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6850's in crossfire, worth it?

A

Archer75

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 10, 2001
Messages
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I can get a pair of the powercolor 1gb cards for $220 after rebate. Looking for an upgrade for my 460GTX 768mb for SWTOR, Tribes Ascend(I have played both) as well as Guild Wars 2 and Planetside 2. I play at 1920x1200

Worthwhile upgrade?

I supposed I could try to get another 460gtx and SLI it with what I have.

I may be able to stretch my budget and get a single MSI 6950 Twin Forzr III 2gb at $300 but that's pushing it.
 
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We're beginning to see VRAM being the limiting factor for high resolution rigs, most notably with BF3. If you can push for the 6950 2GB then that would be the best choice. Also, those cards have a very high chance of unlocking to 6970 shaders with a simple RBE bios mod. Just remember to set +20% powertune in CCC (whether you unlock or not)
 
It seems to me any single card will always be better (with matching performance) than an SLI or xfire setup due to power consumption and scalability (not to mention future upgrade-ability.

I just picked up a 6870 because I found a great deal on it... was originally going to go with a 6850. I used this page from Tom's mostly, with a few other reviews mixed in. It looks like the 460gtx and 6850 have relatively the same performance. I would imagine that 460gtx SLI and 6850 xfire setups would be more or less matching in performance (give or take a little for different games). If this is true, then it would follow that a 2nd 460gtx would be the most cost effective, if you're ok with the 768MB VRAM.

The 6950's are beasts of cards, especially if you find one that is unlockable. Also, you can probably find one cheaper than the MSi TwinFrozr series, which might bring it back down closer to your 2x 6850 price. Although, I own a TF card and I've been very happy with the cooler.

Because I'm on a budget, I ended up with the 6870, with hopes of getting a second one later on when they come down in price even more. I've been really happy with the performance so far, even on Metro 2033... it could use just a little more juice at times though.
 
you should just sli...

or wait like 3 month more and buy new gen.
 
If you dont already have one then NO, Go with a single larger card.. Crossfire/SLI lower end cards is only good for those who already have one & want to add a 2nd, not for those buying 2 from scratch
 
bastage said:
If you dont already have one then NO, Go with a single larger card.. Crossfire/SLI lower end cards is only good for those who already have one & want to add a 2nd, not for those buying 2 from scratch
Click to expand...

Well I bought 2 6870 2gb cards for 370$AR and sold both games that came with them for 30$. So, 340$ for 2 cards much faster than a gtx580 and more video memory, I think is worth it.
 
Archer75 said:
I can get a pair of the powercolor 1gb cards for $220 after rebate. Looking for an upgrade for my 460GTX 768mb for SWTOR, Tribes Ascend(I have played both) as well as Guild Wars 2 and Planetside 2. I play at 1920x1200

Worthwhile upgrade?

I supposed I could try to get another 460gtx and SLI it with what I have.

I may be able to stretch my budget and get a single MSI 6950 Twin Forzr III 2gb at $300 but that's pushing it.
Click to expand...

I had 6850s in Crossfire and sold the 2nd card off after a few weeks. ATI sucks at Crossfire support and I was having a hell of a time with new games. When it worked, it was great. Unfortunately that was not often enough for me to keep the 2nd card. I realized after the fact I should have went with a 6950 2GB card.
 
I've been playing around with Crossfire and I have to agree: go with the fastest single gpu you can afford.

And go with the 2gb vram definitely, if you plan to play current and up-and-coming games. Conversely I would be looking at a 570 with 1.2gb vram which isn't a bad choice in itself, though might be a bit out of your budget at around $320 or so. The 2gb 6950 is more the sweet spot in terms of price/performance, I'm seeing those for $270 and falling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372
 
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