Any benefits to adding a GeForce 560 to my Radeon 7870 system?

[King Mustard]

Will it even work?

Maybe it will allow me to use PhysX in games?

 

[cmdrdredd]

there's hacks you can use to get physx if you want. http://physxinfo.com/wiki/Hybrid_PhysX

 

[Dankk]

As mentioned above, you can use it as a dedicated Physx card.

That's it. Don't expect to be able to do anything else with it. You can't SLI/Xfire AMD and Nvidia cards together, if that's what you were wondering.

 

[Smoblikat]

As mentioned above, you can use it as a dedicated Physx card.

That's it. Don't expect to be able to do anything else with it. You can't SLI/Xfire AMD and Nvidia cards together, if that's what you were wondering.

Well TECHNICALLY you can, but not natively and certainly not in a cost effective way either.

 

[tweakboy]

You can play Batman and BF4 etc..

 

[2is]

I wouldn't bother. Trying to hack the drivers so Physx will work will give you marginal support at best and completely break every time you do a driver update. If you want Physx, you're much better off ditching AMD cards entirely.

 

[King Mustard]

Cheers, guys

 

[Makaveli]

I wouldn't bother. Trying to hack the drivers so Physx will work will give you marginal support at best and completely break every time you do a driver update. If you want Physx, you're much better off ditching AMD cards entirely.

umm you don't need to hack any drivers where are you getting this from?

For the most part you delete/rename a couple dll files in your game directory and that is it.

As for Nv's drivers you may have to wait abit until the author of hybridz updates his patch that's about it. Since this is a secondary card and not your primary you don't need to be updating drivers all the time.

you are correct about the last part and using the word hack incorrectly

 

[ocre]

if you already have the gpu? well....

if you like to tinker, why not add the 560 as a physx card. its something to do. I dont see what it would hurt. If you choose to there are tons of information at your finger tips with a simple google search.

I mean there are only so many physx titles out. If you already have a game or two its not like something you will consistently have to keep up with. You will probably get your kicks and be done with it. I dont see the big deal. If you like to tinker that is

 

[BigChickenJim]

I personally wouldn't want to deal with the headaches that would come along with this simply for PhysX. If it's really that much of a game changer for you sell the Radeon and Nvidia yourself entirely.

I personally don't find PhysX to be that impressive, but that opinion is based on videos and not personal experience so it may not be worth much.

 

[King Mustard]

I personally wouldn't want to deal with the headaches that would come along with this simply for PhysX. If it's really that much of a game changer for you sell the Radeon and Nvidia yourself entirely.

I personally don't find PhysX to be that impressive, but that opinion is based on videos and not personal experience so it may not be worth much.

I already have a spare GeForce 560, that's all

 

[BigChickenJim]

I already have a spare GeForce 560, that's all

Ah. Well, then I fully support your franken-setup. I'm all about experimental nonsense as long as it doesn't cost people hard-earned dough unnecessarily. And as long as they agree to feed us the juicy details later *wink wink*.

 

[King Mustard]

Ah. Well, then I fully support your franken-setup. I'm all about experimental nonsense as long as it doesn't cost people hard-earned dough unnecessarily. And as long as they agree to feed us the juicy details later *wink wink*.

Turns out I can't. My PSU doesn't support two GPUs (not enough connectors and lack of power).

 

[BigChickenJim]

Turns out I can't. My PSU doesn't support two GPUs (not enough connectors and lack of power).

Dang. It would have been interesting. Maybe later on down the road.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Sell the 560 and 7870, and get something better.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Sell the 560 and 7870, and get something better.

I think he was just looking to do an experiment. If anything he should just sell his 560 and get another 7870 (or vice versa). There's no single card out there better than those combos for under 800-1000 bucks.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I think he was just looking to do an experiment. If anything he should just sell his 560 and get another 7870 (or vice versa). There's no single card out there better than those combos for under 800-1000 bucks.

A single 7970 GE has 80% the SPs and 50% more memory bandwidth, along with none of the usual CF weirdness issues.

I'd probably go with the 7970, personally.

And even if you think the 7870x2 is better than the 7970 (which it is, in terms of raw grunt, if not finesse) there's still the GTX 770/780 to consider, both of which come in well under $800.

 

[BigChickenJim]

A single 7970 GE has 80% the SPs and 50% more memory bandwidth, along with none of the usual CF weirdness issues.

I'd probably go with the 7970, personally.

And even if you think the 7870x2 is better than the 7970 (which it is, in terms of raw grunt, if not finesse) there's still the GTX 770/780 to consider, both of which come in well under $800.

If I think it's better? It IS better, and by a huge margin.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4...reference_video_cards_in_crossfire/index.html

7870 x2 very nearly trades blows with a GTX Titan, and that's a $1k card. It basically crushes everything other than other higher-end CFX or Sli configurations. I'm not quite sure which aspect of performance "finesse" affects, but I think I'll leave it on the table for gains like those.

Crossfire "weirdness" is basically non-existent in modern games and the few games that do have issues are fixed with a frame limiter or adaptive vsync (and hopefully even that will be unnecessary after AMD's frame pace driver on the 31st). And a 7870 is $200 cheaper than the other options outside of 560 Sli.

But there's already an active thread open about all this and OP isn't looking to upgrade, so I won't derail this discussion any more.

 

[ocre]

If I think it's better? It IS better, and by a huge margin.

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4...reference_video_cards_in_crossfire/index.html

7870 x2 very nearly trades blows with a GTX Titan, and that's a $1k card. It basically crushes everything other than other higher-end CFX or Sli configurations. I'm not quite sure which aspect of performance "finesse" affects, but I think I'll leave it on the table for gains like those.

Crossfire "weirdness" is basically non-existent in modern games and the few games that do have issues are fixed with a frame limiter or adaptive vsync (and hopefully even that will be unnecessary after AMD's frame pace driver on the 31st). And a 7870 is $200 cheaper than the other options outside of 560 Sli.
.

Many others would disagree.

 

[BigChickenJim]

Disagree about what? The numbers? Crossfire being fine in 98% of modern games? That's their choice I guess, but I'll stick with facts, numbers, and first-hand experience.

 

[ocre]

Disagree about what? The numbers? Crossfire being fine in 98% of modern games? That's their choice I guess, but I'll stick with facts, numbers, and first-hand experience.

this:

Crossfire "weirdness" is basically non-existent in modern games.

it is good to hear that you are enjoying your CF setup without any issues. Ultimately thats all that matters.