How does 7850 crossfire perform?

[SickBeast]

I can't find any reviews out there for 7850 crossfire.

I'm thinking about getting another 7850 for my rig. I'm getting 40-60fps in my demanding games like Crysis, Crysis 2, and Battlefield 3 at 1080p with maximum settings. I'd like a constant 60fps with 4xAA, and I think another 7850 would get me there easily.

Should I have just got a GTX 680, or will a pair of 7850s be considerably better for $100 less?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I would avoid SLI/Crossfire at all cost. Its nothign but driver problems, missing profiles so you only use 1 GPU. Stuttering and so on. SLI/Crossfire is already a tiny niche.

So either get a single GTX 680 or a single HD7970.

 

[SickBeast]

I would avoid SLI/Crossfire at all cost. Its nothign but driver problems, missing profiles so you only use 1 GPU. Stuttering and so on. SLI/Crossfire is already a tiny niche.

So either get a single GTX 680 or a single HD7970.

Yeah you're probably right. I was never completely happy with my GTX 460 SLI setup.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

7850 stock CF will be 10-20% faster than 680 OC. However, 7850 oc CF will be about 30-50% faster than 680 stock or 20-40% faster than 680 oc. But ms and other problems and lower smoothness at the same frame rate makes the case in favor of a 7970 water cooled or 680 oc.

And if you are getting that kind of performance in BF3, then it isn't the GPU. Because in single player a 2600k @ 4GHz + 8 GB RAM + 7850 stock should max out 19x10 no AA with minimum 50-60 FPS at all times including fights.

In Crysis 7850 single even oced isn't enough though.

 

[ShintaiDK]

And just remove AA. Then you save half the cost

 

[SickBeast]

And just remove AA. Then you save half the cost

LOL

Yeah that's probably the most economical solution.

 

[Don Karnage]

I've been hearing that Amd 7 series Xfire drivers are currently garbage

 

[SlowSpyder]

I really liked my 5870's in Crossfire, but I got into it after the drivers were very mature. I still get quirks here and there with one 7970, I bet the drivers for CF have a long way to go... I have no actual experience to base that on, but just a hunch.

 

[blastingcap]

I went ahead with my 7970 order after all. Gf gets the 7850. 7970 should be better for multi-monitor gaming. I mean, yeah the 7850 oc'd can handle TF2 with a few things turned down, but the 7970 should have an easier time of it.

 

[SickBeast]

I went ahead with my 7970 order after all. Gf gets the 7850. 7970 should be better for multi-monitor gaming. I mean, yeah the 7850 oc'd can handle TF2 with a few things turned down, but the 7970 should have an easier time of it.

Yeah the 7850 is not as strong as I thought it would be.

I think I would personally go for a pair in crossfire rather than a single 7970 for the same price, though. I think that the crossfired 7850s will be about 50% faster and will still be within the same power envelope as the 7970.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

7870 oc 40% cf will be up to 50% faster than a 7970 20% oc, but not in each situation. But it won't be better in every case because cf needs 50% higher fps for the same smoothness. So I would still prefer 7970 25-30% oc. But 7870 oc 25-30% oc cf will definitely be an upgrade over 7970 oc

 

[notty22]

I went ahead with my 7970 order after all. Gf gets the 7850. 7970 should be better for multi-monitor gaming. I mean, yeah the 7850 oc'd can handle TF2 with a few things turned down, but the 7970 should have an easier time of it.

Congratulations. That 100 dollar price drop, must have been a good motivator. Funny how times change, with the 5870, gamers kept hoping for the drop that never came, at least not for quite some time. This time it did.

 

[blastingcap]

7870 oc 40% cf will be up to 50% faster than a 7970 20% oc, but not in each situation. But it won't be better in every case because cf needs 50% higher fps for the same smoothness. So I would still prefer 7970 25-30% oc. But 7870 oc 25-30% oc cf will definitely be an upgrade over 7970 oc

7870 cf costs what, $700? And no guarantee of being able to oc to 40%; and even if you did oc that high, you still get to deal with

a) smaller VRAM
b) Crossfire issues
c) higher power/noise/heat
d) possibly needing to upgrade PSU

I think he meant 7850 cf not 7870 cf, but even so that's still $500+ and you still get the same issues as above. I just gave up and got a $449 7970 with a discount and I needed the miniDP->DVI adapter anyway which saved me another $15-20.

 

[blastingcap]

Congratulations. That 100 dollar price drop, must have been a good motivator. Funny how times change, with the 5870, gamers kept hoping for the drop that never came, at least not for quite some time. This time it did.

Competition is good for the market. We thanked AMD for driving down prices in recent years with the HD4xxx through the HD6xxx series. We should thank NV for helping keep a lid on prices by issuing the GTX 680, which has quickly sold out for good reason.

Edit to add: That said, I still dislike the pricing from both sides and suspect that TSMC's 28nm shortage is not helping and may be the main reason why 28nm GPU prices are so high.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

7870 cf costs what, $700? And no guarantee of being able to oc to 40%; and even if you did oc that high, you still get to deal with

a) smaller VRAM
b) Crossfire issues
c) higher power/noise/heat
d) possibly needing to upgrade PSU

I think he meant 7850 cf not 7870 cf, but even so that's still $500+ and you still get the same issues as above. I just gave up and got a $449 7970 with a discount and I needed the miniDP->DVI adapter anyway which saved me another $15-20.

That was my point too 7850 cf isn't a better deal than 7970 oc. But 7870cf oc is an upgrade from 7970 oc, 7870 oc cf is faster than 580 sli or close to 7950 stock cf

 

[SickBeast]

7870 cf costs what, $700? And no guarantee of being able to oc to 40%; and even if you did oc that high, you still get to deal with

a) smaller VRAM
b) Crossfire issues
c) higher power/noise/heat
d) possibly needing to upgrade PSU

I think he meant 7850 cf not 7870 cf, but even so that's still $500+ and you still get the same issues as above. I just gave up and got a $449 7970 with a discount and I needed the miniDP->DVI adapter anyway which saved me another $15-20.

Well for me it will cost a total of $460 which is about the same as I would pay for a 7970.

I'm going to wait a bit and see how I feel. You guys might be right and it might be better to just wait and get a more powerful single card. I'll bet the GTX 660 will shake down the prices quite a bit.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Irrespective of price a 7970 oc will give a better experience than 7850 stock cf and is mostly enough to maintain 60 fps. 7850 oc cf may be a bit faster but need not be smoother

 

[blastingcap]

That was my point too 7850 cf isn't a better deal than 7970 oc. But 7870cf oc is an upgrade from 7970 oc, 7870 oc cf is faster than 580 sli or close to 7950 stock cf

Ah okay, it wasn't clear to me based on what you wrote, but I understand. I still disagree though for me, personally, though others may find value in CF'ing somehow.

a) smaller VRAM
b) Crossfire issues
c) higher power/noise/heat
d) possibly needing to upgrade PSU

The list above especially applies to me:

- I run 5760x1080 so 3GB vs. 2GB framebuffer matters more to me than to most other people.

- I still avoid CF/SLI as much as possible due to software/driver issues and bugs and stuff. Microstutter as well.

- I am already suffering from a heat wave and high power costs. A single 7970 is more efficient.

- I invested in a small, efficient PSU (460W 80+ Gold Seasonic fanless), so I'd have to get a bigger, more expensive PSU if I wanted to run CF.

Plus the free miniDP->DVI adapter sealed the deal.

 

[blastingcap]

Well for me it will cost a total of $460 which is about the same as I would pay for a 7970.

I'm going to wait a bit and see how I feel. You guys might be right and it might be better to just wait and get a more powerful single card. I'll bet the GTX 660 will shake down the prices quite a bit.

What resolution are you at? I am at 3 x 1080p but if I were at 1 x 1080p a 7850 would definitely be the sweet spot--just oc it and it can power any game at 1080p with reasonable settings. The difference between mostly-maxed-out and maxed-out is usually very small.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

A single card can't max out that Rez with 60 fps

 

[blastingcap]

A single card can't max out that Rez with 60 fps

If you're talking to me, I am not one of those people who must have 60fps. I just need 30fps. Also, the two games I play most are TF2 and Left4Dead2. Both are ancient games, and I am fine with not maxing out settings on either game, so a single 7970 is enough for me. For heavy-hitters I can simply game on a single 1080p panel or else drop settings to Medium. I've been doing this since my HD5850 days... and I played TF2 on 5040x1050 with the HD5850 with medium-high settings just fine.

 

[SickBeast]

What resolution are you at? I am at 3 x 1080p but if I were at 1 x 1080p a 7850 would definitely be the sweet spot--just oc it and it can power any game at 1080p with reasonable settings. The difference between mostly-maxed-out and maxed-out is usually very small.

I've decided to wait a bit until big kepler and the 660 and 670 come out.

It's only Crysis and Crysis 2 that need more than the 7850 can do.

Hopefully in a few months I will have some nice upgrade options.

 

[Hauk]

I've been hearing that Amd 7 series Xfire drivers are currently garbage

I tested latest drivers with 7950 CF in Skyrim and Rage this weekend. It was ugly to be honest. 560ti 448 SLI in same rig provided much smoother gameplay. I know 7950 CF is a beast, so it's gotta be drivers..