Crossfire X question

[Narynan]

I was wondering what I could do with my current sapphire 3870 and crossfire. I know I can only crossfire a 3850 or a 3870. But do I need to get another sapphire card? I have the DDR4 version of this card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102752

which is strangely not currently listed. I would really like to get a twin for it and have no issues. But what about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814129100

Do I need to worry about crossbrands not working? They are both the same RAM and so forth. I want to team up my 3870, I know the money could really be spent better elsewhere, but I built my current computer with the dream of dual video cards, reguardless. And I dont want to buy a new card (I.E. 4850 / 4870) because I just want to get a dual setup and leave it be. I am really looking to get a final setup I can run for about 3+ years without having to mess with.

So, is this do able? Because I also kinda worried about getting this done before the card goes EoL.

..... and on a side note. Does anyone know where I can get one of the older dual slot cards if I decide to go with sapphire?

...... lol, and is looking into a 3870x2 worth if at all?

Im done... for now!

Thanks everyone

 

[TC91]

no brand doesnt matter, but you can also pair up your 3870 with a 3870x2 (i wouldnt recommend that though). I really think you should try looking into selling your card and grabbing a 4850 or 4870 or gtx 260 if you are okay with nvidia. But if you cant do that or really want two cards for some reason, then it is probably best to grab another 3870 with gddr4 memory.

 

[Narynan]

Yeah i know that the cost on the 3870 is WAY to high for the performance you get out of it. The reason I would rather get two video cards, is that I have only had my PC for a month and I am really not looking to upgrade to a 4850 ot 4870. And I dont mind Nvidia in the slightest. It just turns out that when I build my computers that the best deals tend to be around ATI cards. But to be fair I have also used a 6600GT and a 7800GT. I just want to use the 3870CF and call it good. I built my current system around being able to have that kind of growth option available and I would like to get there before EoL.

But yeah the x2 card is not really an option. So other than the cosmetic problems, at least I know I CAN use something else.

Will I be able to a utility to over clock one card from the other, or does they sync to the core speed too"?

 

[QuixoticOne]

When you CFX a lot of OC / fan control / etc. type utilities don't work quite right in giving you the same control as you'd have with a single card.

Check RIVATUNER, ATI TRAY TOOLS, see what they can do in CFX according to the forums more oriented to that stuff.

Yeah for performance, heat, energy reasons I'd say a 3870 + 3870 is not a very good combination since a single 4850 is much faster than CFX 3870 while you might have to pay around $100 for a second 3870 and then pay a lot for energy and have heat issues whereas $150 will get you a 4850 to solve all of that.

I doubt a 3850 will give you much added performance. I guess if you really want an extra 15% or whatever in certain well scaling games and you find one on sale for very little it might be worth it.

Several games don't scale well in CFX though, so for some things any CFX solution would be almost useless over just having one card.

I'd just stick with your 3870 for another year or whatever if it can mostly do what you want even if you have to lower the resolution / quality a bit. The 3870 plays most things just fine in 1600x1200 type resolutions with fairly high quality options, maybe avoid AA/AF for a speed boost, etc. You can always drop to 1280x1024 if you really need a couple of things to go faster.

You can mix card brands and even clock speeds IIRC, though I'd personally get cards with the same amount of VRAM, and probably the same GPU chip (another 3870) if you're going to do it for performance reasons.

You can use Radeon Bios Editor to change the clock speeds and fan settings and so on if you want to reflash them, and maybe get a little more control than RivaTuner may give you in CFX in a couple of areas.

 

[Golgatha]

If I was in your situation (enough money to get another 3870 and already own a 3870), I would get a 4850 and sell the 3870 to make up the difference. The 4850 will be as fast as CFX 3870s (and much faster when you crank up AA), you'll spend less money on graphics cards overall, your electric bill will be lower, and you'll be able to get another 4850 down the road if you so desire.

If you want a 3+ year setup, I can tell you that CFX 3870s aren't going to cut it for 3+ years. I would imagine an eventual CFX 4850 setup would get you through the next 3+ years without sacrificing much, if any, eye candy.