What 2 cards should I Crossfire?

[Deleted]

Hello guys

Q6600 @ 3.6GHz (with arctic freezer xtreme, getting noctua soon)
8GB Crucial Ballistix 1066MHz
Ati Radeon 4850 1GB

Gonna get new CPU cooler and increase the GHz to maybe 3.8~3.9
Want to crossfire 2 new 6xxx series cards

Which ones should I get? Without bottlenecking my CPU

Any suggestions appreciated

Budget is £300 or $500

[taekvideo]

Your cpu is going to bottleneck the system with 2 crossfired modern cards... just saying. Should still run pretty well, though on cpu-intensive games like WoW it could be a problem.
btw 2x 6950's is a ton of performance for the price... especially if you overclock them 800 -> 950 mhz.

[Nellah]

Any reason you're wanting to Crossfire cards? Are you running a multi-monitor setup? I only ask because I've not run into anything my HD 6950 can't run at 1920x1200 with all settings maxed. (Granted, I don't play many modern games, but in WoW and many other games I play my i5-2500K still bottlenecks it.)

You're probably better off getting a single GTX580 or HD 6970 and SLI/Crossfiring down the road when stuff actually needs it. Keep in mind you'll need a pretty nice power supply for Crossfire on any decent card.

[BicycleMafioso]

Get one HD6950 or HD6970, with 2GiB VRAM, and you can run anything.

[Deleted]

Crossfire 2 6990's, duh.

On a more serious note, Crossfire is not something you actually enjoy having most of the time. I wouldn't take it as an upgrade to an older GPU, I'd only take it if there's no faster card available and yet you need more performance (Non-existant situation really, unless you run 3 1600p monitors)

[OhpUldum]

There has always been debate amongst people who Crossfire or SLi to use two mid range cards vs a single higher end card. For example 2xHD5770's will outperform a single HD5850 or in the 6 series case 2xHD6770 will outperform the 1xHD6850. Considering the budget you have though you would be better off picking up a single HD6950 or GTX570Ti since those will outperform a crossfire HD6770 or nVidia SLi equivalent.

While impractical now I have on order a second Vapor X HD5770 to crossfire my system. I couldn't say no when my distributor said she would give me the last one for $68.

[Deleted]

I really just want the novelty of using crossfire since I've never done it before
And my motherboard supports 2 cards and I want to make use of that feature, so wondering which are the best price/performance cards to get given the limitations of my CPU.

This is my last upgrade until I build a new computer in 1~2 years time.

[BicycleMafioso]

Considering the budget you have though you would be better off picking up a single HD6950 or GTX570Ti since those will outperform a crossfire HD6770 or nVidia SLi equivalent.

Comparing GTX570 (there's no Ti) with HD6950 isn't really fair though. The GTX570 is significantly more expensive, even more expensive than the HD6970.
Also, the 5770 and the 6770 is virtually the same card.

[Aminozuur]

Comparing GTX570 (there's no Ti) with HD6950 isn't really fair though. The GTX570 is significantly more expensive, even more expensive than the HD6970.
Also, the 5770 and the 6770 is virtually the same card.

Here where i'm living the gtx 570 is cheaper then the 6970.

OT: If you want to CF 6950 would be the best. But like ppl are saying alrdy dont do that just if your hungry for fps (or 3d screen/3xscreen). And i dont think you have those because your still running with a Q6600

[Deleted]

Crossfire/SLI really isn't that great a feature because of micro-stutters.

If you have the choice, always opt for a single-GPU. It will give you far better results and a much more seamless gaming experience without having to mess with drivers.

Crossfiring cards is only a good choice if you already have an existing GPU and want to upgrade your performance without wasting it.

Get a Radeon 6950 with 2GB and never look back.

[Deleted]

Here where i'm living the gtx 570 is cheaper then the 6970.

Read it again, he said 6950.

OT: SLI/Xfire is a big old waste of money for the most part. Get a single 6970 or 570, anything else with that CPU will be bottlenecking badly.

[OhpUldum]

Comparing GTX570 (there's no Ti) with HD6950 isn't really fair though. The GTX570 is significantly more expensive, even more expensive than the HD6970.
Also, the 5770 and the 6770 is virtually the same card.

Would appear I mixed up the 560ti and 570.

[Deleted]

I know 1 card is more optimal than 2
But as I said, I really want to try it out.

Would 2 x 6850s be bottlenecked?

[Nellah]

I know 1 card is more optimal than 2
But as I said, I really want to try it out.

Would 2 x 6850s be bottlenecked?

So if I understand this right, you understand that getting one card is a better idea than getting two, yet you want to spend more money and deal with the headaches of SLI/Crossfire as opposed to getting a solution that works with every game out of the box? Seriously, get an HD 6970, then get another one in two years when the HD 6970 can't run some random game at max res/details. It makes so much more sense.

[Sephiracle]

So if I understand this right, you understand that getting one card is a better idea than getting two, yet you want to spend more money and deal with the headaches of SLI/Crossfire as opposed to getting a solution that works with every game out of the box? Seriously, get an HD 6970, then get another one in two years when the HD 6970 can't run some random game at max res/details. It makes so much more sense.

Pretty much this. If you're going to blow money, at least blow it doing an upgrade you'll actually tell a difference in.

[Deleted]

You can unlock the 6950s to a 6970 and still crossfire them.
- but as many allready pointed out, a single card setup will be more stable and still being able to pull anything single monitor 1080p. given you take a 69??

You could also wait for the 7000series to release. rumors say at the end of 2011/ start of 2012

[BicycleMafioso]

You can unlock the 6950s to a 6970 and still crossfire them.
- but as many allready pointed out, a single card setup will be more stable and still being able to pull anything single monitor 1080p. given you take a 69??

You could also wait for the 7000series to release. rumors say at the end of 2011/ start of 2012

No, you can't unlock one unless you bought it in early march or before.

But, you can crossfire a 6950 with a 6970 regardless.
I can handle BF3 with 70+ fps (but, changes will happen, since it's only in alpha), and I have a single 6970.

[heatrage]

Buy one card and upgrade your mobo,ram and cpu.

[Deleted]

not gonna comment on all the other crap, but for £300 you COULD crossfire two xfx radeon 6870HD black editions. they're only about £130 on scan.co.uk which is a great offer for the card.