Ati to Nvidia switch.

[Metalsheep]

Hello!

I am looking to switch over to a Nvidia GPU for Planetside 2, since i'd rather have the GPU run Physx than my Processor, even though i have a decent CPU. I've been asking around to see which GTX card i should buy.

Currently i run a Radeon Sapphire 6870 and have had people tell me to get a 560 ti, but when i look at the Benchmarks, the 560 ti only seems barely better than my 6870 (5% or less) But has a higher pricetag. Same with the 570, which is out of my price range. But that is just on paper, in practice is a 560 TI or 570 worth the price of Upgrading? Or the 560 TI 448 core?

I also know about the Physx hack, but i plan on running a Crossfire or SLI setup in the future and dont want to mix two cards that will only ever run 1 GPU.

My current rig is:
CPU: AMD Phenom X6 1100 Thuban
RAM: 16 GB DDR3 G.SKill Ripjaws 1600
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 6870 1gb with Eyefinity
PSU: 1000W Rosewill
HDD:500G Western Digital Caviar Blue
Mobo: Asus M4A79XTD Evo

Should i bother switching to Nvidia for the extra price, or just let my CPU handle the PhysX work? What card should i choose if i switch?

[Goku]

Hmm. The 6870 is still a fairly capable card. Much so that I do not believe now is a proper time to switch to a Nvidia. Instead wait out for beta if you get in or release, because by that time Nvidia should have a new midrange card out should. The midrange should be a upgrade from your 6870 at least instead of a sidegrade (going to a 560 Ti).

[Metalsheep]

Would you reccomend just getting a second 6870 and Crossfiring them, instead? Or still wait it out for Nvidias new cards?

[Goku]

I would just wait to see what Nvidia brings to the table. If it proves not worthwhile you can always get another 6870 for wicked cheap by then.

[Mutant]

Originally Posted by Metalsheep

Would you reccomend just getting a second 6870 and Crossfiring them, instead? Or still wait it out for Nvidias new cards?

It looks like GK104 is is due in ~6 weeks and should hit the ~$300 market. so defiantly wait for that.

As for crossfire I would still wait as we have no idea if planetside will give much of a performance boost/scale well with Crossfire (or SLI)

By the same token we still don't know if the PhysX in planetside will have gpu utilisation, but it has been hinted at.



After running a an SLI setup for a few years I have come to the conclusion that multi gpu is just not as good a value as it first seems. I now don't even consider multi GPU when planning a new set up, given the pain it is to get it working at anything like the peak theoretical performance in all but a few well supported games.

If you need more performance I would sell your current card and buy a better single gpu.