Pairing a MSI Lightning with a XFX 5870 in xfire

rxkid75

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Apr 19, 2010
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Ok so I'm a complete noob when it comes to xfire/sli, as I've never had a need or the ability to do it. I upgraded my pc from a gtx 260 to a XFX 5870 (non-ref. model newegg is currently stocking) and was satisfied with it, thinking I'd pick up another identical card when the prices came down. I came across a great deal on a MSI Lightning that was OC'd to 1000mhz clock and 1350 memory by the current owner. I couldnt resist, and picked it up. Now my question is will the MSI scale down to the xfx 850 clock and 1200 memory? Should I attempt to flash the xfx to bring its specs closer to the MSI, or is the performance gain not really worth the time? My CPU is a I7 930 currently OC'd to 3.5 (didnt see a need to go further atm) and I'm using an asus p6x58d premium motherboard. Will my CPU bottleneck the cards at its current OC (ie, do I need to OC higher to get the most outta my cards?)? Sorry for all the questions, but I've not kept up with technology since my last PC build which was around 6 years ago, lol.
 
Uhh I'm also a Xfire newbie. But the MSI will scale down if you hook Xfire the XFX. I can't answer your flashign question. But, your graphic cards will definitely not bottle neck on your i7 930. Just wait for prices to drop then i suppose is what i'd suggest. Or maybe get the XFX and oc the card. Hope it helped
 
Well, I doubt that a Core i7 o/c to 3.5GHz will be a bottleneck for a pair of HD 5870s. Your XFX card will more likely than not force the MSI to underclock itself, and to remedy that situation, just overclock the XFX version. I suggest that you put the MSI Lightning HD 5870 in the first PCI-e slot, and the XFX HD 5870 in the second. The MSI has a more efficient cooling system, and even if some airflow is blocked by the XFX HD 5870, it won't be as badly hurt in terms of temperature as the XFX HD 5870 which only has one centre fan.