I'm thinking of picking up another 6870 to run in Crossfire and was curious, are there a lot of games supporting this function , or is it losing support? I have the IceQ Turbo 6870, wich overclocked rather well, so I'll indeed pick up another one of the same to match. While some games play flawlessly on Ultra, games like The Witcher 2 seem to only run @ medium to high settings. I'm wondering if another 6870 will help, or is it best to just get a 6970 or 6950? I just didn't want to have to spend that kind of money, especially if running two 6870s will give me a almost equal experience. Thanks for your input.
Is Crossfire worth it and do a lot of games support it?
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- godzillavskong
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- JigglyWiggly_
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- configme
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- Snaptrap
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I had very few issues with my 6950's in CF, but then again I currently only have about 7 games, although I have been using CF for years with only about 4 games that I had trouble with. Most of the problems were with the games not supporting multi-gpu setups and others simply required driver updates. These days both brands are well supported. If you like AMD products, then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't use CF.
- JigglyWiggly_
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- braddlesturbo
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I have xfire 6870's at the moment and can max The Witcher 2 (no ubersampling). Only had some issues in a couple of games so I turned it off and the games work fine. Definately reccomend as a cheap way to boost visuals.
- DevilMightCry
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- Postmortem123
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I've never had many problems with either Crossfire or SLI.
The only game I had really bad Crossfire scaling on was Witcher 1 (the second runs beautifully).
- xXDrPainXx
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- Yams1980
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- mitu123
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Um, it does support SLI, I own it and tried it, I noticed how much of an increase it went:I've seen many benchmarks with Skyrim and it doesn't support SLI or Crossfire very well, if at all. So that game has no benefit from more then one card I can see
Yams1980
Without SLI:

With it:

- Yams1980
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- godzillavskong
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Cool. Looking to do it next week. Most of the games I've played can run at high, or ultra, with The Witcher 2 being the exception. Either that game is just buggy, or requires a lot of gpu power.Hopefully this other 6870 will help.I have xfire 6870's at the moment and can max The Witcher 2 (no ubersampling). Only had some issues in a couple of games so I turned it off and the games work fine. Definately reccomend as a cheap way to boost visuals.
braddlesturbo
- mitu123
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On my old monitor it was 1600x900, but I now game at 1920x1200 and there isn't a huge difference in drop of FPS either with SLI between the res though it depends on the area.I was wondering what resolution you were running Skyrim at in those screenshots?
Yams1980
- DevilMightCry
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Which ones? I had Sapphire 6870 CF, and the only game I had issues with was Skyrim.A few of my games have bad CFX support. I wouldn't suggest it.
configme
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- blaznwiipspman1
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Um, it does support SLI, I own it and tried it, I noticed how much of an increase it went:[QUOTE="Yams1980"]
I've seen many benchmarks with Skyrim and it doesn't support SLI or Crossfire very well, if at all. So that game has no benefit from more then one card I can see
mitu123
Without SLI:

With it:

is this a trick question? Am I supposed to see something different from picture #1 to #2?
- DevilMightCry
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- streetridaz
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A "few" of your games have had bad crossfire support so you wouldn't suggest it. What about the games that do support it.....LMAO when you actually come a cross a program that doesn't support crossfire and it is actually causing negative scaling........then you just turn off crossfire mode and wait for AMD to release a cap for it. Not that big of a deal I would rather rock crossfire then buy a single card for more money and not have better performance. I paid $515 for my 2gb 6950 CFX setup and it beats a 7970 buy a significant margin. I have very very few issues with my crossfire setup. The worst thing i get from time to time is micro stuttering but i'm never had a very bad case of it.A few of my games have bad CFX support. I wouldn't suggest it.
configme
- streetridaz
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Um, it does support SLI, I own it and tried it, I noticed how much of an increase it went:[QUOTE="mitu123"]
[QUOTE="Yams1980"]
I've seen many benchmarks with Skyrim and it doesn't support SLI or Crossfire very well, if at all. So that game has no benefit from more then one card I can see
blaznwiipspman1
Without SLI:

With it:

is this a trick question? Am I supposed to see something different from picture #1 to #2?
yeah double the frame rate. LOL Look at the on screen display in the top left- mitu123
- Member Since: August 20, 2006
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Um, it does support SLI, I own it and tried it, I noticed how much of an increase it went:[QUOTE="mitu123"]
[QUOTE="Yams1980"]
I've seen many benchmarks with Skyrim and it doesn't support SLI or Crossfire very well, if at all. So that game has no benefit from more then one card I can see
blaznwiipspman1
Without SLI:

With it:

is this a trick question? Am I supposed to see something different from picture #1 to #2?
Top screen is 65FPS and on 1 460, bottom screen is 119FPS and on 2 460s, as shown in the top left of the screens.- godzillavskong
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[QUOTE="configme"]A "few" of your games have had bad crossfire support so you wouldn't suggest it. What about the games that do support it.....LMAO when you actually come a cross a program that doesn't support crossfire and it is actually causing negative scaling........then you just turn off crossfire mode and wait for AMD to release a cap for it. Not that big of a deal I would rather rock crossfire then buy a single card for more money and not have better performance. I paid $515 for my 2gb 6950 CFX setup and it beats a 7970 buy a significant margin. I have very very few issues with my crossfire setup. The worst thing i get from time to time is micro stuttering but i'm never had a very bad case of it. Yeah, it seems like the positives outweigh the negatives, and I'll be getting another 6870 to Crossfire next weekend. I just hope a 600 watt powersupply is enough.A few of my games have bad CFX support. I wouldn't suggest it.
streetridaz
- DevilMightCry
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I use a 630w, and it ran fine. What do you have?DevilMightCry600watt.
- godzillavskong
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Is it harder for games to run on a bigger screen, instead of a more traditional monitor, say something like a 19-26in? I'm using my 55in Toshiba LED as my monitor also and wondered if it would put more strain on the card?
- DevilMightCry
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[QUOTE="DevilMightCry"]I use a 630w, and it ran fine. What do you have?godzillavskong600watt. What specific PSU do you have?
- godzillavskong
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[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="DevilMightCry"]I use a 630w, and it ran fine. What do you have?DevilMightCry600watt. What specific PSU do you have? It is a ULtra pwr supply. It wasn't very expensive. Maybe a bad call on my part, seeing as how everything else depends on it, and I shouldn't risk cutting any corners. I'm running a FX-6100 ,6870vc, 8gb DDR3@1600mhz in dual mode. I've purchased 3 of these power supplies and they've performed well so far. I bought each of my son's one. One has a hd6850 and the other has a gtx460. The model # is LS600. It has a lifetime warranty. Says it's 72% efficiency on a typical load.
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- godzillavskong
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Well, I say buy another 6870, run a stress test, and if you get BSODs, or shutdowns, buy another PSU (good one can be had under $89).DevilMightCryCool. Will do. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully it will do ok. I should invest in another one anyways. Maybe a good name brand with at least 700-800 watts.I see I can get the HIS hd6950 IceQ card for about 280 and I was seriously thinking about it, but I think I'll just go with the HIS 6870 IceQ to pair with my other one just to see how it performs. If it doesn't perform up to par I'll just give it to my son and grab the 6950. I was thinking of pairing his 6850 with my 6870 and running them in Crossfire just to see how they ran. Just seemed like a little too much work to do seeing as how I'll be picking the 6870 up in less than a week.
- godzillavskong
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Well, I say buy another 6870, run a stress test, and if you get BSODs, or shutdowns, buy another PSU (good one can be had under $89).DevilMightCryDo you know if playing games on a bigger screen stresses the card out more?Just wondering because I seemed to remember being able to run The Witcher 2 on pretty high settings on my monitor, but it can only get medium, to slightly high on my 55in before the frame rate dies.
- DevilMightCry
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[QUOTE="DevilMightCry"]Well, I say buy another 6870, run a stress test, and if you get BSODs, or shutdowns, buy another PSU (good one can be had under $89).godzillavskongDo you know if playing games on a bigger screen stresses the card out more?Just wondering because I seemed to remember being able to run The Witcher 2 on pretty high settings on my monitor, but it can only get medium, to slightly high on my 55in before the frame rate dies. It does. Especially with a higher resolution + bigger screen.
- godzillavskong
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[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="DevilMightCry"]Well, I say buy another 6870, run a stress test, and if you get BSODs, or shutdowns, buy another PSU (good one can be had under $89).DevilMightCryDo you know if playing games on a bigger screen stresses the card out more?Just wondering because I seemed to remember being able to run The Witcher 2 on pretty high settings on my monitor, but it can only get medium, to slightly high on my 55in before the frame rate dies. It does. Especially with a higher resolution + bigger screen. Yeah. I may go back to my 20in HP monitor. I'll leave the 55in for the PS3 and the 360. The HP monitor is capable of 1400 x 900, so that'll be fine for now. For some reason I prefer that with the PC anyways. Not sure why. I guess I get sick of having to type on my coffee table or sofa with this wireless keyboard and mouse.
- thekey
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I'm thinking of picking up another 6870 to run in Crossfire and was curious, are there a lot of games supporting this function , or is it losing support? I have the IceQ Turbo 6870, wich overclocked rather well, so I'll indeed pick up another one of the same to match. While some games play flawlessly on Ultra, games like The Witcher 2 seem to only run @ medium to high settings. I'm wondering if another 6870 will help, or is it best to just get a 6970 or 6950? I just didn't want to have to spend that kind of money, especially if running two 6870s will give me a almost equal experience. Thanks for your input.
godzillavskong
Yes crossfire is worth it A pair of HD7870's will definately do it. Also you can try pairing up some HD 7950's will absolutely do it.
- kraken2109
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[QUOTE="godzillavskong"]
I'm thinking of picking up another 6870 to run in Crossfire and was curious, are there a lot of games supporting this function , or is it losing support? I have the IceQ Turbo 6870, wich overclocked rather well, so I'll indeed pick up another one of the same to match. While some games play flawlessly on Ultra, games like The Witcher 2 seem to only run @ medium to high settings. I'm wondering if another 6870 will help, or is it best to just get a 6970 or 6950? I just didn't want to have to spend that kind of money, especially if running two 6870s will give me a almost equal experience. Thanks for your input.
thekey
Yes crossfire is worth it A pair of HD7870's will definately do it. Also you can try pairing up some HD 7950's will absolutely do it.
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