Radeon HD What?

[Lestic]

So I'm new to the whole Bitcoin mining thing and I have to say it is quite interesting.  Currently I'm running an X58 motherboard with an i7 930 and 2xGTX470's in SLI.  This motherboard I have supports Crossfire and since this Bitcoin thing is kinda cool I'm here now because I haven't followed ATI products in years.  I would like recommendations for a videocard (or cards) that I can use for mining as well as gaming that is an upgrade to what I currently run on a Windows 7 64bit system.

The Nvidia cards are terrible at mining, I know and they are so damn loud and hot - the only thing I do know is that ATI cards are cooler and don't use as much power and certainly way better at mining...Am I too late to join in this whole mining thing? I was doing this for fun and to hopefully come up with some spare change or who knows maybe trade some BTC for something cool, I was totally eying that FLCL blu-ray collection but I already have that on dvd.

Probably the most important thing to me is to at least break even with what I'd be investing in the cards.  I know I could make a cheap rig dedicated to mining but I really don't have the room for it nor really the desire to pay more on my electric bill, this computer is on 24/7 so I may as well be doing something with it.

Thanks in advance.

[Lestic]

Trade your 470s for some ATI equipment if you really want to get in on it.  The ship has sailed though, unless you want to invest a lot of money.

I figured as much - any cards you could recommend? I have no idea how all these different ones fall on the ladder with respect to Nvidia.

[NetTecture]

Trade your 470s for some ATI equipment if you really want to get in on it.  The ship has sailed though, unless you want to invest a lot of money.

Seriously? Except day trading it is a freaking good business. ROI in double digit, quite high at times, lows are what most other businesses accept as "decent".

What world do you live in where capital driven businesses (and trading is nothing more - your work pwoer is irrelevant) reutrn 20%-50% PER MONTH?

Yes, you need some money. Like with opening a shop. Hardly a shop ever returns that much money.

[Lestic]

Well the main thing is if I change over to ATI I want to have at least a step up from my current GTX470's because otherwise I'm ripping apart my computer from what I originally intend to use it for (mining at night and at work).  So does anyone have suggestions for cards? I have a 850W power supply and my board supports 3x CrossfireX (I believe).  I have about $700ish to "invest" but at the most I'd like to break even in some reasonable amount of time - I'm doing this for fun but I also don't want to go broke I'm heading back to school this fall.

Anyway I have a morning shift coming up I'll check back in the AM - I just have no idea how these new ATI cards benchmark vs Nvidia's.

Edit: I don't know much about the market at the moment but if 1 coin is trading at $18USD on MtGox then it shouldn't take forever to recover it. Am I wrong to assume that?

[Dark Shroud]

Since HD 5800 cards are hard to come by at reasonable prices now I would suggest HD 6950s. Get some good ones with after market coolers, like Asus brand ones. Now would be a good time to sell your Nvidia cards as well to make some money back.

[TheSocialHermit]

Radeon HD 5830s, 5850s and 5870s are the ones for best cost-to-return ratios for any cards but the major issue is availability. They are pretty much sold out in every place you look or the prices have been jacked up. 3 5850s would be good if you can find them or the 6950 would work too. 6950 will be easier to find and they won't be outrageously over-priced. They won't get the same mining power as the 5800 series but will come close.

[Lestic]

Radeon HD 5830s, 5850s and 5870s are the ones for best cost-to-return ratios for any cards but the major issue is availability. They are pretty much sold out in every place you look or the prices have been jacked up. 3 5850s would be good if you can find them or the 6950 would work too. 6950 will be easier to find and they won't be outrageously over-priced. They won't get the same mining power as the 5800 series but will come close.

Actually the 6950's are on sale right now I can get them for about $230 each and looking up the benchmarks they seem pretty decent, I might pick up 2 of those.  The 6970's are like closer to $400 each and while they have a bit more mining power they also only have like 3-10 more fps than the 6950 I find it hard to justify that...I also heard you can flash the bios to make it a 6970 but I have no idea how that works.

[doomy]

You can unlock reference 6950 to 6970. More shaders = win. Just underclock memory and you are good to go.