6850 crossfire vs 7870

Bickering Whale · Dec 5, 2013

I am in a bit of a dilemma right now, and I could use some advice. I am a 16 year old student with a part time job so I don't really earn that much. I already have a 6850. Should I get another 6850 and run it in crossfire?http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004HKIA2Y/ref=dp_olp_refurbished?ie=UTF8&condition=refurbished
Or should I wait an extra month to get a used 7870 like this one
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00A2J4ROE/ref=sr_1_15_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1386251847&sr=8-15&keywords=hd+7990&condition=used

Advice would be much appreciated

de5_Roy · Dec 5, 2013

you can try selling the 6850 and get a new radeon hd 7870 like these (cheaper with rebates):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131492
keep in mind that deals and prices change almost everyday. next month could have different deals.

Bickering Whale · Dec 5, 2013

de5_Roy :

Thanks for the advice. Newegg doesn't ship to Singapore, which is the country I live in, but I can get a third party postal service to cover that right? i am trying to keep a budget of 250 SGD and the conversion rate in 1USD=1.25SGD. The 7870 seems alright but should I go for the 270x instead? Is there a significant difference between them?

de5_Roy · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

ah. sorry, i assumed you were in the u.s. i don't know about singapore prices for radeon cards, or shipping expenses.
7870 and r9 270x have the same gpu (r9 280x, 270x, r7 260x review):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-3.html
but r9 270x is clocked and configured slightly differently from 7870, but usually priced higher (in u.s.).

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

de5_Roy :

Yep. It is more expensive here as well. I believe it costs about 280USD for the 270x here. In terms of performance, would the 7870 would beat a pair of 6850s? One is cheaper, while the other one is hassle free :/

de5_Roy · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

i usually suggest single powerful card instead of multigpus, so i am personally biased towards 7870. however, crossfired 6850 should be able to beat 7870 as long as they have driver support. you never posted your full specs (incl. case, cooling, power supply, display etc.) so i can't suggest anything other than single card without more information. it won't help just me, rather anyone who wants to advise, hopefully someone more familiar with singapore's markets.

recently, amd took steps to reduce microstuttering in multi-gpu configs, but that's only the begining. amd only supports frame pacing (a measure to mitigate microstuttering) for single monitor, directx 11 games so far. they have stated that they're working on a full support, but no work on when they'll finish. driver support, per-game optimizations are very important for multi-gpu (cfx, sli).

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

de5_Roy :

Well, I have an i5 2400 and my case is a Thermaltake V3 black edition. My power supply is a Enermax NAXN 600watt PSU though. That might be a problem. Another would be the temperatures. My current 6850 idles at 45 degrees celsius and hits 70 at load. Would you say that the temperatures would still be acceptable if I were to crossfire?

jnjnilson6 · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

Wait an extra month, get a 7870, and after like 1 year buy another 7870, and you'll have 7870 CF like me : )

jnjnilson6 · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

de5_Roy :

Well, I have an i5 2400 and my case is a Thermaltake V3 black edition. My power supply is a Enermax NAXN 600watt PSU though. That might be a problem. Another would be the temperatures. My current 6850 idles at 45 degrees celsius and hits 70 at load. Would you say that the temperatures would still be acceptable if I were to crossfire?

Btw, for the second 7870, you might wanna buy a 2nd hand, "cheap" i7-2600. The PSU should be fine, since I myself had a 600W Cooler Master and no problems with CF. If you wonder, now I have a 1500W Thermaltake PSU.

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

jnjnilson6 :

Bickering Whale :

Btw, for the second 7870, you might wanna buy a 2nd hand, "cheap" i7-2600. The PSU should be fine, since I myself had a 600W Cooler Master and no problems with CF. If you wonder, now I have a 1500W Thermaltake PSU.

Do you run into a major problems when using the 7870 crossfire? I am also leaning towards the 7870 since it has more VRAM and games like BF4 would be heavily optimized for its GCN architecture.

de5_Roy · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

i said full specs i.e. brand and model number of your pc's components...not just case, psu and cpu.
what motherboard do you have? do the pcie x16 slots on your motherboard have enough space between them?
stock cooling or aftermarket?
what about case cooling? if you use 2 gfx cards with open air coolers, you might end up raising internal case temperature unless your case has a good exhaust system.
your gfx card temperature may be lowered by using a fron inake fan to blow air towards the gfx card, unless you've done this already. see, this is why we ask for full specs, far less time wasted with guessing.
@ your latest post: bf4, bf3 utilize as much system resource as possible. crossfiring 6850s won't double your 1GB vram (you never mentioned your card model number either), only double the number of your gpus in the pc.

jnjnilson6 · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

jnjnilson6 :

Do you run into a major problems when using the 7870 crossfire? I am also leaning towards the 7870 since it has more VRAM and games like BF4 would be heavily optimized for its GCN architecture.

No problems what so ever! Not even in a single game! The system runs everything extremely smooth and fast, with double FPS (in the larger number of games I played). Btw, throttling and such stuff can't even pass through your mind while playing with 2 x 7870!

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

de5_Roy :

Bickering Whale :

i said full specs i.e. brand and model number of your pc's components...not just case, psu and cpu.
what motherboard do you have? do the pcie x16 slots on your motherboard have enough space between them?
stock cooling or aftermarket?
what about case cooling? if you use 2 gfx cards with open air coolers, you might end up raising internal case temperature unless your case has a good exhaust system.
your gfx card temperature may be lowered by using a fron inake fan to blow air towards the gfx card, unless you've done this already. see, this is why we ask for full specs, far less time wasted with guessing.
@ your latest post: bf4, bf3 utilize as much system resource as possible. crossfiring 6850s won't double your 1GB vram (you never mentioned your card model number either), only double the number of your gpus in the pc.

Damn. That would be an essay. I have an Asrock H77 pro4/mvp. It comes with pcie 3.0 x16 and pcie 2.0 x4. There is sufficient space and its an atx mobo. I only have a bottom intake fan. My case wont fit a damned front intake fan although its designed too. I might just replace my case too actually.

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

jnjnilson6 :

Bickering Whale :

jnjnilson6 :

Do you run into a major problems when using the 7870 crossfire? I am also leaning towards the 7870 since it has more VRAM and games like BF4 would be heavily optimized for its GCN architecture.

No problems what so ever! Not even in a single game! The system runs everything extremely smooth and fast, with double FPS (in the larger number of games I played). Btw, throttling and such stuff can't even pass through your mind while playing with 2 x 7870!

Damn. But to think of it, it is twice the price of a 6850. No matter. I'll save up for a 7870. Any recommendations from sites like Amazon?

de5_Roy · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

okay, the motherboard specs make my response a lot easier.
h77 chipset does not support multigpu by default. you motherboard has two pcie x16 slot (well-placed too) but the second one is x4 speed, very likely from the h77 chipset. for good multigpu configuration, you need 2x pcie x16 slots both running at x8 speed, from the 16 pcie lanes from the cpu (core i5 2400 has 16 pcie gen 2.0 lanes from it's integrated pcie controller).
technically, you can put 2 amd gfx cards for x16+x4 crossfire. the second card will be running at 1/4th the speed (bandwidth) of the first card, which will have all 16 pcie 2.0 lanes from the cpu.
secondly, if you do insert a gfx card in your motherboard's 2nd slot, and if the card has a dual slot cooler, it might cover up the first row of 3x sata ports at the front of the mobo.
lastly, due to your case design and cooling fans, two gfx cards with open air cooler might not be a good idea.
i think you should go with a single 7870 or r9 270x after you save up money. or a 7950, if you find a very good deal somewhere.

@cooling fans: if you can't mount a standard intake fan at the front of your case, check your local shops and websites for a slim cooling fan instead of a standard thickness one, preferably with 3-4 pin cable. sorta like these:
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/066/sy1212sl12_detail.html
check fan reviews or ask in the cooling section if you need more info on them.

jnjnilson6 · Dec 6, 2013

Bickering Whale :

jnjnilson6 :

Bickering Whale :

No problems what so ever! Not even in a single game! The system runs everything extremely smooth and fast, with double FPS (in the larger number of games I played). Btw, throttling and such stuff can't even pass through your mind while playing with 2 x 7870!

Damn. But to think of it, it is twice the price of a 6850. No matter. I'll save up for a 7870. Any recommendations from sites like Amazon?

I'd recommend the Sapphire HD 7870: http://! I have the exact same GPUs as the one provided in the link!

Bickering Whale · Dec 6, 2013

jnjnilson6 :

Bickering Whale :

jnjnilson6 :

Damn. But to think of it, it is twice the price of a 6850. No matter. I'll save up for a 7870. Any recommendations from sites like Amazon?

I'd recommend the Sapphire HD 7870: http://! I have the exact same GPUs as the one provided in the link!

Apparently there is a local retailer that sells a 7870 which costs about 274 SGD which is about 220 USD. I would try to get that at the end of this month. Crossfire probably wont work on my motherboard that well especialy since my cable management is terrible with that case of mine. Thanks for the help

6850 crossfire vs 7870

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