Potential GPU upgrade in the future.

[chris89]

Just really after suggestions at the moment to what would be the best GPU upgrades to go with, but most likely won't be done nearer to November time period.

Currently using Two Power Colour HD4870's 1GB verisons (Reference cooler ones).

Cards i have been looking at are the HD6850 or 6870 which i would be able to afford to crossfire if go with that option.

If the HD6950 would be able to just get one card. I am willing to go away from ATI to Nvidia but rather be able to keep the option to crossfire though.

Other details. Gigabyte 890FX UD5 rev 2.0 mobo, Phenom II 965 atm at stock speed, and Corsair Venagence 8gb, with a Galaxy 850W PSU

Chris

 

[EarthDog]

If you are on a single 1920x1200 or less monitor, there isnt a reason to Crossfire or SLI in the first place to be honest. A single card can EASILY pound through that resolution. Less power consumption, less potential hassle on waiting profiles and performance gains, and you get 100% scaling all the time with one card.

That said, grab a 6950/6970 2GB and call it a day or a GTX570.

 

[douglatins]

Double ifs hehe, i would get the best you can afford and not go the crossfire setup, i dislike stuttering.
Get a 6900 or a 560+ card, whatever fits your budget

 

[Widjaja]

+1 with a single 69xx series GPU.
But I favor single GPU over dual GPU setup.

I do not see the point in getting another dual GPU setup if you can afford something better with a single card.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

well thats the thing

2x 4870 1gbs might not be that fast but they are 1gb gpus

so heres the thing a single 6950 is about 2-3% faster then a 5870 it just has 2gb of ram

but a 4870x2 is 3-4% faster stock vs a 5870 so a 6950 gives him the same frame rate just DX11 so hes not really gaining any performance

usually you wait every other generation to upgrade for maximum benefit sadly 5000 to 6000 series was a refesh not a true new series meaning the 7000 series would be what the OP would shoot for if he wanted single GPU goodness

since a 5870 / 5850 xfire is close to 5970 and 6850 xfire is about the same he would get a 30% performance boost going to Crossfire 68xx series

AND since a Phenom II 965 will bottleneck higher end gpus in crossfire / sli its a moot point, OP is better off saving for a full system swap down the road.

Bad Company 2 kinda proves that point with 2x 5850s giving the same frame rate as 2x 6970s even when overclocked but swapping to an Intel 2500k increased frame rate by double (former 965 + 790fxt UD5P user here ) gotta say 2x gpus in xfire on amd wont bring you magical goodness, so best option is to wait and go for a full system swap later. in terms of cost effectivness anyway. as a single 6950 on an Intel 2500k will give the same frame rate as 2x 6950s in crossfire on a 965be quad, not the end all be all but BC2 is multi threaded and uses dual gpus well and kinda shows the bottleneck which is mostly a memory subsystem, i might be going a bit to in depth for the OP but information is better shared then kept secret.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I'm using a single 1gb 6850 at 1920x1080 and it seems fine on games.

 

[Inceptor]

Listen to Crazyeyesreaper, you must.

Wait for the 7000 series Radeons.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Listen to Crazyeyesreaper, you must.

Wait for the 7000 series Radeons.

Theres no guarentee that they will b kickass but im hoping!

 

[chris89]

Thank you for the replies

Listen to Crazyeyesreaper, you must.

Wait for the 7000 series Radeons.

I was going to do that anyway honestly as would push down all the other prices and also to see the performance figures of the HD7xxxx series.

Chris