Debating on SLI with another Radeon HD 6970

J

JewDaddy

n00b
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
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Hey everyone. I'm new to the forums and I'm looking to seek some guidance on whether or not adding a 2nd video card to my pc will be worth it. Below is my current PC Setup.

Intel Core i7-2600K Processor 3.4GHz 8 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
Kingston Technology Hyper X 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 Series KHX1600C9D3T1K2/8GX
ASUS LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps Supported Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2400 P8Z68-V PRO
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2 GB DDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card 100311SR
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Solid State Drive (SSD)
Z9 Plus Atx Mid Tower

I have a good friend who is an IT Manager and he tells me that adding a second card will not be worth the money unless I'm running multiple displays, ie Eyefinity. I'm still in the process of learning about all the features and upgrades of the current generation pc parts and my assumptions lead me to believe that adding a second card would have to make some difference in running higher end games such as Crysis 2, GTA IV, and of course Battlefield 3 and Skyrm when they come out. Any opinons or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
SLI is nvidia, ATI is crossfire.

What is the resolution of your monitor. If it is 1920x1080 or less, you will not see very much benefit from adding another card. Possibly you might just get driver headaches. If you are going eyefinity or a higher resolution then it might be worth it.

And please oc that processor.
 
Nothing is going to help you run GTA4 better -- it's a crappy port.

I would wait until you need the power before upgrading. Are you getting a low framerate in the games that you are playing (other than GTA4)? crossfirex 6970's are plenty of power to drive an eyefinity or 30in setup if you see that in your future. For 1920x1200/1080 or less you are probably fine with what you have. I expect BF3 to be on par with BC2 and Skyrim to not be nearly as demanding.

Summary: Only upgrade if you need a higher framerate than you have now. Upgrading for games that haven't even come out yet is stupid.
 
Crossfire and SLi are most defiately going to be beneficial.

Certain games and monitor resolutions are going to benefit more than others and the rare game will actually do worse in Crossfire or SLi.

generally if you game below 1920 x 1200 resolution Crossfire (in your case) is not beneficial, one card will do just fine.

Higher resolutions or full on graphical settings will be benefitted by more GPU power.

As for games that aren't released.....who knows.....just have to wait and see once released.
 
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