Hello all

ok i need some advice about gpus, after a few months my final 4870x2 is packing up on me so im looking to spend some money on 1 or 2 new GPUS i want something thats great for crunching, very reliable as it will be running 24/7 and made by ATI

iv been looking at the XFX make as i know there pretty good and not badly priced, im stuck between a

1GB XFX HD 5870, PCI-E 2.1, 4800MHz GDDR5, GPU 850MHz, 1600Cores at £210
1GB XFX HD 6870 Black, 4600MHz GDDR5, GPU 940MHz, 1120 Stream Processors, 2x DVI/ HDMI/ 2x mini DP £200
2GB XFX HD 6970, PCI-E 2.1 (x16), 5500MHz GDDR5, GPU 880MHz, 1536 Cores, 2x mDP/ DL DVI-I/ DVI/ HDMI £280

im leaning toward the 5870, any advice or opinions will be great

Also if anyone knows anywhere that can refurbish my graphics cards for a good price i have 4 ATI 4870s that need a good bit of work on them doing, in the UK is prefferd

I am running a 5850 for about 6 Month now nearly 24/7 and i am very happy with it. From what i gathered looking at the new 6xxx it seems they are either not as powerfull for GPU work or the projects have yet to adjust their code. So a 5870 (or 2*5850 or a 5970 wich is dual GPU on one card) would probably the best for Boinc use. I would add a second 5850 if they start dropping in price, wich sadly they have not really done since the 6xxx are out.

Maybe someone who has first hand expirience with the new Models can tell you more, but from what i gathered looking through forums and results a 6870 will be (a lot slower) than a 5870 and a 6970 will at best be just as fast, but on some projects even be slower than a 5870.