So, looking to upgrade to squeeze some more performance out of BF3 and wanted some opinions on my options: 1) Stick another 6870 in. The problem is my Dark Power, although still working perfectly, is an old model with only 2xPCI-E cables so this would mean also picking up a new PSU for circa £100 most likely. 2) Stick in a 570 and stay with my current PSU. Doing this limits my SLI options in the future though. I suppose the only other consideration is that the Dark Power is oversize and so I have to currently mount it upside down pulling air from inside the case. This isn't life-threatening admittedly but it drives the anal retentive inside me nuts so a new PSU could be good? Some thoughts on relative performance would be useful as option 1 will be cheaper now but maybe isn't the best choice for the future. Thanks all.
It doesn't matter which side the PSU fan is on tbh. The 650w will be plenty for a single 570, but sli would be out of the question. You would need a 750W PSU at the minimum I would say. What resolution do you play at? EDIT: Just saw your sig (1920 x 1080).
1GB. You thinking 1.3GB+ would be better for BF textures? Hmmm, so despite the fact I don't have 4xPCI-E which would instantly preclude SLI, 650w isn't enough for 2x570's? Dammit, I know I'm going to be spending more than I should here... (not like is hasn't happened before )
Nope, 650w wouldn't be enough. I know someone who is running two 570's on a 750W PSU though. According to the power consumption test on Bit-tech a single 570 uses 330W on load, so a 650w PSU will not cut it. Link to 570 power consumption test: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/12/07/nvidia-geforce-gtx-570-1-3gb-review/9 If you take into account any overclocking you have done/will do, an 850w PSU is the minimum you should realistically be looking at. A 750w PSU might be cutting it too close and you don't want to be doing that with any PSU.
You'd get away with a 650 for SLI 570's the most part, esp if you used vsync although it would be cutting it close and occasionally it would get too much for the PSU and it would switch off. Also better in the long run if the PSU has some headroom. The 330w figure is for the entire PC and is what is drawn from the wall, not what the PSU is actually supplying, so adding a 2nd 570 won't double the figure. As for BF3 if you want full textures all the time then 1.3GB will come in very handy. It may even be worth stretching to something with more Vram.
Ah I didn't realize that. But what I said earlier still stands. It's better to upgrade the PSU as well. A 2.5GB 570 would be a perfect fit for BF3. Although the 1.3GB version seems to be coping pretty well from what I've read/seen.
How old is the Dark Power PSU? Another thing to bear in mind is that we are a few months away from 28mn GPUs hitting the market. If nothing else the die shrink will provide more performance per watt.
Good point. It would be a good idea to wait a little and see how the new generation of GPU's perform.
This old Also, I think people have missed the that I said it doesn't have 4 PCI-E cables. The choice would be new PSU & another 6870 or same PSU and a new 570. I never need an excuse to spend money I haven't got so am trying not to buy what I really want - a new PSU AND a new 570!
In that case get a 570 and keep the PSU. The 570 should be good at running games at reasonable settings for the next couple of years. Your PSU has enough Amps on the 12v rail so it should be very capable of running the 570.
Or save a bit of cash and wait till the 560 Ti 448 core is out on the 29th. As for your power supply, I also have a Be Quiet DPP 650w and it was very happy running a 4870x2 so it'll handle any single card IMO.
