Is it worth going dual 7950s?

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pats478

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Apr 20, 2013
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Hey all,

So a few months ago, I upgraded some of my PC components, new graphics card, RAM, processor, and a SSD. I moved my PC down to my basement and I have it hooked up via HDMI to my 46 inch Samsung LED 1080P 120 Hrz TV....Playing Skyrim and Battlefield 3 maxed out sure look pretty :)

No OC'ing done, everything is set on factory still.

That being said, I'm considering throwing in another 7950 simply because I have the budget and because I can claim a portion of the price through my work thanks to my benefits and save some coin!

Some questions I have are:

Stability issues with another 7950? I've of horror stories involving ATI Crossfire

Will I notice any performance or even visual upgrades if I was to throw in another card especially considering how I'm playing on my TV and not a conventional monitor?

I'd imagine upgrading to a bigger tower with more ventilation and fans wouldn't be a bad idea, thoughts, comments on this?

Is my power supply adequate enough to handle both cards?

Is another card pointless because of potential bottlenecking?

I'd appreciate any answers, tips and suggestions on this!

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This is my current set up:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AM3 CPU 3.4GHzm 6MB Cache, 2000MHz

Asus M4A785TD-V EVO (AM3)

HyperX blu 8GB DDR3-1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 4GB)

HyperX 3K Series SATA III Solid State Drive, 120GB w/ 2.5" Adapter

Seagate SATA II 500 GB Hard drive @ 7200 RPM

XFX Radeon HD 7950 Double D Black Edition 3GB PCI-E w/ DVI, HDMI, Dual DP

Antec Earthwatts 650 Watts

Antec 300 Gaming Tower (2 Factory fans included, I added 3 additional ones)

Samsung 46 inch 1080P 120 Hrz LED TV

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
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Solution
sincreator
If you plan to add a second video card, I would seriously upgrade your motherboard and cpu first. I suspect that the PH II you have will bottleneck pretty bad with 2 x 7950. I only have one 7950 and my x6 1090t holds it back in certain games, so I would think the second card really won't add a whole lot to most titles.

If you do grab a motherboard and CPU to run crossfire, I highly suggest getting an i5/i7 intel chip. Here is why: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407-9.html

Look at F1 2012 and Skyrim, and you will see the type of bottleneck I speak of with an AMD chip. Don't get me wrong it's not ALL games, just ones that are heavily dependant on the CPU. I myself have a PH II x6 1090t @...
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kirilmatthew

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Jul 24, 2013
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I'm going to say don't. If you're making out every game you play then don't upgrade until you need to. Crossfire is getting fixed, but its not there yet and my next upgrade would be motherboard and CPU probably when steamroller is released, or if you plan on going intel(not my recommendation), then upgrade now to haswell. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!
 
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sincreator

sincreator

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If you plan to add a second video card, I would seriously upgrade your motherboard and cpu first. I suspect that the PH II you have will bottleneck pretty bad with 2 x 7950. I only have one 7950 and my x6 1090t holds it back in certain games, so I would think the second card really won't add a whole lot to most titles.

If you do grab a motherboard and CPU to run crossfire, I highly suggest getting an i5/i7 intel chip. Here is why: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,3407-9.html

Look at F1 2012 and Skyrim, and you will see the type of bottleneck I speak of with an AMD chip. Don't get me wrong it's not ALL games, just ones that are heavily dependant on the CPU. I myself have a PH II x6 1090t @ 4.0ghz and a 7950. Before I add a second 7950 I will definitely be switching to at least a i5 3570k and motherboard so I don't run into a bottleneck in ANY game that I play or will be playing in the next couple years.

I hope this helps somewhat. :)

PS: I know the article has a $300 chip versus a $180 chip, but even the i5 series sandy/ivy/haswell is still a better option since the i5's and i7's put up almost exactly the same numbers in games from what I've read/seen..
 
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P

pats478

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Apr 20, 2013
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Not a bad suggestion, and while I'm sure your right about my PH II, buying a new processor, plus motherboard and then chassis for the extra space would definitely be a bit costly. Also...I've always bought AMD lol.

That being said, most of my games I have right now are running beautifully with little to no lag. Skyrim's FPS sometimes spikes every now and then, nothing too serious though and I'm sure with 13.8 coming out they'll fix alot of the current issues with my card.



 
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