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6950 xfire worth it?

ViviTheMage

ViviTheMage

Lifer
I already have an 850 WATT PSU ... should I grab 2x 6870's and xifre them?

Any reason not to @ $224 each - $20 rebate?

They seem to bench really well in the games I play .. BC2.


http://www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950/18


I have never xfire'd, anything I should look out for? pairing this with an i5 2500k, 8gb DDR 1600, and asus P8P67 pro board. As far as I can tell, no single card solution around $400-$450 that beats these 2?


EDIT : Updated OP ... I went 6950 crossfire instead of 6870.
 
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or should I get 2x 5870's? seems to bench better... haha.

EDIT : they seem to be priced $20-$30 more per card compared to that HIS card.

Anyone have experience with that HIS card? I have NEVER owned HIS.
 
ViviTheMage said:
or should I get 2x 5870's? seems to bench better... haha.

EDIT : they seem to be priced $20-$30 more per card compared to that HIS card.

Anyone have experience with that HIS card? I have NEVER owned HIS.
Click to expand...

I would stick with the 6870 Crossfire over the 5870 Crossfire. Scaling is a good bit better. And they seem to overclock more as well.
 
Just like MentalIllness stated, the HD 6x00 series crossfire scaling is far better and the power consumption is lower, plus in heavy tessellated games, it tends to perform better. Since it has a more improved architecture, the performance gap between both will wide a bit, the HD 6870 CF is the way to go, a vast and powerful combination that can blast the HD 6970 and GTX 580 away.
 
What brand is recommended if HIS sucks? How do you know if you have a reference card?

Sounds like I should grab the 6870's though! You think 750Watt PSU will be good? Corsair?
 
i'd do 6950 ... but chances of me buying another is slim, i'd be in the same boat with my 460, I thought my 460 i'd SLI later, but it's almost pointless when you can get a 6870.

Should I wait on the 560? See if prices drop? Or if a 560x2 is a better choice?
 
That may be worth the wait ... but do you think the 560's will be good SLI, maybe beat he 6870's?

When I enable xfire, where should I hook my 2 24" LCD's? I only game on one, but use the second to extend.
 
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ViviTheMage said:
That may be worth the wait ... but do you think the 560's will be good SLI, maybe beat he 6870's?
Click to expand...

Yes they will beat the 6870's in xfire. At the very least they will drop the prces a bit for the 6870's. You might even see a cheaper 6950 1gb card by next week.

I'd wait.
 
happy medium said:
Yes they will beat the 6870's in xfire. At the very least they will drop the prces a bit for the 6870's. You might even see a cheaper 6950 1gb card by next week.

I'd wait.
Click to expand...


6870 Crossfire scales a lot better than 5870 Crossfire. And if the 560 is a bit faster than the 5870...I call it a wash.

The "only" reason you should wait is.....once the 560 is released, then you can get 6870 Crossfire even cheaper maybe.
 
There is a guy with 2 sapphire's in FS/T that I might pick up from him... he's asking $195 each.

Are there any negatives to xfire/SLI? I have never used it, but I assume it just scales 2x? Graphics/benchmarks look great...but does it work well every time?
 
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You are doing what I was thinking of doing.

However, I have been deterred by micro stutter problems. And decided to get the 6950, instead.
I have read that micro stutter can ruin your gaming experience more easily than a lower frame rate.
Have you done any research into that problem? If yes, you must have found some compelling arguments to still go the crossfire route.
 
MentalIlness said:
6870 Crossfire scales a lot better than 5870 Crossfire.
Click to expand...

as do the gtx series compared to the 5xxx series, whats your point?

You think the 6xxx series scales 13% better then the gtx 5xx series.
13% is the difference between the gtx560 and 6870 cards if performance of 5870 is that of the gtx560.
That would mean xfire would have to scale 13% better to tie.
The gtx 5xx series scales at about 90%+ , that would mean the 6870 would have to scale at 103% in all cases to win.
Thats not gonna happen.
 
createdAmonster said:
You are doing what I was thinking of doing.

However, I have been deterred by micro stutter problems. And decided to get the 6950, instead.
I have read that micro stutter can ruin your gaming experience more easily than a lower frame rate.
Have you done any research into that problem? If yes, you must have found some compelling arguments to still go the crossfire route.
Click to expand...

News to me, I was hoping someone would chim in on any issues they've had with xfire/SLI in general.

If I buy new ... i'll wait until after the 25th for sure.
 
I was initially happy with my HD6870's in CrossfireX. They benched really well, my fps went up in the games I play etc.
However when I run Crossfire they actually feel slower in games, there seems to be more jerkiness, and even in 2d performing Windows functions the mouse seems to act weird. I took the second card out, and now everything actually feels better.
I am sending the second one back I think. I just ordered a new mobo and i5-2500K setup, and I'll try it one more time after that's done and see if it performs better.
I tried everything by the way, enabling vsync etc. and that made it better, but not great.
If I do send the card back I'll probably just live with one 6870, or spring for a 6950.
 
If that is the case ... I may just get one 570GTX then. I really don't want to see any stuttering/jerkiness.

Do you think it was because of the little cable connecting the two cards?
 
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