Dual GPU on a single PCB vs true CrossfireX or SLI

[Lionheart]

Well I either want 2 HD5890's 2gb of course in crossfire or if nvidia's GTX 480's are worth getting and no heat or power consumtion issues, I will consider them as well cause i want 3D

 

[eidairaman1]

Dual GPU board your running off the same slot so the bandwidth will be Limited vs 2 boards in 2 slots. If You have a Single PEG motherboard or do not feel like running 2 cards but want the best Performance- Grab a 5970. Now if you want 2 boards grab 2x 5870s, 5850s.

 

[20mmrain]

Two cards are better than one as far as it goes to when you are talking about the same chip.

For example 5970 has less performance than 2x5870's.

Same with a 4870x2 had less performance than 2x4870's.

But not by that much really. So if your bench marking I would go with the two cards. But if you are just using it for gaming I would go for the single PCB card.

***Off topic***
Unless you want to be weird like me and have a 5870 and save up to xfire it with a 5830..... why would I do such a thing because it's cheaper and I want to see how good I can over clock the 5830 to compare to a 5870. Who knows maybe I will get lucky and get close to a 5870 performance out of a 5830 and for $200 buck less

 

[eidairaman1]

Only Reason the 2x5870s are better than the 5970 is because you have that additional bandwidth at its disposal but i expressed whats best for most users as of Radeon parts since Nv has no DX 11 parts. Also the 5830 is worthless when compared to the 4890.

Two cards are better than one as far as it goes to when you are talking about the same chip.

For example 5970 has less performance than 2x5870's.

Same with a 4870x2 had less performance than 2x4870's.

But not by that much really. So if your bench marking I would go with the two cards. But if you are just using it for gaming I would go for the single PCB card.

***Off topic***
Unless you want to be weird like me and have a 5870 and save up to xfire it with a 5830..... why would I do such a thing because it's cheaper and I want to see how good I can over clock the 5830 to compare to a 5870. Who knows maybe I will get lucky and get close to a 5870 performance out of a 5830 and for $200 buck less

 

[20mmrain]

Only Reason the 2x5870s are better than the 5970 is because you have that additional bandwidth at its disposal but i expressed whats best for most users as of Radeon parts since Nv has no DX 11 parts. Also the 5830 is worthless when compared to the 4890.

First off how is a 5830 worthless compared to a 4890??? I have seen some benches they look pretty close. Also I understand that xfire'n one with a 5870 is not the best idea! But I want to see what happens so don't worry about it! I will sell it when I am done with it and all will be good in the world.

As far as disagreeing with your statement about the 5970 being slower because of band width???? Where the hell did you get that idea from? I never said you were wrong!
I was just answering the original post by the owner of this thread!

All I said is
" So if your bench marking I would go with the two cards. But if you are just using it for gaming I would go for the single PCB card. "

Wow man your going crazy LOL

As far as your comment about NV
" whats best for most users as of Radeon parts since Nv has no DX 11 parts."

I do disagree with that..... the odds are when NV drops ATI parts will go down and that will be a good thing! Also I think you will get similar performance for a better price to NV.

I don't even know where that came from in the first place? I never mentioned anything about NV in my first post.

LOL

 

[wolf]

Today the HD 5970 is indeed much better designed and is shown to be somewhat faster in most cases than 2 x HD 5870's in Crossfire depending on which game you run. But we are not talking about slaughterous performance increases, but minimal at the most.

What reviews have you been reading? if anything it would be slightly faster than two 5850's, as they share equal clockspeeds with a 5970 but lack a small amount of sp's each.

I haven't seen one scrap of a benchmark where a stock 5970 beat two stock 5870's, at least not yet. clock them the same and you might have a different scenario, but how could it even be possible stock for stock.

1x5970 = 2xCypress @ 725/1000 mhz
2x5870 = 2xCypress @ 850/1200 mhz

 

[bill_d]

What reviews have you been reading? if anything it would be slightly faster than two 5850's, as they share equal clockspeeds with a 5970 but lack a small amount of sp's each.

I haven't seen one scrap of a benchmark where a stock 5970 beat two stock 5870's, at least not yet. clock them the same and you might have a different scenario, but how could it even be possible stock for stock.

1x5970 = 2xCypress @ 725/1000 mhz
2x5870 = 2xCypress @ 850/1200 mhz

in a few games at stock and alot more with oc
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_hd5970_lcs/7.htm

 

[Super XP]

For the price the HD 5970 is the better value. Once the HD 5870 goes down in price then Crossfire with HD 5870 would be the better deal.

 

[nt300]

Yes sound s right. And GTX 480 looks like its going to cost much more than HD 5870 with not much performance improvement. But we wait for benchies

 

[Monkey_Business]

Yes sound s right. And GTX 480 looks like its going to cost much more than HD 5870 with not much performance improvement. But we wait for benchies

I thought that NVidia's next generation of graphics cards were going to be named the GeForce GTX 3xx series, not the GTX 4xx series. Why the name change?

How much more performance will a GTX 480 have compared to an HD 5870 or 5970?

 

[nt300]

I thought that NVidia's next generation of graphics cards were going to be named the GeForce GTX 3xx series, not the GTX 4xx series. Why the name change?

How much more performance will a GTX 480 have compared to an HD 5870 or 5970?

Didn’t you hear Nvidia re-brand several GTX 2xx's into GTX 3xx's hoping people won’t find out they buy old GPU's thinking they are new. One reason why I don't buy Nvidia because they are a selfish company. They know Fermi has problems and instead of coming out with the truth they sell off old GPU inventory and trick people making it look new then release the real new Fermi GPU's. In less than a year Nvidia has GTX2xx, 3xx & 4xx, pathetic imo.

Nvidia rebrands yet more GPUs
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/02/24/its-at-it-again-nvidia-rebrands-yet-more-gpus/

 

[btarunr]

Dual GPU on same board is "true SLI/CFX", too. As long as the dual-GPU card is sitting on a x16 link, bandwidth is not a problem. Often it's just the heat, and lower overclocking potential compared to single GPU cards using the same GPUs.

 

[wolf]

in a few games at stock and alot more with oc
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_hd5970_lcs/7.htm

I doubt they re benched every HD5000 series card when they tested this 5970 on the 22nd of February, chances are the linked review is using 10.1/10.2 or maybe even 10.3 preview drivers, and the 5870 crossfire numbers are pulled from an earlier review done with something close to release drivers. Crossfire and even single gpu performance has improved quite a bit since the 5870's landed.

given the speeds, and the identicality of the chips, a stock 5970 just should not ever beat two stock 5870's, using the same system and driver set exactly.

anyone willing to test?

 

[Monkey_Business]

Just like the GeForce 9800 GT is the EXACT same card as the 8800 GT, just re-branded. Fermi could be a huge flop.

 

[nt300]

I doubt they re benched every HD5000 series card when they tested this 5970 on the 22nd of February, chances are the linked review is using 10.1/10.2 or maybe even 10.3 preview drivers, and the 5870 crossfire numbers are pulled from an earlier review done with something close to release drivers. Crossfire and even single gpu performance has improved quite a bit since the 5870's landed.

given the speeds, and the identicality of the chips, a stock 5970 just should not ever beat two stock 5870's, using the same system and driver set exactly.

anyone willing to test?

ATI has not rebranded in many years. The HD 2900 was new, the HD 3870 fixed the HD 2900's design problems, the HD 4870 and now the HD 5870 are based on same design with HD 5000's having better feature and performance. No rebrand at all. Maybe some low end cards were rebrand from the HD 2000's into the HD 3000 series.

Just like the GeForce 9800 GT is the EXACT same card as the 8800 GT, just re-branded. Fermi could be a huge flop.

Fermi is a new design. It's not only a graphics card it will be able to act and perform just like a CPU. Nvidia is tryng to compete with Intel an AMD for both CPU and graphics.
Nvidia is having problems with Fermi in getting it to work right. This what happens when they rush the design. Now they need to redesign and come out with Fermi2 in the future. This Fermi is a test for them and imo a defective test, but Nvidia will tell you otherwise with pr's.

 

[wolf]

ATI has not rebranded in many years. The HD 2900 was new, the HD 3870 fixed the HD 2900's design problems, the HD 4870 and now the HD 5870 are based on same design with HD 5000's having better feature and performance. No rebrand at all. Maybe some low end cards were rebrand from the HD 2000's into the HD 3000 series.

I assume you meant to address Monkey_Business with that, I didn't mention or hint to re branding at all, just the discrepancy of testing two 5870's against a 5970 with drivers that are months apart.

 

[Hayder_Master]

i am try crossfire, two cards sure faster than one with dual GPU but my vote go for one GPU, cuz i see many game don't support dual GPU (crossfire,SLI or X2 card) or increase the performance by a bit like 10-15 FPS and sometimes less

 

[pantherx12]

I haven't seen one scrap of a benchmark where a stock 5970 beat two stock 5870's,z

Gota be said though, on a techy site like this, stock speed does not exist

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Gota be said though, on a techy site like this, stock speed does not exist

Dude, don't make me confused. If we didn't have stock all our OCs would be custom clocks and would result in...

I know what you mean though.



Personally I still don't like dual cards, even on a single PCB but that isn't the debate - if I was going down the route in a new machine I'd most likely go for a single PCB.

 

[nt300]

I assume you meant to address Monkey_Business with that, I didn't mention or hint to re branding at all, just the discrepancy of testing two 5870's against a 5970 with drivers that are months apart.

Yes you right.

 

[Super XP]

Dude, don't make me confused. If we didn't have stock all our OCs would be custom clocks and would result in...

I know what you mean though.



Personally I still don't like dual cards, even on a single PCB but that isn't the debate - if I was going down the route in a new machine I'd most likely go for a single PCB.

Can you imagine the endless possibilities. Imagine AMD releases non-clocked Black Edition PII's that we may OC till it drops. How many people would fry there PII's