would going to 6870 crossfire help?

R

redrage

Limp Gawd
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Sep 23, 2012
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Current build in Sig.

I jumped on the Black Ops 2 wagon and noticed some slow downs at 2560x1440, fps stays pretty high just a quick jump in lag and i get shot in the face or knifed even though i saw them first >.< If i'm streaming as well, forget it. On single player i can max out for a playable game, but I didn't get very far.. the single player is just annoying :-/

If i go to 1920x1080 in a window all is good but i drop the shadows to low and turn down some of the other settings. I normally do this in most games anyway only because In most games i don't like the effect.. yeah i'm odd... but the fact i have too annoys me.

So the question is.. if i get another 6870 crossfire them would I be good?

I'm avoiding current gen, from what i can tell the price for the performance just isn't worth it, if there is a mid-range (around $200) card that is a significant jump in performance I would consider it. I could upgrade and put this 6870 in the GF's computer.
 
Crossfire could help your performance scaling issues with your Dual-DVI setup, as you would have more GPU power to work with. I'm not seeing a power supply in your signature. 6870's are power hungry cards compared to the newer generation of AMD graphics card, so I am just curious to know what's powering your current configuration.
 
Crossfire WOULD help over all but the problem with the 6870 is the 1GB of VRAM. 1440p is one of those resolutions that really needs 2GB+ to be enjoyable, especially with newer games coming out (not to mention next-gen games around the corner).

I would say if you can find a 6870 for cheap (~$100) it would double your performance...but again, you'll run into a VRAM limit quick running 2560x1440.
 
NiHiL8 said:
Crossfire could help your performance scaling issues with your Dual-DVI setup, as you would have more GPU power to work with. I'm not seeing a power supply in your signature. 6870's are power hungry cards compared to the newer generation of AMD graphics card, so I am just curious to know what's powering your current configuration.
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Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171049 CM Silent Pro 1000W.
 
JoeUser said:
Crossfire WOULD help over all but the problem with the 6870 is the 1GB of VRAM. 1440p is one of those resolutions that really needs 2GB+ to be enjoyable, especially with newer games coming out (not to mention next-gen games around the corner).

I would say if you can find a 6870 for cheap (~$100) it would double your performance...but again, you'll run into a VRAM limit quick running 2560x1440.
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hmm.. there was an app i had that showd vram usage... play'n SWTOR at 1440 didn't seem to put much a dent in it.. of course that is an older(and crappy) engine.. wish i could remember what that app was.

wouldn't 2 6870s with 1gb each split up the ram usage?
 
with a game like BO2, you want more Vram. get a 6950+ its such a fast paced game, you need ALL the Vram you can have @ those resolutions, and did a above post say getting crossfire would double your performance? no where near double. but definitely be noticeable. and for splitting ram, As far as my knowledge goes, the RAM on any multi gpu doesnt get used. I could be wrong though
 
The RAM does not get shared nor increased. The only thing that you gain from SLI or CrossFire is dual, triple, or quadruple your GPU power.
 
pliskin679 said:
with a game like BO2, you want more Vram. get a 6950+ its such a fast paced game, you need ALL the Vram you can have @ those resolutions, and did a above post say getting crossfire would double your performance? no where near double. but definitely be noticeable. and for splitting ram, As far as my knowledge goes, the RAM on any multi gpu doesnt get used. I could be wrong though
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Yeah i wouldn't expect double, it still pulls 90-110 FPS according to the in game meter, but just feels sooo sluggish.

that sucks about the ram getting wasted, if true
 
redrage said:
hmm.. there was an app i had that showd vram usage... play'n SWTOR at 1440 didn't seem to put much a dent in it.. of course that is an older(and crappy) engine.. wish i could remember what that app was.

wouldn't 2 6870s with 1gb each split up the ram usage?
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Download MSI afterburner and monitor your usage. I highly doubt Vram is your problem, when you hit the Vram wall you hit it hard and drop to single frames per second in most cases, it hasn't happened to me where I wasn't aware of what was going on like you are describing a small stutter. Its possible a second 6870 might help if you are simply running out of GPU horsepower.

Also, are you suggesting BLOPS2 doesn't use an older, crappy engine? Because I have news for you :D

SLI and Crossfire mirror Vram usage so with two 1GB cards you only have 1GB usable as both have the same texture data stored in them. It it not cumulative.
 
68x0 cards scale very nicely in crossfire, you will notice a difference. Make sure you install the cap for whatever games you are.

as far as the vram thing, I always knew/heard that the vram doesn't scale, but when I load up max Payne 3, it shows I have 2gb available vram. Just one of those weird things I guess
 
I don't know if Blops2 scales it's memory usage upon what's available (like BF3) or if it only uses what it needs, but when I max out settings with 16x csaa (since AMD doesn't do txaa) @ 1080p, my gpu memory usage is around 1600MB. I think there's a very good chance you're running into memory limitations, and crossfire is unlikely to resolve that. I think your best bet would be to sell the card you've got, and then combine that with the funds you were planning on spending for a second 6870, to get something along the lines of a 7950.

I only recommend crossfire or SLI when the best gpu available isn't enough. Don't get me wrong, I love my sli setup, but due to scaling and compatibility issues, you're better off getting the single fastest card you can budget, and then scale up to multiple cards when there isn't a faster gpu option, IMO.
 
OP sell your HD 6870 and get a HD 7950 boost. you are going to get better performance and the consistency of a single GPU. also the HD 6870 with 1 GB VRAM is going to run out of VRAM easily in many modern titles. lesser power and cooler setup. its a no brainer.
 
I like my 6870 crossfire setup but I only game at 1920x1080. Any higher and I'd want the extra vram.
 
I wouldn't be getting rid of the 6870 i would be using it in another PC. I'm not spending 350 to 400$ for a modest gain. (though if there would be a really really good sale i would think about it a little harder).

I considered quad sli for a second, partially cause the GPU processing on Seti (and i think after effects too).. but too overboard for my display setup...

after the good input here and other threads I was looking at, Unless I see a great deal i think i'll just tough it out to see what next gen is going to offer if i have time to game then.

Thanks I appreciate it!
 
An overclocked 7950 should perform very similarly to a pair of 6870s without having to worry about microstutter. I wouldn't go crossfire when you can get the same performance from a single card.

I wouldn't call 6870 to 7950 a modest gain personally.

redrage said:
wouldn't 2 6870s with 1gb each split up the ram usage?
Click to expand...

The information is mirrored between both cards so you'll still have 1GB of usable vram.
 
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