Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 in 3-way SLI versus ATI Radeon HD 5870 and 5970 in Crossfire

Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 in 3-way SLI versus ATI Radeon HD 5870 and 5970 in Crossfire

Nvidia 480 GTX – 3-way SLI

Finally, the clash of the graphic card giants has gained momentum in the form of Nvidia’s GTX 480 (3-way SLI) pitted against the formidable Radeon HD5870 (3-way Crossfire) and the monstrous Radeon HD5970 (2-way Crossfire). It is not a question of one man’s guess to pick the right choice among these power hungry monsters. Rather, it is a question of who came out trumps in the Clash of the Titans that would matter for most users (though looking at how much the required processor, 3 GPUs, and power supply would cost, this is almost in the realm of abstraction, or only relevant to those with very deep pockets).

Radeon HD 5970 (2-way Crossfire)

In the preliminary rounds of qualification, it is reported that a 1 Kilowatt power supply provided insufficient power for Nvidia’s hardware while the mighty Core i7-965 test bench CPU caused a bottleneck in some cases. The testers then suitably upgraded their test systems with a six-core Core i7-980X processor and a 1,200W power supply for benchmarking these power hungry monsters.

With all the setup in place, it is reported that the benchmarking yielded a mixed bag of results indicating insurmountable wins on either sides in particular games and tests. However, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 480’s (3-way SLI) TDP ratings were still through the roof when compared to its Radeon counterparts, even when you consider that the HD5970 in 2-way Crossfire is actually 4 GPUs, as opposed to the 3 GPUs of the GTX 480 (3-way SLI). But as mentioned before, power consumption would not be factor to those who can afford the setup in the first place.

Vinod Yalburgi
Digit.in
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Digit.in
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