Crossfire vs Single

[demon9374]

Got a 6950 2GB (has switch for dual bios) guessing I've got the one that can be flashed/unlocked to a 6970.

Anywho.

I have 2 x 5850's & 1 x 5830

Current set up uses just the 2; 5850's

I'm off to buy some shizzle today.

Dunno what to use in my main rig. 3 x 5 series (the 5850's will work at 5830 performance) or would the 6950 2GB beast even all 3 of those?

[Jayy]

I had a 6990 4GB which was a dual GPU card and essentially just 2 x 6970s in a single card. My friend had a 6990 and a 6970 which was the equivalent of a tri-fire setup.

I recently sold that and bought a GTX680 4GB card. Have I noticed any difference switching from a 4GB dual GPU card to a 4GB single GPU card? Yes! A hell of a lot on most games, everything is smoother and more fluid.

You do get microstutter from crossfire/SLi configurations and some games don't run well with a CF/SLi setup anyway.

Why don't you sell the 3 5xxx series cards and buy something more powerful in a single card?

[Seb]

nVidia will have released their K20 based GPU before the end of the month, hold fire and pick up a bargain GTX 680 once it hits imo.

Otherwise Jay has it covered really, nVidia's solution is currently a little more refined than AMDs but both vendors are putting quite some effort into fixing this issue as of late.
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2010 Triumph 1050 Sprint ST

[demon9374]

None of it's for what you think it's for lol

I managed to pick up a 6950 2GB cheap. I have 3 x 5 Series lying around, I bought a PSU, CPU & Mobo today.

1 will be for living room 50" 1080p gaming & movies.

1 which is my current is my main rig hooked up to a monitor in 1080p, I guess the 1GB vs 2GB is void at this resolution.

I'm just trying to figure which way round to set the whole thing up.

I sit at my main pc/desk most of the time, it's probably where I'll do most gaming on the PC.

Whereas in the living room, not much time is spent in there, but I'll always have the option to game in there with my 360 pad/wireless receiver on a 50" 3D.

Also added the optical audio for 5.1 Dobly/DTS & 1080p film watching (rather than streaming through xbox/long wires from room to room).

My mobo has 2 x PCIe slots

New mobo has 3, so the 5 series are going in this one.

New shiny stuff makes me want to have it as my main rig with 3 way Crossfire & stick the 6950 onto the TV rig.

But other things, such as reinstalling windows twice when I could do it the once put me off certain configs.

Too many combinations, can't make my mind up lol.

I think, after pondering at work/commute home.

Living Room:
New CPU (Pentium Dual Core)
New Mobo
3 x 5XXX
New PSU (have no choice, more PCIe connectors)

Bedroom Room:
Old CPU (i5 2500k Sandybridge)
Old Mobo
2GB 6950
Old PSU

As I'm writing, it's the hard drive that's mucking it up.

Currently in my rig is a:
1TB (Windows 7 Boot, Movies, 100GB left)
2TB (Games galore, 500GB left)

I want the movies on Living Room rig.
I want games on Bedroom rig.

Which means using the 1TB of the new mobo (requires reinstall of Windows).. Also means install of windows on the 2TB for my old mobo & lots of mucking about downloading drivers & software again.

So I've come to conclusion that to avoid as much mucking about, it'll have to be..

Living Room:
Old Mobo
New CPU
1TB HDD
2GB 6950
Old PSU

Bed Room:
New Mobo
Old CPU
2TB HDD
3 x 5XXX
New PSU

I could just stream, but I'm trying to avoid that, I use the PC for tasks which makes films go out of sync when streaming. And there's not enough space on the 2TB to put my films, whatever goes in the living room needs the 1TB with films on, preferably avoiding the need to reinstall windows on it due to new motherboard.


Bleh, long winded post. In my head it makes sense. I'll think of something lol