How do the 3 compare, and which would be the best (in terms of power and value)?
For gaming/3d Rendering
For gaming/3d Rendering
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Radeon HD 5770 vs 2x Radeon HD 5770 vs 1x 5870
- Thread starter Gata
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CaptainChunk
macrumors 68020
The 5870 is among the fastest GPUs available for gaming. They're no slouch for 3D rendering, either.
The only logical reason to opt for two 5770s in a Mac Pro would be the capability to run more than 3 monitors. You wouldn't be able to CrossFire them in Mac OS (Windows only) and even with the two cards CrossFired in Windows, they still wouldn't match the real world performance of a single 5870.
So if you don't need to feed a whole wall of monitors, I'd pick the 5870 over dual 5770s any day.
The only logical reason to opt for two 5770s in a Mac Pro would be the capability to run more than 3 monitors. You wouldn't be able to CrossFire them in Mac OS (Windows only) and even with the two cards CrossFired in Windows, they still wouldn't match the real world performance of a single 5870.
So if you don't need to feed a whole wall of monitors, I'd pick the 5870 over dual 5770s any day.
What is the difference you think there is between
1 x 5770 and 2 x 5770
in this context?
Driving one or two monitors is the more significant differential. If there is one monitor then it is only hooked to one of those in the latter situation. If you were running two monitors, but only had heavy 3D (that was pushing textures to the VRAM ) on one of them then splitting would make a difference. For most folks though the 2nd/3rd monitors is for something that is largely 2D and shouldn't be a huge problem.
There is no running two cards to drive one monitor on Mac OS X.