• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Should I go for a 7950 crossfire setup

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
The problem is I have the money now and I thought AMD wasn't releasing til the end of the year which usually means we'll see them available the beginning of next year.

The 7970 GHz will remain the top model for the rest of the year, according to AMD. The lower-end GPUs will get updates, the first of which was launched today, the 7790. I do not expect anything other than an official reference 7990 card at the high-end. AMD was pretty forthcoming with that sort of info just before the Titan launch. They were pretty open that they could care less about the Titan cards, and weren't going to release anything to compete with it. I glad they didn't. :laugh:
 
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
4,966 (0.92/day)
System Name i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s) GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage 2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s) 1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming
Buy the 7950's. What a bunch of asshats, they didn't even read your post fully.:shadedshu Thanks guys, for your AWESOME help.:shadedshu

I read the post, I knew he was using eyefinity, I still don't think it's worth $600+ to upgrade from 6970s. You're welcome ;)
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
I read the post, I knew he was using eyefinity, I still don't think it's worth $600+ to upgrade from 6970s. You're welcome ;)

Yea I too did not like being called an asshat but if he can factor in the price of selling the 6950s and the length of time the 7xxx series will last then it will be worth it in the long run so dave is right (not the ass hat part LOL )
 
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
4,966 (0.92/day)
System Name i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s) GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage 2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s) 1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming
yeah then you're looking at a $300 upgrade, which would definitely be reasonable. that i did not think of, but that doesn't mean i'm an asshat :) dave's just gotta be having a bad day.... or else ;)
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
yeah then you're looking at a $300 upgrade, which would definitely be reasonable. that i did not think of, but that doesn't mean i'm an asshat :) dave's just gotta be having a bad day.... or else ;)

Its dave, if it ain't ass hats its penises of random Chinese take out dinner voices :)
 
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
4,966 (0.92/day)
System Name i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s) GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage 2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s) 1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
I read the post, I knew he was using eyefinity, I still don't think it's worth $600+ to upgrade from 6970s. You're welcome ;)

Do you really take me all that seriously? You shouldn't. Perfect example of why. :roll: Brandon gets it.

Anyway, TombRaider is BARELY playable with dual 7950's in Eyefinity. I doubt 6950's are capable. I'll find out about Bioshock when it releases. That reminds me..RE6 is today, I should fire it up.

OF course, you can drop details and such, but I don't think that's what Kenkicker here was asking.

With selling old hardware and games from AMD's current promos, this upgrade is virtually free. I see no reason to not do it, at all, for an Eyefinity user, and waiting much longer to upgrade is only going to make it cost more as value for the 6950s drops, as Brandon kinda mentioned. You can get 7950's for $269 or so, so even you're $300 is a bit high, I think. If you sell al lteh games, and for a decent amount, that drops to an easy $150 or so.

AMD cards are holding high resale value because of GPU crunching. They aren't so good at FAH...but...anything else...especially password hacking...or should I say Bitcoin? :p
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
4,966 (0.92/day)
System Name i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s) GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage 2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s) 1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming
yeah that's much better than I had in my head... My last 3 upgrades my parts have gone to family so I haven't sold crap, I guess I kinda forgot that was possible :) Once you take that into account you are definitely right, and I would go for it myself.

as for you dave... i know you're just an asshat yourself, I'll make sure to just ignore it from now on ;) :)
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,207 (0.88/day)
System Name Addison Clark
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x3D
Motherboard Asus Strix X670E-I Gaming
Cooling Custom Bykski loop CPU and GPU
Memory G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s) LG 32" 1440p
Case Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s) Asus Hive
Power Supply Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard Corsair K95 Platnium
Software Win 11 Pro
Anyway, TombRaider is BARELY playable with dual 7950's in Eyefinity. I doubt 6950's are capable. I'll find out about Bioshock when it releases. That reminds me..RE6 is today, I should fire it up.

So now your trying to talk me into 3 :D

I debated going to 3 6970's but the price people want for them on ebay is so close to just buying a 7950.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
as for you dave... i know you're just an asshat yourself, I'll make sure to just ignore it from now on ;) :)


Heh. As you know, when it comes to business, I'm all business. But yeah, I'm a bit rough around the edges when it's not business. That's just my personality, and I'm not gonna hide who I am. :p I don't really mean anything by such comments anyway, other than to grab attention.

So now your trying to talk me into 3 :D

I debated going to 3 6970's but the price people want for them on ebay is so close to just buying a 7950.

I cannot recommend 3 cards right now, due to driver issues. I have four cards.

And yeah, like I said, because of GPU crunching, high-end AMD cards are really good, far better than NVidia right now, due to them having lots of internal cache. The lower-end models don't have that cache, just like low-end CPUs, so those cards have not retained their value. Seriously, AMD has always had a very good design for compute, but NVidia's muscle In the gaming market and in FAH made everyone ignore them. I started GPU crunching when it was first available, on AMD card, not Nvidia, so I knew what was going on, but whatever. Today, programmers are really maing use of compute, so that cannot be hidden.
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
So now your trying to talk me into 3 :D

I debated going to 3 6970's but the price people want for them on ebay is so close to just buying a 7950.

LOL I will sell you two! HAHA 4 6950's (If a motherboard would handle that) would be interesting.
 
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
4,966 (0.92/day)
System Name i7-PC / HTPC / iMac
Processor i7 3820 / Phenom II 940
Motherboard GIGABYTE G1.ASSASSIN2 / M3A79-T Deluxe
Cooling Corsair Hydro H100i / Scythe II (HS only)
Memory G.SKILL Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600mhz / 4GB DDR2 1066 (@800) Corsair Dominator
Video Card(s) GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB / GB Radeon HD 7950s 3GB
Storage 2x 80GB Intel X-25, 2x600gb SATA, 1x1tb 5400RPM storage /1x600GB, 3x500GB,1x160,1x120 SATA
Display(s) 1x 27" Yamakasi / Vizio 42" HDTV
Case Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 / Antec 900
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker 7.1 / Onboard and HDMI from ATi Card
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W / 610W
Software Ubuntu / Windows 8.1 Pro / OS X / PHPStorm / Gaming
Heh. As you know, when it comes to business, I'm all business. But yeah, I'm a bit rough around the edges when it's not business. That's just my personality, and I'm not gonna hide who I am. :p I don't really mean anything by such comments anyway, other than to grab attention.

yeah I get it, I knew you were... funny ;) but I guess I never saw it come out like that before, it's really no big deal i do much worse more often :)
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,207 (0.88/day)
System Name Addison Clark
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x3D
Motherboard Asus Strix X670E-I Gaming
Cooling Custom Bykski loop CPU and GPU
Memory G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s) LG 32" 1440p
Case Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s) Asus Hive
Power Supply Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard Corsair K95 Platnium
Software Win 11 Pro
LOL I will sell you two! HAHA 4 6950's (If a motherboard would handle that) would be interesting.

My board would definitely handle 2 more video cards as long as I pull the GTX 465 but my daughter likes the physx in Alice:Madness Returns.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
LOL I will sell you two! HAHA 4 6950's (If a motherboard would handle that) would be interesting.

remember...I sold you my fourth.


3 6950's is OK, but again ,there is still some issues with drivers, but not as nearly as much s the 7-series seems to have. Of course, using Eyefinity is only going to make that even more of an issue. I so wish AMD has just released the MST boxes for Eyefinity.
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
remember...I sold you my fourth.


3 6950's is OK, but again ,there is still some issues with drivers, but not as nearly as much s the 7-series seems to have. Of course, using Eyefinity is only going to make that even more of an issue. I so wish AMD has just released the MST boxes for Eyefinity.

OH YEA!!! I totally forgot about you having four! HAHAHA!
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
OH YEA!!! I totally forgot about you having four! HAHAHA!

I've run 4 GPUs of every generation since the 3870x2. I prefer separate cards rather than two on a stick, so that I get the chance to easily try every config by simply removing cards. Now we've got boards like the ASUS Maximus V Extreme that allows disabling GPUs with switches on the board, too, but still, the biggest issue that MUST be dealt with when going over two cards is the heat these GPUs produce when loaded fully. All these aftermarket coolers dump their heat inside the case, which increases the temps at each card just by heating the ambient air, never mind by convection. I don't see any point at all to watercooling a CPU, but GPUs...you really gotta when going over two cards. That increases the cost substantially.

it's really no big deal i do much worse more often

I quit smoking.


:roll:


Seriously though. I'm chemically different. :p
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
6,770 (0.98/day)
Location
Republic of Asia (a.k.a Irvine), CA
System Name ---
Processor FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s) Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s) 3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s) Built-in Realtek
Power Supply Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
So now your trying to talk me into 3 :D

I debated going to 3 6970's but the price people want for them on ebay is so close to just buying a 7950.

I have Sapphire 6970 just 29 days old and Gigabyte Windforce 7950 3 days old. Trying to decide which one to keep.

With new 13.1 drivers I see better performance on 6970 even on BF3 Ultra settings (almost close to 7950), in certain maps 7950 struggles during start of the game like goes near to 30 FPS and then climb back to 60s. 6970 I don't see that.

pm me, I will give you pretty good deal

:toast:
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.62/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
The problem is I have the money now and I thought AMD wasn't releasing til the end of the year which usually means we'll see them available the beginning of next year.

well put that money in a piggy bank
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
Well ken, I jumped on the same bandwagon as you! I have a 7970 on its way tomorrow! I am excited
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,207 (0.88/day)
System Name Addison Clark
Processor Ryzen 9 7950x3D
Motherboard Asus Strix X670E-I Gaming
Cooling Custom Bykski loop CPU and GPU
Memory G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s) LG 32" 1440p
Case Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s) Asus Hive
Power Supply Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard Corsair K95 Platnium
Software Win 11 Pro
Well ken, I jumped on the same bandwagon as you! I have a 7970 on its way tomorrow! I am excited

Awesome. I just purchased the Gigabyte 7950. Once I get some money for the 6970's then I'll get another.
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2011
Messages
217 (0.05/day)
Location
Ottawa, Canada
System Name Current Rig
Processor Intel 12700K@5.1GHz
Motherboard MSI Pro Z790-P
Cooling Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 360mm
Memory 2x16GB DDR5-6000 G.Skill Trident Z RGB
Video Card(s) MSI Gaming X Trio 6800 16GB
Storage 1TB SSD
Case Cooler Master Storm Striker
Power Supply Antec True Power 750w
Keyboard IBM Model 'M"
Awesome. I just purchased the Gigabyte 7950. Once I get some money for the 6970's then I'll get another.

Good man. That's what I bought, too. Flashed mine using Gigabyte 7970 bios to 1GHz core/1375 memory. You can overclock more with software, but I like booting up with 1GHz on the core just to start with. Thinking of grabbing another one for crossfire.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
6,770 (0.98/day)
Location
Republic of Asia (a.k.a Irvine), CA
System Name ---
Processor FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s) Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s) 3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s) Built-in Realtek
Power Supply Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Good man. That's what I bought, too. Flashed mine using Gigabyte 7970 bios to 1GHz core/1375 memory. You can overclock more with software, but I like booting up with 1GHz on the core just to start with. Thinking of grabbing another one for crossfire.

can u unlock to a 7970?
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.62/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
can u unlock to a 7970?

no, there is no extra pipes/shaders to unlock, if you have a factory card you can maybe attempt to put the GHz Edition firmware on
 

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
19,542 (3.68/day)
After the discussion with dave today I think I will leave mine at stock bios cause of the issues that flashing could cause. 925Mhz is fine for me but I believe it should do 1Ghz on stock voltage.
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.62/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
After the discussion with dave today I think I will leave mine at stock bios cause of the issues that flashing could cause. 925Mhz is fine for me but I believe it should do 1Ghz on stock voltage.

yeah why break something that is already working?

normally youd have to increase voltage to sustain certain clocks.
 
Top