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Upgrading from Xfired 6850's

E

erf

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 13, 2005
Messages
1,848
First of all, these 2 cards have been nothing short of amazing...of all the GPU's I've owned (ti4200,7800gtx,9800gt), these 2 cards in xfire have given me ZERO issues...and when I say zero, I mean driver/software, and hardware wise. Now to my question:

The scaling on the 6850's has been phenominal. This was my first experience with a dual card solution and somehow I avoided all of the things I'd always heard other people bitching about. (driver problems, micro-stutter, etc.) Now that I'm in the position to upgrade I need a little advice. First of all, do the 500 series Nvidia cards scale as well as in SLI when compared to AMD's 68xx series? Second question, are the 69xx series of cards known to scale as well as the 68xx series?
 
I can tell you that the scaling on my 6970s have been an average of 90-100% in almost any game and test i've conducted. The downside for me is that i notice microstuttering. With that being said, I only notice it when i look at my wifes rig (single GPU) when she's playing the same game.

Most people never notice it until they see a single GPU system at the same time.
 
no way would I run 6970 crossfire with your power supply. I would just wait on the 7800 series as they should be out very soon.
 
Soulmetzger said:
I can tell you that the scaling on my 6970s have been an average of 90-100% in almost any game and test i've conducted. The downside for me is that i notice microstuttering. With that being said, I only notice it when i look at my wifes rig (single GPU) when she's playing the same game.

Most people never notice it until they see a single GPU system at the same time.
Click to expand...
I haven't had the oppurtunity to jump between systems like you mention, but as far as actually noticing MS or it affecting my gameplay I can't say I ever experienced it...not to say it isn't there however. I'm a stickler and I just never noticed anything resembling what could be considered an actual "problem".

The main reason I'm wanting to upgrade is that when I enable any kind of AA in BF3 my frame-rate drops 10-30fps depending on what type and how high of AA I'm using. Without AA I average right around 60fps, but as soon as I enable 4x morph it drops into the 40's...which might amount to v-ram.
 
cannondale06 said:
no way would I run 6970 crossfire with your power supply. I would just wait on the 7800 series as they should be out very soon.
Click to expand...
Haha...I knew I should have mentioned that I'm getting a new PSU.
 
erf said:
Haha...I knew I should have mentioned that I'm getting a new PSU.
Click to expand...
well you wont have to with 7870 or 7850 crossfire so again I would just wait a couple of week and check those out.

and yes vram is an issue in BF 3 using AA with your current setup.
 
cannondale06 said:
well you wont have to with 7870 or 7850 crossfire so again I would just wait a couple of week and check those out.

and yes vram is an issue in BF 3 using AA with your current setup.
Click to expand...
Cool...didn't realize they were that close to release. I'm upgrading my PSU in any case. Be proud!
 
erf said:
First of all, these 2 cards have been nothing short of amazing...of all the GPU's I've owned (ti4200,7800gtx,9800gt), these 2 cards in xfire have given me ZERO issues...and when I say zero, I mean driver/software, and hardware wise. Now to my question:

The scaling on the 6850's has been phenominal. This was my first experience with a dual card solution and somehow I avoided all of the things I'd always heard other people bitching about. (driver problems, micro-stutter, etc.) Now that I'm in the position to upgrade I need a little advice. First of all, do the 500 series Nvidia cards scale as well as in SLI when compared to AMD's 68xx series? Second question, are the 69xx series of cards known to scale as well as the 68xx series?
Click to expand...

This pretty much describes my 6850 setup to a "T". I'm also looking to upgrade....I've got $125 rebate card, sold a Q6600 + a single 6850 for about $215. That gives me $345 to work with. Was thinking of maybe going dual 7850's for $150.
 
Robstar said:
This pretty much describes my 6850 setup to a "T". I'm also looking to upgrade....I've got $125 rebate card, sold a Q6600 + a single 6850 for about $215. That gives me $345 to work with. Was thinking of maybe going dual 7850's for $150.
Click to expand...

Heh- I'm actually in the same boat as both of you. I was looking more at selling one or both of the 6850s and using my amazon rewards and picking up a 7950/7970. I AM planning on waiting at least until 78xx series is released and possibly Kepler. I'm running into VRAM issues playing on my 3x23" eyefinity setup.
 
Flyinfinni said:
Heh- I'm actually in the same boat as both of you. I was looking more at selling one or both of the 6850s and using my amazon rewards and picking up a 7950/7970. I AM planning on waiting at least until 78xx series is released and possibly Kepler. I'm running into VRAM issues playing on my 3x23" eyefinity setup.
Click to expand...

I'm in a kind-of-similar position. I just sold off my 6870s, and I'm not sure if I should buy a card now to hold me over or work with the integrated until kepler. Right now, I have two monitors, and the integrated card does not display my second monitor after waking up from sleep. Rarargh.
 
After doing the ol' read every review, and looking at every benchmark available, I think I've got my heart set on the 7950's...I mean holy crap, in crossfire it uses less power @ peak load than a 6990. These new cards are amazing...here's to hoping that AMD can match software/driver support like with the 68xx's.
 
Get a 7970, they're great -- Once AMD releases some proper drivers, they'll be even better.
 
Just installed a 7970 last night, but havent had a chance to play with it. I will say from teh few quick benches i have run, this thing is a MONSTER. I have never used anything so fast. Even crossfire 5850's and 6850's dont seem this fluid.
 
erf said:
Without AA I average right around 60fps, but as soon as I enable 4x morph it drops into the 40's...which might amount to v-ram.
Click to expand...

Morphological AntiAliasing has no lvl as 2x, 4x, etc, so if you check Morphological AA and check 4x with override then you will be applying 4xMSAA AND morphological AA.


It is better to not override AA through CCC control panel and instead use either the ingame FXAA, or use an injector (be it FXAA or SMAA); and if you want MSAA use the ingame setting directly.
 
erf said:
After doing the ol' read every review, and looking at every benchmark available, I think I've got my heart set on the 7950's...I mean holy crap, in crossfire it uses less power @ peak load than a 6990. These new cards are amazing...here's to hoping that AMD can match software/driver support like with the 68xx's.
Click to expand...

In addition, this review will blow you away!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/sapphire-radeon-hd-7950-oc.html

- It further shows how fast and awesome the 7950 really is (im not saying the 7970 is not, its insanely fast and awesome too)
but, if you want a more affordable GTX580 true killer go for the 7950 no doubt!
 
Did the exact same upgrade the day the 7970 came out and couldnt be happier. I dont have to worry if a game has a crossfire profile or stuttering. I have mine overclocked to 1125/1575 (dont care for higher) and every game screams at ultra settings. Once in a while i get mid 40's but doesnt happen very happen.
 
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