Poll: Choosing a different GPU. Opinions?

[Fluse]

..Sorry but i'm really finding it somewhat retarded we're comparing 2 cards to single cards. I'm just going to leave it at that for now. >> I doubt you'll ever be persuaded.

No were compareing performance per $ spendt my freind.

Both of these are the cheapest models on newegg.com

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 for 170$ (so a SLI setup for 340$)
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 5870 for 364$

And the GTX 460 SLI setup is on averege 20% faster at 1920x1200, so you get 20% more over all performance and save 24$.

How is that retarded?

 

[TOO S0BER]

Manufacturer-wise, XFX has a good reputation in the ATI line-up. Sapphire sells a lot of graphics cards, but they're not as renowned for sheer quality as XFX. Not sure about ASUS - their motherboards are among the best, but I think they're relatively new in the GPU market.

Then again, the NVIDIA-exclusive EVGA whips the lot.

...

The problem with dual-graphics card setups is that they're very hungry on electrical power. Seriously, if you think about it, desktop PCs shouldn't have to have 850W power supplies for reasonable performance, particularly as graphical standards have stagnated somewhat since 2007.

This is most defenitly true, but the same can be said for the Core i7 hes planning to use compared to some of low power Athlon or Phenom II CPU's. And he is putting the 850W in there regardless, might aswell make it work alittle no?

Yeah. That's the stuff I'm going with. Since this is my first build, I figured, why not go top-notch so I can avoid upgrading for quite a while? From friends and other threads, this build should last 5-10 years with only slight performance degradation if none at all. My only budget limitation/rule is that it has to be cheaper than an Alienware equivalent. Because, if it is not cheaper than Alienwar, I might as well save myself 2+ months worth of trouble and buy theirs. So far, I have a lot of room to spend even higher if I want to.

On PSU: I want room to expand. One day I may run dual 5870's (if I still go with the 5870). Many, many people thought the 1000w PSU I originally chose was major overkill, but I may OC one day, run dual graphics cards, etc. It's partially my fault for not explicity saying it, like I am now.

 

[TOO S0BER]

I may go with the XFX Radeon HD 5870.
Newegg has a combo deal with a Corsair 850W PSU that is CrossFireX ready and the XFX Radeon HD 5870 for $449.98 (After rebate). I think this may be an excellant deal. I can save up to $70 and get (from what I hear of Corsair) a reliable PSU (the PSU is one of a few components I have not purchased yet).

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.514522

Edit: Forgot to mention, the card has a Double Lifetime Warranty

 

[oplinger]

Oh, to the OP. Try looking into refurbished parts. It's not as bad as you think. and much cheaper.