4870 X2 + 4870 1GB (4870 X3) Rig ready

[Hauk]

As Far Cry 2 takes center stage, I'll be playing Crysis for the first time. Yea I know, over the months I've dogged Crytek and those who've upgraded to play one game. Rest assured, I didn't build the rig just to run Crysis. Hopefully the demanding titles will continue to come.

Not trying to show off for the red team either. I've always bought nVidia actually. My old 8800 GTX still has a place in my :heart:


Here's a couple pics:

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3 w/extra fan to cool the beasts


I'm sure scaling probably sucks at this point but what the hell. I could prolly get a few more frames using dx9 but wanted to turn the screws. Ran some quick benchies:

1920 x 1080 2xAA High dx10 Cat 8.10 = 51 avg fps

No impact using VH Shaders (I'll likely play with these settings):
1920 x 1080 2xAA High/Very High Shader dx10 Cat 8.10 = 51 avg fps

Very High is playable:
1920 x 1080 2xAA VeryHigh dx10 Cat 8.10 = 42 avg fps

Very High dx9 no AA even better:
1920 x 1080 noAA VeryHigh dx9 Cat 8.10 = 58 avg fps



Antec P182
Thermaltake TP 850W
WD Velociraptor 300GB
E8600 @ 4250
Asus Rampage Formula x48
8GB Muskin Redline DDR2 1000 @ 1019 5-5-5-12
4870 X2 @ 780core 950mem (custom bios boots w/clocks & fan profile)
4870 1GB @ 780core 950mem (custom bios boots w/clocks & fan profile)

 

[apoppin]

Congrats!

X3 seems like bang-for-buck in multi-GPU right now; i have been tracking it since Cat 8-8 and 8-10 brings improvement generally

and i didn't get X-3 to play Crysis

i got it for Alan Wake

http://www.yougamers.com/news/..._new_trailer_released/

now you know

Here are my Crysis benches with 4870x2+4870/1GB:

e8600@3.99Ghz ? All Settings ?Very High? [no AA/AF]
ASUS x48mb ? Cat 8-10
- note the scaling over x1 and x2



GPU Island demo



4870/1gb
19x12 ? 20.98 17 26
16x10 ?25.82 20 31

4870/x2
19x12 ? 34.94 25 44
16x10 ? 39.62 26 53


4870/x3=4870x2+4870/1GB

19x12 ? 40.28 25 60
16x10 ? 41.22 25 60

 

[taltamir]

mmm, that very high is 23 min FPS ... can you tell us what you are getting with fraps in the snow level at very high? cause I don't think it will be all that good.

 

[apoppin]

it drops generally 2-4 FPS in the more demanding scenes over the demos - especially in some firefights; about the hit AA takes

i generally play Crysis without AA and also at 16x10 with centered timings - even 20FPS as an absolute [instant] minimum is fine - and you can adjust individual settings like shadows.
- it IS pretty good. Otoh Warhead runs even smoother than Crysis and i do play at 19x12

My next "upgrade" is Vista64 from 32 .. i wonder how Alan Wake will run .. perhaps i will need to either get 4.5Ghz on my 4600 or get a QuadCore - for a single game

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: taltamir
mmm, that very high is 23 min FPS ... can you tell us what you are getting with fraps in the snow level at very high? cause I don't think it will be all that good.

...

 

[taltamir]

I really want to check... I want to know if it is playable on the snow level in very high settings.

Also, are you a person susceptible to noticing micro stutter? do you notice any? (contrary to popular beleif, micro stutter isn't a multi GPU issue, it happens on single GPU as well and sometimes because of the CPU, it is just a lot more common on multi GPU)

 

[Hauk]

Cool I'll check it out. How far into the game is the snow scene?

I've noticed what I think is microstutter playing Mass Effect with just the X2 installed. When walking around the Normandy it seemed to hitch a bit but I'm not sure if it was memory loading or microstutter.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: SteelSix

Very High dx9 no AA even better:
1920 x 1080 noAA VeryHigh dx9 Cat 8.10 = 58 avg fps

Antec P182
Thermaltake TP 850W
WD Velociraptor 300GB
E8600 @ 4250
Asus Rampage Formula x48
8GB Muskin Redline DDR2 1000 @ 1019 5-5-5-12
4870 X2 @ 780core 950mem (custom bios boots w/clocks & fan profile)
4870 1GB @ 780core 950mem (custom bios boots w/clocks & fan profile)

Damn 60 FPS 1920 VeryHigh Crysis!!!!!

$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Tempered81]

Six, your system roxors. I'm not you, but i would: run 8.11 betas, and do 4.6+ on the cpu, not much else you can do to make such a monstrous rig faster than it already is.!!!!

I love your setup!

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
Six, your system roxors. I'm not you, but i would: run 8.11 betas, and do 4.6+ on the cpu, not much else you can do to make such a monstrous rig faster than it already is.!!!!

I love your setup!

he copied my setup
- even to the side case fan and "open style"
-- although his is neater

what MB are you using, SS? E8600?

i am trying for 4.6Ghz this weekend .. i already broke 20K in 3DMark06 without O/C'ing my GPUs or pushing my e8600 past 4.0Ghz [it is at stock vcore; 39C at idle]
- and i love that - unlike Dug777's case - Winter is beginning and X3 doubles as a space heater for the cold mornings. When i need that extra OC, i just open a window

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
Six, your system roxors. I'm not you, but i would: run 8.11 betas, and do 4.6+ on the cpu, not much else you can do to make such a monstrous rig faster than it already is.!!!!

I love your setup!

Thanks. I've seen your posts about how well this cpu oc's. It's tempting.. my TRUE is lapped and I've fine tuned voltages pretty well, 1.3v & 48c load w/ dual orthos. Lots of overhead. I may go for 4.4 next weekend. Was worth researching voltages, auto had NB at 1.6, have it at 1.43 now, much cooler to the touch.

apoppin, I did come pretty darn close to copying you didn't I? And yes, no space heater needed this winter. Nice and warm in my gaming room. :thumbsup:

 

[Tempered81]

damn. 4250 @ 1.3v 48c dual orthos is nice.

apoppin, have you started to OC yours above 4.0 on your new mobo?

I'm very jealous of you guys' rigs.

 

[Hauk]

The farthest I've ever played Crysis is to the first beach scene where you encounter patrol boats and hummers. Each time I got pissed about performance and stopped. First an 8800 GTX then G92 GTS's SLI'd. Granted, I was cpu bound running a mildly oc'd quad.

But damn.. I just played to that part and what a difference!
Playing @ 1920x1080 high & VH shaders, 2xAA dx10. It's smooth as silk. Holy crap. I don't need all VH settings. This is perfect! I have Warhead to play next. Guess I'll try FC2 and hope I got enough juice to avoid the stutter.

Moral of the story.. all the rhetoric, benchmarks, and Green vs. Red can kiss my arse. Smooth gameplay like I just experienced is what matters. :heart:

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm. I haven't built them yet, but I have the parts for two gaming rigs, Q6600 (pack date from last year, hopefully they will do 3.6), a pair of VisionTek 4850 512MB cards for each, a DFI X48 board for CF, 8GB of RAM for each, and some copies of Vista Home Basic (yeah, I'm cheap like that). I play at 1680x1050. Do you think I'll be able to hit framerates at that resolution comparable to what you guys are hitting at 1920, or do you think I'll still have to turn down details?

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Hmm. I haven't built them yet, but I have the parts for two gaming rigs, Q6600 (pack date from last year, hopefully they will do 3.6), a pair of VisionTek 4850 512MB cards for each, a DFI X48 board for CF, 8GB of RAM for each, and some copies of Vista Home Basic (yeah, I'm cheap like that). I play at 1680x1050. Do you think I'll be able to hit framerates at that resolution comparable to what you guys are hitting at 1920, or do you think I'll still have to turn down details?

I'd guess you'll be smooth with high settings, dx9 and no AA. 2xAA may be smooth as well..

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
damn. 4250 @ 1.3v 48c dual orthos is nice.

apoppin, have you started to OC yours above 4.0 on your new mobo?

I'm very jealous of you guys' rigs.

Nope

i have a massive review to write that got far more involved and far more complex that i envisioned when i began it a month ago

Fortunately, Every aspect of my benchmarking - starting with 5 GPUs over 3 complete sets each of Cats and Geforce Drivers - to CFx3 with the secondary linked 512MB 4870 vs CF all 4870-1GB; also, comparing p35 [1.0 PciE/2nd 4xCF slot] and x48 MB [2.0pciE/2nd x16 CF slot] and 2 sets of CPU OC'ing figures beginning with e4300 @ 3.33Ghz to compare with e8600@3.33 and concluding with e8600@4Ghz - including the latest FarCry2 benches - is done
[-phew] ... and i am writing the reviews now. i am putting up the FC2 benches to start if off today and it will be a continuing series
[ . . . that never ends :Q]

You should not be jealous of my credit card bill

Hmm. I haven't built them yet, but I have the parts for two gaming rigs, Q6600 (pack date from last year, hopefully they will do 3.6), a pair of VisionTek 4850 512MB cards for each, a DFI X48 board for CF, 8GB of RAM for each, and some copies of Vista Home Basic (yeah, I'm cheap like that). I play at 1680x1050. Do you think I'll be able to hit framerates at that resolution comparable to what you guys are hitting at 1920, or do you think I'll still have to turn down details?

Well, if you OC your 4850s to near 4870 speeds, you will have pretty close to 4870/512MB CF - or about an X2's performance [except for it's 1GB VRAM which makes less difference in Crysis than is commonly accepted]
---with X2 i get 35/25/44, 19x12, very hi, NoAA/AF
- at 16x10 = 40 26 53 . . . X3 gets a slightly higher minimum and average frame rate - 40/25/60 at 19x12; 41/25/60 at 16x10 .. so both are very playable. The improvement with each successive Cat release seems to be diminishing, so i doubt we will see much more scaling with X2 - but x3 scaling could use major improvement.

apoppin, I did come pretty darn close to copying you didn't I? And yes, no space heater needed this winter. Nice and warm in my gaming room.

well, my choice also had zero to do with Red vs. Green; for a multi-GPU rig, when i bought it - X3 was best bang-for-buck ... [~$800 ]
--of course, i'd love to have a 280GTX SLi setup .. my 280GTX gets 22/16/28 in Crysis at Very high, 19x12, not bad!
.. i'd love to get another one .. maybe 290GTX with a x58 MB