would my cpu bottleneck crossfire ?

[chaotic_uk]

would my athlon x2 6000 @3.2ghz be a bottleneck if i were to go for a crossfire setup ? , which would be my better option .

1: 3870 + 3850
2: 3870 + 3870

i ask this cause my present card is only just over 3 months old , i also have a spare mobo that has 8x + 8x crossfire support . my gfx card is this which is the gddr3 overclocked version of the 3870xt , it is clocked @ 870/2000 atm

 

[wolf2009]

biggest bottleneck would be the resolution under 1920x1080 for those cards IMO . what res you play at ?

 

[MKmods]

I would sell the 3870 and buy a 4850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747

 

[chaotic_uk]

max res of my monitor is 1680x1050 , when i turn on aa my fps is halfed . this is why i ask if going crossfire would help , at this time the 4850 is out of the question atm

 

[Ketxxx]

Whats your full system specs?

 

[chaotic_uk]

my full specs :

Processor: A64 X2 6000+
Videocard: Gecube HD3870XT GDDR3 OC
Motherboard: Gigabyte ga-ma770-ds3 (but have a crossfire board)
Memory: corsair xms2 ddr2-800 4x1gb
Soundcard: onboard hd sound
PSU: 700W (dual 12v 23amp rails)
Storage: Hitachi 7K160 Deskstar sata2
Case: coolermaster cm690
OS: windows xp pro sp3

 

[MKmods]

http://www.overclock.net/ati/350770-crossfire-2x-3870-s-one-4850-a.html
(this is an easy choice)

 

[Ketxxx]

As long as your running the highest stable CPU clock, FSB and memory frequency, I'd say your setup should be fine.

 

[farlex85]

Yeah I'd say sell it for a 4850 too. You will end up paying less that way for the same performance, w/ less heat and issues. Then if need be you can add another one of those later.

 

[candle_86]

i vote for 4850 also, ive had headaches with my AMD+Crossfire setup, my 3dmarks only go up 1000 points and my FPS didnt get much better in games either

 

[chaotic_uk]

i thought the 4850's ran to hot ? , but how much faster is the 4850 compaired to the 3870 . or should i just save up longer and get the 4870 ?

 

[JrRacinFan]

Would not neccessarily be bottlenecked. You will notice most modern cpu's are bottlenecking any multi-gpu setup.

EDIT: If you can get the second HD3870 cheap enough it would prove itself as a great upgrade. Although, the HD4850 would be really good to have too.

 

[MKmods]

i thought the 4850's ran to hot ? , but how much faster is the 4850 compaired to the 3870 . or should i just save up longer and get the 4870 ?

every card runs too hot if your case cooling is poor.

The 4870 is up to you, looks like the 4850 is pretty damn nice for the price. Add 1 more later on and thats a pretty kick ass comp.

The 4800 series is a lot more advanced that the 3800 series, why go backwards?

 

[chaotic_uk]

so a single card setup is the best option ? , i am leaning to the 4870 if i can find one at the right price in the uk . how much should i pay for the 4850 in the uk ?

 

[JrRacinFan]

so a single card setup is the best option ? , i am leaning to the 4870 if i can find one at the right price in the uk

I would say so. But not downing crossfire as a plus as it is a really good technology to have.

 

[chaotic_uk]

thx for the replies , cheapest 4850 in my local area is £141 and the 4870 is £195

 

[MKmods]

go with the 4850, its an excellent card

 

[Andy_007]

i thought the 4850's ran to hot ? , but how much faster is the 4850 compaired to the 3870 . or should i just save up longer and get the 4870 ?

The 4850's run quite hot with the default fan profiles but you can change the fan speed by modding the CCC profiles, my 4850 runs at only 65 degrees max at 60% fan speed, while been not to loud, heres a review that compares the 4850 and the 3870 http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.expreview.com%2Ftopic%2F2008-06-24%2F1214282167d9273.html&hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&sl=zh-CN&tl=en.

 

[chaotic_uk]

thx for the review , here is my 3dmark06 results . good or bad ? , this is run @ stock cpu speeds

 

[rick22]

Because you made a mistake not getting an INTEL..........lol

 

[chaotic_uk]

had the cpu for over a year now (i think )

 

[Andy_007]

thx for the review , here is my 3dmark06 results . good or bad ? , this is run @ stock cpu speeds

That seems a pretty good score, maybe try to clock up you CPU, With my 4850 i got ~10500 @2.95ghz then i clocked it up to 3.25ghz and got 11300, 800 extra 3Dmark for just overclocking the CPU.

 

[chaotic_uk]

just tried overclocking the cpu , it failed for some reason @3.1 . on my old asrock board i could get 3.2ghz , but on this new board i cannot overclock at all

 

[CrackerJack]

Hope this helps some.
There's alittle bit of a bottleneck, but not much. Consider the card is oc just alittle bit. And the the cpu is oc to 3.3Ghz. But in game result's is what really matter's, to most. But there's always gonna be some to a little botteneck with cpu's.
http://www.hwbot.org/result.do?resultId=690314

 

[Ketxxx]

so a single card setup is the best option ? , i am leaning to the 4870 if i can find one at the right price in the uk . how much should i pay for the 4850 in the uk ?

4850 can be had for about £120 inc. postage, a 4870 around £170 inc. postage.