upgrade card or crossfire? 6950 2gb

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chchom22

chchom22

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Apr 7, 2011
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currently have a sapphire 6950 2gb unlocked. i have a seasonic x series 650 gold PSU. I have a p8p67 pro motherboard.

Currently don't like how loud this card gets when gaming. Also its starting to seem outdated.
First off would my current power supply handle crossfire.
few questions :
1) is there any performance downside if switching to crossfire?
2) will i have heat issues since the cards are so close together?
3) i have this thought that if im in crossfire, i can afford to have lower fan speed on each card since i have 2 sources of power now? is that correct?
4)I've been looking at the new 280x. Is that the latest line of cards?
a) Can that be crossfired with a 6950? Do you recommend crossfiring with something else?
b)What the performance difference between a single 280x and crossfiring with the setup proposed above?
 
Solution
geofelt
1. cf will increase your fps, but you will be more subject to stuttering and tearing.
2. Yes, the top card will get hotter, resulting in the need for faster fan rpm to cool it.
3. No, the fan speeds might actually need to increase. If your cards do not use direct exhaust coolers, your case cooling may have to be beefed up too.
4. The R9-280X is the latest line from amd. But, it is really a release of the older 28nm cards with a good factory overclock and the attendant increase in fan noise. I would prefer the GTX770 which is equivalent performance, but runs quieter and cooler. Either card will run games on a single monitor very well.
No, you can't cf the cards. even if you could, the stronger card would need to perform at the...
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Melderv

Melderv

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Oct 1, 2013
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1. Yes, you'll be limited to the 2GB RAM on each, since they won't add up.
2. Yes, of course. Two cards to power means more heat and overall more noise even if you turn the fans down by lowering the speed.
3. You can do this, but why would you add another noisy card to an already-noisy one if you're annoyed by it. Not to mention, you're effectively being counterproductive with your performance at stock clocks if you lower the fan speed (which also increases heat as I said in #2).
4. That is the latest line from AMD and R9 280x is a good single-card upgrade. I don't have any actual statistics, but the 3GB would be better than two 6950s crossfired.
5. No, but I believe it can be crossfired with the 7000 series instead. It can perfectly crossfire with this older series and with their own series.
6. Overall the single upgrade would be better in performance by a couple of notches. It would be more stable and would produce less heat than two cards. It would be less noisier and you could find a card that has a good, quiet cooling solution as well. New features from the latest series would also be a big benefit.
 
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laviniuc

laviniuc

Judicious
Nov 29, 2013
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psu should handle it, it depends on the rest of the config , it's about 150-200W for each card.

1) performance is better than each individual card
2) yes - see 3
3) no, in fact the card above will need to spin harder since it will get warmer air from the second one. also it will be 2 cards generating noise instead of 1
4) find the cards from the new gen that have the same or similar architecture. i'm pretty sure that's 270x or 280. 280x is a rebranded 7970
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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1. cf will increase your fps, but you will be more subject to stuttering and tearing.
2. Yes, the top card will get hotter, resulting in the need for faster fan rpm to cool it.
3. No, the fan speeds might actually need to increase. If your cards do not use direct exhaust coolers, your case cooling may have to be beefed up too.
4. The R9-280X is the latest line from amd. But, it is really a release of the older 28nm cards with a good factory overclock and the attendant increase in fan noise. I would prefer the GTX770 which is equivalent performance, but runs quieter and cooler. Either card will run games on a single monitor very well.
No, you can't cf the cards. even if you could, the stronger card would need to perform at the speed of the weaker one.

Your Seasonic 650w unit is an excellent one, and would be ok to cf 6950 cards.
It is also strong enough to power any single modern card such as a GTX780ti,R9-290X, or GTX690.

My suggestion is to simply upgrade to the strongest single card you feel comfortable paying for.
 
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Solution
monsta

monsta

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Jun 26, 2008
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I would personally just upgrade to a good single card and keep it simple , less heat , no crossfire issues , less power , less drama.
Grab a 280X or an aftermarket 290, you will be able to play all the latest games and not run into any issues.
 
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