The answer is GTX 480, the 5970 still uses crossfire, and crossfire svcks imo, (at least when compared to SLI)

If you want to play crysis 2 a Gtx 280 will do the job just perfectly.
One of the fastest graka`s come from Asus... the MARS series.
But they are rediculously expensive. Every card costs about 1200 Euros.
But they dont count i think because they have 2 GPUs.
The MARS GeForce GTX 285 X2 is like the 295 but with two 285 chips instead of two 260 and a few more tweaks.

HD5770 will do just fine on this.

Crysis > Crysis 2 (Graphical wise)

Depends on what you classify "Single GPU". If you mean a card that uses a single PCI-E slot, yea, the 5970 is the fastest. It takes up about the same room as any other high-end GPU. HOWEVER, it is running two cores, so it is technically a dual-GPU card.

If you mean which single GPU core is the fastest, its the GTX 480.

You can't classify what a "Single GPU" is because it's one and only one thing. It's one, single GPU. A "GPU" is not the entire graphics card, it's the main Graphics Processing Chip on the card.

Your description of the 5970 is also incorrect. They're not "Cores". Cores are what reside inside the Processing Unit. There is no such thing as a consumer-grade "Dual-Core" graphics card.

If i have a Quad-Core CPU, it doesn't mean i have 4 CPU's with 4 heatsinks on a motherboard that's the size of my desk. It's 4 cores that reside inside 1 CPU.

:)

my EVGa 4 way sli bet the 5970 anytime

Since im a mobile gamer now, im running on the Gtx 480m, faster than gtx 280, and with the core specifics of a Desktop Gtx 465

@ Shinanigans

In the world of ultra-high end computing (data processing) you can have servers with several PHYSICAL cores, making the terminology correct. However, the term GPU is generally applied to the whole card, heatsink, board, memory, etc. so the term "single GPU" can mean single card or single graphics core.

Its kinda a grey zone...

Save uour money and wait until 6000 series comes out. Then buy a 5970! or a high power 6000 card! It'll be a year untill nvidia have some answers for the 6000 series.

"In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a video card, or it can be on the motherboard. The terms graphics processing unit and GPU were coined by Nvidia marketing in 1999."

A Graphics Processing Unit, by definition, cannot encompass the entire Graphics Card. Voltage regulators don't process graphics. Cooling fans don't process graphics. However, the big silicone chip sitting usually around the centre of the graphics card PCB *does* process graphics.

Calling an entire graphics card a "GPU" is no different to calling a car an "engine". Unfortunately, people misuse terminology and it gets passed down through forums, spreading itself until it becomes self-proclaimed 'fact'.

Shinanigans is right. Doomlord, you are wrong.

There is in fact, no "grey zone" as you say, when it comes to discussing GPUs. No one on any legit tech site would be confused by the question "what is the best single GPU on the market." They all know the OP would be asking about a card with a single GPU on it. Not slot design, not the card over all, but simply a card with one processing unit on it. There is no ambiguity, and it is universally accepted. There would not be useless and wrong information posted about what constitutes a single gpu card, because again, they all know what it is.

That said, the best single GPU available today, as already mentioned, is the Nvidia GTX480. That isn't opinion, it is fact. And I am not talking about special edition cards that the average user can't obtain or afford. Be realistic.

Jonte, spare us your fanboyism, because everything in your post is not only false, but purely your conjecture and does nothing to help the discussion.

things like tesla and other gpus for graphics engineering can hardly run crysis at all because they were simply not made at all for gaming. modern high end gaming cards will always have better gaming performance than tesla or quadro.

The Asus Matrix 5870 is. If you total out the cost, plus what it draws as power, ocability, benchmarks, etc, the 5870 outperforms it.
The 480 draws a INSANE amount of power. It also runs HOT AS HELL.
Quote: "Quad SLI Gtx 480's and it will be hot enough for a sauna"

Wrong again.

firewire get your facts straight before posting.

I run 2 480s and they DO NOT draw an insane amount of power NOR do they run HOT AS HELL.

The Asus Matrix IS NOT the fastest card.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/asus_engtx480_review

Again, 15 year old fan boys with no clue shouldn't post.

And firewire, the 15yo fanboy bit wasn't directed at you.

Yup, I am, that is why I OWN 2 8800gtxs and a 4850, because of course, I am a fanboy. Lol if you look back I never said that the 5870 was the fastest-because it isn't. Also in that review, within the first 3 sentences they state twice that the card runs hot, but yes, if you cut away all the crap the 480 gpu is FASTEST SINGLE GPU, but this thread is about the BEST, so maybe you should double check . http://www.guruht.com/2010/03/geforce-gtx-480-vs-hd5970-benchmark.html If you look at the temps and wattage comparison near the bottom, you'll see that the 480 draws more power than the dual gpu 5970 which is ridiculous, and almost 155 watts more than the 5870. Under load it was also 13C hotter. My 4850 reference used to get about 105C when it had like 2 and a half cm of dust in the heatsink. Hmm, maybe I am a fanboy, right? WRONG.

Here's some more wood for the fire!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58GZRdlEWpU&p=16B30E41BE06D351&playnext=1&index=22 -- part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUdiSNsS8sM&feature=channel -- part 2

Dance puppets, dance!
Muhahaha

Firewire

I guess you missed the part where I said the 15yo fanboy bit wasn't directed at you?

Be that as it may, stop posting wrong information. This thread is about single GPUs, NOT dual GPUs, which the 5970 is.

You are not qualified to determine what is an insane amount of power and heat, either.

I have run every new top end card from ATI and Nvidia from the last 10 years, including 2 5870s before my 480s. The 480s do not draw an insane amount of power. More than a 5870, sure. But it is nothing that a high end computer builder is concerned about, and it is over exaggerated by fan boys and people that don't have the first clue about graphics processing, like 99% of the people posting in this thread. Additionally, my over clocked 480s never leave the 70s when playing Crysis. My 5870s got that hot playing crysis.

But I am done with this thread. I have 2 rules I live by;

Don't wrestle with pigs.

Don't argue with idiots.

I will let you figure out which this thread is full of.

[quote]Firewire

I guess you missed the part where I said the 15yo fanboy bit wasn't directed at you?

Be that as it may, stop posting wrong information. This thread is about single GPUs, NOT dual GPUs, which the 5970 is.

You are not qualified to determine what is an insane amount of power and heat, either.

I have run every new top end card from ATI and Nvidia from the last 10 years, including 2 5870s before my 480s. The 480s do not draw an insane amount of power. More than a 5870, sure. But it is nothing that a high end computer builder is concerned about, and it is over exaggerated by fan boys and people that don't have the first clue about graphics processing, like 99% of the people posting in this thread. Additionally, my over clocked 480s never leave the 70s when playing Crysis. My 5870s got that hot playing crysis.

But I am done with this thread. I have 2 rules I live by;

Don't wrestle with pigs.

Don't argue with idiots.

I will let you figure out which this thread is full of.[/quote]

The page refreshed after I posted what I had written? So I did not see what you wrote. Don't assume anything.

I only said one thing about the 5970. I compared the wattage to try and put it into perspective by how much power it draws on load. I mean its a single gpu right? And it draws more power than a dual gpu and nearly twice as much as a 5870 which as I sad, insane.

I am not qualified? You are not even reading thing's correctly anymore, stop letting your bias blind you. 70c? Unless you have some miracle card, it's being watercooled, or it has a mythical aftermarket cooler, what you just said is false.

But who am I to judge?

Also you are a very bad liar, as 70c would be threshold for a 5870, unless you have a bad buildup of dust or your card has a bad application of thermal compound, stock it should not get that high.


I must be that other 1% huh?

For crysis is better ati 5870 than gtx 480 but the best card in the world is ati 5970.

[quote][quote]Firewire

I guess you missed the part where I said the 15yo fanboy bit wasn't directed at you?

Be that as it may, stop posting wrong information. This thread is about single GPUs, NOT dual GPUs, which the 5970 is.

You are not qualified to determine what is an insane amount of power and heat, either.

I have run every new top end card from ATI and Nvidia from the last 10 years, including 2 5870s before my 480s. The 480s do not draw an insane amount of power. More than a 5870, sure. But it is nothing that a high end computer builder is concerned about, and it is over exaggerated by fan boys and people that don't have the first clue about graphics processing, like 99% of the people posting in this thread. Additionally, my over clocked 480s never leave the 70s when playing Crysis. My 5870s got that hot playing crysis.

But I am done with this thread. I have 2 rules I live by;

Don't wrestle with pigs.

Don't argue with idiots.

I will let you figure out which this thread is full of.[/quote]

The page refreshed after I posted what I had written? So I did not see what you wrote. Don't assume anything.

I only said one thing about the 5970. I compared the wattage to try and put it into perspective by how much power it draws on load. I mean its a single gpu right? And it draws more power than a dual gpu and nearly twice as much as a 5870 which as I sad, insane.

I am not qualified? You are not even reading thing's correctly anymore, stop letting your bias blind you. 70c? Unless you have some miracle card, it's being watercooled, or it has a mythical aftermarket cooler, what you just said is false.

But who am I to judge?

Also you are a very bad liar, as 70c would be threshold for a 5870, unless you have a bad buildup of dust or your card has a bad application of thermal compound, stock it should not get that high.

I must be that other 1% huh?[/quote]

You are clearly one of the 99%, as you have no idea what you are talking about.

My rig is WELL documented on my clan site, AND at EVGA. Its all in black and white. Don't call me a liar when you are clearly an idiot.

Talon will vouch for me.

Yes i will Max. xD

Unscrew a lightbulb in your house and you offset the wattage and heat the 480 gives out. The power and heat problem is quite exaggerated, and it is the best single GPU on the market today.

/end

is the nvidia 240/20 GT better then the Geforce 9800?

9800 is more powerful than the 240. Here is a hierarchy chart to help with some of these older generation cards from both red and green;

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491-7.html

I see this thread is full of completely hardware illiterate people. the 5970 is a dual gpu card, thus it has TWO gpus on a single pcb. The gf100 is the fastest graphics chip available currently which is in both the gtx480 and the gtx470. The 5970 is the fastest single pcb graphics card available and the gtx 480 is the fastest single gpu graphics card available. Also, tri sli 480s dominate quad crossfire 5970s. Before anyone tries to say that quad crossfire 5970s is 4 graphics cards that is not the case. Quad crossfire 5970s is two 5970 cards. You cannot run more than that in a system since only quad crossfire as well as sli is supported. Period. As an owner of both quad sli 5970s and tri sli gtx480s (both setups watercooled) I can say that at both stock and overclocked clocks the gtx480s in tri sli DOMINATE quad sli 5970s. The ocs are at 950 for the gtx480 and 1100 for the 5970 core respectively.