GTX470 or 5870

frank007

New member
I was thinking of getting either a 5870 or a GTX 470. Which one should i get and why? I was thinking of the gigabyte for both of them depending on which one i choose. PLEASE HELP!
 
I have had a look at http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine and they say i only need 478w recommended with the GTX470 and only 454w recommended with the 5870. Even with a 5890 you only need a 518w psu with the overclock on my cpu. so i wont need a new psu as far as they are concerned.

Well your gonna be playing a graphic intense game like metro and for some or other odd reason your pc will just shut down or hang.
If you want the best performance out of your Rig with 1 of the above mentioned graphics cards..upgrade your PSU.
This is a fact.

You just mention your cpu and gfx card..what about other hardware. dvd rom, hdd's, mobo, fans ect..these all run on your psu.
 
I have had a look at http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine and they say i only need 478w recommended with the GTX470 and only 454w recommended with the 5870. Even with a 5890 you only need a 518w psu with the overclock on my cpu. so i wont need a new psu as far as they are concerned.

You might still need to up your PSU, as you havent mentioned which one you have or your pc specs, i will assume you have the recommended power supply according to your research. But with that in mind, you have to consider that test rigs are not set up the same to home user rigs. All your internal components eat at you PSU and each extra wat adds up.

In my opinion never meet the min requirement, always aim above just in case. How many HDDs you have, what proccesor, motherboard, ram modules, PCI cards, things attached to your USB slots, cooling fans (especialy LED based), cold cathodes, all these things if you have them should be consider in addition to what GPU you are fitting. Also the type of PSU you got branded or unbranded and the capicity it can handle, there are alot of PSUs that claim they have the design capacity you need for cheap and just fail when you use it at the point.
 
You might still need to up your PSU, as you havent mentioned which one you have or your pc specs, i will assume you have the recommended power supply according to your research. But with that in mind, you have to consider that test rigs are not set up the same to home user rigs. All your internal components eat at you PSU and each extra wat adds up.

In my opinion never meet the min requirement, always aim above just in case. How many HDDs you have, what proccesor, motherboard, ram modules, PCI cards, things attached to your USB slots, cooling fans (especialy LED based), cold cathodes, all these things if you have them should be consider in addition to what GPU you are fitting. Also the type of PSU you got branded or unbranded and the capicity it can handle, there are alot of PSUs that claim they have the design capacity you need for cheap and just fail when you use it at the point.

+15 points Mate.
Well said.
 
Sorry joker was tyoing didnt see you replied... Uhm but the joker is corrected the amount of accesories you have determines your power consumption.
 
I have added all of these in to the calculations, even on the ATI website it says that you only need a 500w power supply for the 5870. Ill let you know what happens if i buy one. if it happens that it does not work or it shuts down when i play metro or AVP then i will buy a new psu seen as though i will have to buy one anyway, but i doubt that it will shut down etc. the coolermaster psus are strong.
 
Intel i7 920 oc @ 3.8, 6gig ddr3 ocz ram @ 1600mhz, intel so x58 mobo, gigabyte 4890 oc, 2x intel X25-m 40gig ssds in raid0 for games and os and 2x500gig in raid0 for storage, Samsung XL2370 LED, Coolermaster v8 cpu cooler, coolermaster haf922, coolermaster silent pro 600w, Roccat kone, roccat kave, roccat valo.
 
if you go onto eXtreme Power Supply calculator (link below, have a look) you can put all those things that you mentioned in there. Even the overclock that you are running.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

You can see the Rig in my Sig. Now that setup is running on a 500watt psu, I can get that setup to easily rape that 500W psu. That's why I am getting a 750watt at the end of the month.

If you want optimum performance get a 750watt minimum for your system.
Don't always believe what you read by using a power consumption calculator:D
 
I have the 4890 at the moment, and the calculator says it needs 543w with all my system specs that i have entered there and my rig is running more than 100%. The 5870 only needs 523w that means the the 4890 is more power hungry than the 5870. The ATI website says that it needs the same power supply so i am just gonna get the 5870 later and see what happens. i really dont think there will be a problem.
 
Well after making a few phone calls for you ( i'll send you the bill):D
This is what I have found out...You need at least a 750W psu...Didn't I say that already..Mmmmm.

You might think your little 600w will work out fine but think about the immense strain your putting it through??
You'll be pushing it to its max.

Like everything in life there is a bare minimum but is that really what you want. Your system is pretty awesome and that 600w is just going to let it down.
 
Okay thanks for making the call! Who did you speak to? Well i am gonna get the card and just see what happens. If it is giving problems then i will just put my old card in till i go buy a new psu. Then i will just go for a coolermaster 1000watt or a coolermaster 1250watt real power psu. Its gonna set me back R3000 or more but then i wont have to buy another psu even if i wanna run crossfire with two 5970s. Thanks for the advice.
 
Okay thanks for making the call! Who did you speak to? Well i am gonna get the card and just see what happens. If it is giving problems then i will just put my old card in till i go buy a new psu. Then i will just go for a coolermaster 1000watt or a coolermaster 1250watt real power psu. Its gonna set me back R3000 or more but then i wont have to buy another psu even if i wanna run crossfire with two 5970s. Thanks for the advice.

Im glad you saw the light mate:)

I spoke to some of my overclocking mates, people that run and test insane rigs everyday of their lives:D
I'm not a hectic overclocker so I do follow their advice because they have always led me in the right direction:)
 
have not seen the light, i am first gonna get the card and then see what happens. If works fine without added stress i am gonna just leave it like that. If it does cause stress on my rig then i will take your advice and get a big psu.
 
The 4890 is more power hungry than the 5870, the 5xxx series of ATI cards of shockingly power efficient. That said, to put any kind of overclock on the 5870/5970, you HAVE to give them more volts. A 600W PSU will run them, but the stock GPU clock speeds are just within the limits of the stock volts, so to even get a minor overclock on the cards, you will probably have to upgrade your PSU. Not that the cards overclock badly. I have a 5970 and I have pushed it quite far with just the stock cooling.
 
But that is what i have been saying with the 4890. I dont think i will need to overclock the 5870 until a uber game comes out that require mega uber graphics. Its only Metro 2033 in dx11 that is super hungry at the moment. The fact that i am also only running my graphics @1080P also make a big difference. Higher res will def need more gfx power but for now i think its fine. Once i need that power i will get a bigger psu and at the same time get a 2nd 5870. That will do the trick nicely id think?
The 4890 is more power hungry than the 5870, the 5xxx series of ATI cards of shockingly power efficient. That said, to put any kind of overclock on the 5870/5970, you HAVE to give them more volts. A 600W PSU will run them, but the stock GPU clock speeds are just within the limits of the stock volts, so to even get a minor overclock on the cards, you will probably have to upgrade your PSU. Not that the cards overclock badly. I have a 5970 and I have pushed it quite far with just the stock cooling.
 
Back
Top