| Soleron said: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/nvidia-s-geforce-gtx-480-and-gtx-470-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/20 The GTX 480 is "between 10 and 15% faster than the Radeon 5870 depending on the resolution" http://techreport.com/articles.x/18682/14 The GTX 480 "draws more power, generate more heat and noise, [...] but they're not substantially faster at running current games" Are CUDA, PhysX and SLI scaling worth 44% more than a 5870 for it? |
It pretty much depends on the specifics of what he wants to use the system for down to specific games that use each of the features inherent to either ATI 58XX series cards or Nvidia 4XX series cards.
If he is planning on a multi GPU build, it's acknowledged that SLI does a better job of scaling in most games over CrossFire.
Nvidia also has 3D if he cares.
If he wants to do a three display set up for games, ATI has EyeFinity which is pretty nice.
For multi GPU set ups, Nvidia Fermi based set ups require higher wattage PSUs than with ATI, but I really don't see this is a deal maker/breaker.
I'm currently using that GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard he was looking at. I usually buy Asus, but I've had zero problems with the Gigabyte, which gave me a comfortable 4.05Ghz clock at a fairly low 1.2 volt VCore (OC results are generally more dependent upon the individual CPU sample though). I'm using a Prolimatech Megahalem for aircooling and it manages temps well, even in single fan (med speed 1250rpm) configuration.
