ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB CF vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB SLI

[akshayx]

Hi I am planning to get a PC tomorrow so its really urgent and important you guys help me fast


I just want to know if i should get 2 HD 5870 2gb each or 2 GTX 480 1.5 gb each for my system with this config



* CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-980X Extreme Edition 3.33 GHz 12M Intel Smart Cache LGA1366 [+750]
* MEMORY: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1800MHz Triple Channel Memory Module [+207] (Kingston Hyper-X [+54])
* MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus Rampage III Extreme Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX LGA1366 ATX Mainboard - Overclockable w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, IEEE1394a, USB3.0, Bluetooth, SATA-III, RAID, 4 Gen2 PCIe, 1 PCIe X1, & 1 PCI [+248]

Please help and try and explain me which card and why ..

 

[Dapman02]

The 480 SLI is going to be faster, but the 5870 is going to be cooler running and easier on power
Personally I would go for the 5870 crossfire. It's going to be cheaper, but in the end the differences in performance will not be night and day, but the Fermi's are defiantly faster
I actually would look at getting a 5870x2 also, there expensive, but get one now, and quad fire later

 

[perucho07]

The 480 SLI is going to be faster, but the 5870 is going to be cooler running and easier on power
Personally I would go for the 5870 crossfire. It's going to be cheaper, but in the end the differences in performance will not be night and day, but the Fermi's are defiantly faster
I actually would look at getting a 5870x2 also, there expensive, but get one now, and quad fire later

I agree. My doubt is 2 5870 X2 vs 3 way SLI Geforce GTX 480. Note that the total price is somewhat similar. What do you think? (assuming that power and cooling requiremets are accomplished). And what about overclocking performance? Thanks by your opinion!
PS. My particular opinion is there will be no substantial differences depending on the video games one play, but according to what you said, maybe in some professional applications (Auto CAD, PhotoShop, encoding, etc.), SLI configuration probably one will get a better performance.

 

[Bobnova]

Game wise either setup is woefully overkill unless you're on six high res monitors.

Photoshop wise, both setups are woefully overkill.
AutoCAD i have no idea.
Encoding either one will rip through stuff nicely.