With 3x 2560x1600 you will indeed, want a card like this. If you're removing the cooling anyway.. just go with the cheapest (if there is a difference in price).

I'm undecided. I will be water cooling so I don't really care about the cooler. I like the asus because I'm sure it has good overclocking. Although i want the sapphire as well because they usually have great quality.
 
ohh...if you're taking the cooler off it's a different story. i voted the Asus purely because it had a better looking heatsink.

the sapphire card seems to have a higher stock OC. so there may be more headroom if you OC further.
 
Make sure the Asus card has some kind of heatsinks on the RAM. The render looked like it does but trust me you want to be sure. My 1GB Asus HD 4850 cant run at stock memory speeds because they have no heatsinks.
 
Make sure the Asus card has some kind of heatsinks on the RAM. The render looked like it does but trust me you want to be sure. My 1GB Asus HD 4850 cant run at stock memory speeds because they have no heatsinks.

Doesn't really matter. If I was using the stock cooler then I would care, but I'm putting a water block on it and going for 1Ghz
 
Full coverage water block? If not you'll still need to sink the RAM and don't forget about the VRMs which get super-hot.

Either card will have equal potential (just luck of the draw), and you can always flash to the best BIOS around if you want to later. With that you should be able to adjust voltages to max the card out.
 
Full coverage water block? If not you'll still need to sink the RAM and don't forget about the VRMs which get super-hot.

Either card will have equal potential (just luck of the draw), and you can always flash to the best BIOS around if you want to later. With that you should be able to adjust voltages to max the card out.

Yeah I'll run it on air until I get a block that covers everything thenput it under water. And I plan on hitting 1Gnz core and 1500mhz memory. (Or as high as I can get without killing it) And eventually crossfireing them. =]
 
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