SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition and Crysis 3

[OleMortenF]

Hi. I recently bought a new computer a few months ago.
I hoped everything would be fast enough, but I am not happy with the performance when gaming.
When I play games like Crysis 3 with Maximum Settings I get FPS around 25-30, which I am not happy with and I don't want to turn down the settings.
It doesn't seem like the CPU is holding back, it seems to me like its the Graphics Card since the CPU is only using 30-40%.

So I am wondering, if I buy another SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition and run them in Crossfire would it be a huge difference? I know its alot of money to buy an extra card, but I wanted this PC to be really fast. And PC is the only thing I play on, I don't like consoles.

What would u do? If I Crossfire two SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition would they perform very good with Crysis 3 and GTAV which is coming later this year? Or should I wait for the 8000 series?

This is my setup.
Intel® Core i7-3770K Processor @ 4.6Ghz with Corsair H80 Hydro Cooling
SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition Overclocked
G.SKILL [RipjawsZ] 16GB
Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 240GB 2.5"
ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE, Socket-1155
Corsair AX 1200W PSU
Windows 8

Ole

 

[Tweak155]

I'd not crossfire myself. Turn down the settings for the time being and see if drivers help performance in the near future (I think the new betas might have already helped a little). Crysis 3 was just released yesterday and was designed to crush the latest hardware (according to developers).

I don't think Crossfire is ever the ideal solution to solve a performance problem, as you could be causing a host of other problems which would then only frustrate you further.

Generally speaking, a single card solution is always better. I personally don't like to gamble.

On the other hand, if you always wanted to try a 2 video card solution, go for it!

 

[SlowSpyder]

That card is a 1000MHz part, right? You should likely be able to get another 100MHz out of it almost for sure. It may go all the way up to 1.3GHz+. I'd start overclocking before I spent any money to see if that made me happy.

If that still doesn't do it for you, then wait for Titan or buy another 7970.

 

[OleMortenF]

Yeah its 1000MHz. Its running at 1150MHz right now

 

[jimhsu]

AA should be one of the 1st things to turn off, or switch to light SMAA/FXAA. Assuming 1440p, I don't think AA will make much of a difference anyways in quality. Aside from that, wait for patches that will hopefully provide some needed optimizations.

 

[OleMortenF]

So you guys suggest I should not buy another card and Crossfire?
I have the money to buy one, so that's not a problem, but if its just waste of money I dont wanna do it lol

 

[VulgarDisplay]

You will see pretty good performance with another card added. You may need to use RadeonPro to set a frame limiter to ensure that you don't see microstutter with the dual card setup.

I wouldn't sweat it to much about the card honestly. Leaked slides show the $1000 Nvidia Titan only getting about 40-45fps in Crysis 3 which is still horrible. Hopefully further driver revisions will see both sides improving drastically.

 

[OleMortenF]

How do u think SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition in Crossfire will perform compared to Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan?
And how much improvement will I get with getting another card?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Cf will be 80%+ faster but will only feel like being 30-50% faster with microstutter added to it. It will run better than a single Titan at stock. However I would rather have an overclocked Titan than 7970 ghz cf due to titan's insane oc, cf ms and lower level of smoothness in dual gpu systems for the same fps.

 

[OleMortenF]

So what you're saying is that I would most likely end up with problems with Crossfire?
Isn't there anyway to avoid getting Microstutter?

 

[jimhsu]

Frame limiter, as described above.

 

[RussianSensation]

When I play games like Crysis 3 with Maximum Settings I get FPS around 25-30, which I am not happy with and I don't want to turn down the settings.

You are going to need any of these:

1) HD7970CF overclocked to 1150mhz+
2) GTX680 SLi overclocked to 1200mhz+
3) Titan overclocked to 1100mhz+
4) GTX690 overclocked.

Crysis 3 was promised to bring our GPUs to their knees and looks like Crytek has delivered. Assuming the Titan can overclock to 1100-1200mhz, I would sell the 7970 and grab that if you don't mind shelling you $200 more for a single GPU card over the $800 CF setup. If you want to go beyond that, sell your card and get HD7970 Asus Matrix Platinum x 2. At 1300mhz on both, it should beat the Titan without much effort. The downside is that CF won't always work in all games. Evaluate yourself if this type of investment is worth it for Crysis 3 alone. Once you beat the campaign, you'll end up with $800-1000 of GPUs and 2013 console ports...BF4 isn't out until Q4 2013.

I would wait over the next 2-3 days for reviews of the Titan and you can see where it ends up in Crysis 3 on VHQ with 4xSMAA/MSAA.

If I were you I would honestly just drop IQ from VHQ to HQ. There isn't much difference in visuals.

 

[OleMortenF]

You are going to need any of these:

1) HD7970CF overclocked to 1150mhz+
2) GTX680 SLi overclocked to 1200mhz+
3) Titan overclocked to 1100mhz+
4) GTX690 overclocked.

Crysis 3 was promised to bring our GPUs to their knees and looks like Crytek has delivered. Assuming the Titan can overclock to 1100-1200mhz, I would sell the 7970 and grab that if you don't mind shelling you $200 more for a single GPU card over the $800 CF setup. If you want to go beyond that, sell your card and get HD7970 Asus Matrix Platinum x 2. At 1300mhz on both, it should beat the Titan without much effort. The downside is that CF won't always work in all games. Evaluate yourself if this type of investment is worth it for Crysis 3 alone. Once you beat the campaign, you'll end up with $800-1000 of GPUs and 2013 console ports...BF4 isn't out until Q4 2013.

I would wait over the next 2-3 days for reviews of the Titan and you can see where it ends up in Crysis 3 on VHQ with 4xSMAA/MSAA.

Thanks, that helped a bit You have them in Crossfire right? How does your system perform with Crysis 3 on Max settings? And do u have much problems with microstuttering?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

He doesn't have cf. He was just guiding you.

And none of the above systems can play at 1440p with 4x msaa. The above systems can handle 1440p no msaa or 1080p 4x msaa.

Your current system can handle 1080p no msaa rest max/near max just like the above.

4x msaa or 1440p means a 40% hit and that is how much the above systems lead by.

For your purpose you need 1440p 4x msaa so titan oc sli with a 2600k at 4+.

 

[Rhezuss]

Can't see the difference between High vs Very High textures, High vs Very High system specs...FXAA vs SMAA...

All look great and gives me good enough performance/visuals to enjoy the game.

 

[OleMortenF]

So the conclusion here is that its not worth getting another
SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition, running both in Crossfire Overclocked?
Its just money waste?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I'd hold off on doing something ridiculous like buying another AMD card for CF and then using a frame limiter until we see some frame time charts for Crysis 3... FPS can be deceiving.

 

[3DVagabond]

You need someone who runs 7970x2 and has Crysis 3 to tell you how it runs. That, or reviews from trusted sites.

Don't listen to anyone who doesn't have 1st person experience. All they are giving you are their prejudices.

 

[Fx1]

your problem is the 1440p monitor. Soon as you go over 1900x1200 then single cards cant handle games like Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 with the AA eye candy turned on. Even Hitman 3 in areas can be an issue.

 

[james1701]

I just went from 5870's over to 7970's. I spent last night doing a Windows reinstall, and bench marking. Tonight, I will start on Crysis 3 and let you know. I thought about waiting for Titan, but for $200 less and more performance, I went the dual card route again. Yes, usually new game launches can not go well until the driver is sorted, but when they are, it is just awesome. Watching Firestrike smoothly is a sight to behold.

 

[OleMortenF]

I just went from 5870's over to 7970's. I spent last night doing a Windows reinstall, and bench marking. Tonight, I will start on Crysis 3 and let you know. I thought about waiting for Titan, but for $200 less and more performance, I went the dual card route again. Yes, usually new game launches can not go well until the driver is sorted, but when they are, it is just awesome. Watching Firestrike smoothly is a sight to behold.

That sounds great! Thanks alot

 

[sze5003]

Do you have the GHz edition? I have that one and am very interested in how this game runs on that. I'm purchasing items for my flight sim hobby so before buying this game feedback would greatly be appreciated.

 

[OleMortenF]

I just read a GeForce GTX Titan test, its very fast but extremely expensive.
I can get two SAPPHIRE HD 7970 3GB Vapor-X Edition and almost save $300 instead of getting GeForce GTX Titan.

Sale price here in Norway is almost $1360 for GeForce GTX Titan.


Used Specs
Hovedkort: Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2
Prosessor: Intel Core i7 3930k
Kjøler: Corsair Hydro H100i
Minne: Patriot Intel Extreme Masters 1866 MHz 16 GB
Strømforsyning: Corsair AX 1200W
Lagring: Intel 335 Series 240 GB SSD
Skjerm: Dell Ultrasharp 3000WFP
Operativsystem: Windows 8 Ultimate, 64 bit.

 

[sze5003]

Wow interesting. Oddly enough I haven't had issues with hitman on highest settings.

 

[Rhezuss]

Wow interesting. Oddly enough I haven't had issues with hitman on highest settings.

Me neither. The game run butter smooth with all settings cranked up. Game look gorgeous too!