brettjv

Also the dualie (that's what I call it) has volterra voltage regulator which allows you adjust voltage via software.

This being said, I've owned both, and I ended up keeping the co-op and selling the dualie here on OCN. It's much cooler and quieter (esp. at idle), and OC'd slightly higher.

If I was doing Watercooling, I'd probably prefer the dualie though due to the volterra, and because the noise and heat would no longer be the same factor.

However, right now, I'd choose the 5870 over the 295 unless I was into folding. A single 5870 looks to be pretty close performance-wise, but in X-fire, it's a safe bet that it's going to absolutely smoke quad-sli, and should not have the microstutter issues that quad-sli does.

Either way, 1 or 2 cards, it's also going to run quieter/cooler, use less power, etc. Plus it's $100 less per card. Strikes me as a no-brainer at this point, unless the early benches turn out to be BS.

I dunno why anyone would suggest that card is being over-hyped. My god, it's got DOUBLE the shaders, DOUBLE the ROP's, and like 33% higher memory bandwidth out of the box vs. the 4890. And it seems everyone has a fair amount of respect for what ATI did with the 4890, esp. for the money. It's looking like it's better than a 4870x2 for godsakes, in a single chip, only one generation later. Personally, I'm pretty impressed with what I've been reading thus far.

And gaming with three monitors without any extra gear or headaches sounds like it'd be flippin sweet.

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3dMark06: 26,490
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MisterAutomatic

LOL, now I see your point, but I didn't buy my 295, I traded on of my 4870x2's for it. And I'll be getting another one shortly.

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Who the hell is disturbing my Kung Fu/??!!

getbigtony

oh that's a great deal then! a 295 outperforms the 4870x2

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don't tell me u guys really thought sc2 was going to be released in Q3/4 of 2009...

BNIB Phenom II 920 for sale $145

♠♠Spade♠♠

Blah i just got a 4870x2 now i gotta save up for a 295..lol j/k

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fanboy

lifes all about upgrading.
imagine when the time comes to upgrade body organs.
"ooohh, i cannot bench 500lbs, oooh lets get that GTX 695 Heart Pump upgrade. OOOOH Lets!!!"

Clockadile Dundee

You are just now looking at the GTX 695 Heart Pump?

The only reason why now is not a good time to buy a gtx295, is because they will get cheaper, but by that time, the ATI (AMD...) cards will be cheaper, or getting cheaper, soon thereafter.

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Patch

That's true 365 days of the year.

And the GT300's ain't coming anytime soon.

Great idea! Buy my 295 FTW.

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Stock speeds make hardware sad.

5.27 Ghz i7 920 C0 on LN2......5.31 Ghz i7 975 on DICE......6.36 Ghz E8600 on LN2
7.01 Ghz Pentium 4 631 on LN2......7.96 Ghz Celeron 352 on LN2......7.02 Ghz Celeron 360 on LN2

fanboy

yeah an them 5870s dont do PhysX.
after playing Batman, I need my Physx fix with EVRY game.

xxicrimsonixx

The second one is a single PCB card (meaning less power consumption -- although very slightly), and less heat. Apart from that, they are pretty much the same, they both perform the same, and for all intensive purposes, they are the same.

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MisterAutomatic

I'm pretty sure the GT300 series is going to be great, but I have a friend who works for Intel, and when asking him about the i7's when they first came out, he gave me some of the best advice I've ever received about computer hardware: "Always wait for the revisions. There will always be revisions." A D0 stepping later, he was spot on. I thought people learned a long time ago not to by hardware as soon as it came out. Luckily I have toe gift of trade, so getting another 295 for little or no money shouldn't be difficult, as I didn't pay for the first one.

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Who the hell is disturbing my Kung Fu/??!!