Which is best ... in xfire.

[techmaniac]

Which would be better in xfire:

Gigabyte 6850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353

or

Sapphire Toxic 6850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102912

or

Powercooler PCS+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131379

 

[HostileDonut]

Go for the SAPPHIRE or the GIGABYTE version. Runs cool and quite.

 

[wa1]

They'll perform nearly the same, but surely I wouldn't choose PowerColor, you will better with Gigabyte or Sapphire. Sapphire offer more speed (only 50MHz), but Gigabyte has OpenGL 4.1 meanwhile Sapphire only has OpenGL 3.2. Your choice buddy, both of card is good.

 

[17seconds]

Edit: I need to edit this, because I did see that TechPowerUp did review the Powercolor 6850 PCS+ i.e. Not Recommended:
"PowerColor's HD 6850 PCS+ is the first HD 6850 to reach our labs that uses a heavily modified HD 6850 PCB design. PowerColor has chosen to replace the CHiL voltage regulator with one from uPi which is considerably cheaper but does not offer the extensive software voltage control features of the CHiL controller. This means that overclockers who want to play with voltages will be out of luck with this card.
Overclocking potential on the HD 6850 PCS+ is decent, and comparable to other HD 6850cards we have seen so far. Where the PowerColor card can excel is fan noise under load. With only 31 dbA it is substantially quieter than any other HD 6800 Series card we tested so far. Unfortunately idle fan noise has not received the low noise treatment. Here the card is as noisy as any other HD 6850. Considering idle temperatures of 46°C I see no reason why PowerColor would not choose quieter fan settings on their card."
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_6850_PCS_Plus/32.html

 

[Embra]

Go for the SAPPHIRE or the GIGABYTE version. Runs cool and quite.

^+1 ....much agreed! The Sapphire even vents out the side, not in the case.

 

[techmaniac]

^+1 ....much agreed! The Sapphire even vents out the side, not in the case.

you mean it vents out the back of the card right? Or am i messed up on how the flow of air off modern cards are?

 

[techmaniac]

I'm a pretty big fan of Gigabyte as a company, and the mobo and current 8800GT are Gigabyte. No problems. Their cooling solution does look more effective with dual fans and all. I've just not seen a whole lot of reviews on that card, whereas both of the others (and the ASUS) have received quite a few.

 

[17seconds]

Tom's reviewed the Powercolor, Sapphire, Asus, and MSI models:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6850-eah6850-ax6850,2794.html

The Sapphire sounds good for Crossfire due to the external venting of exhaust, but it was also the loudest by quite a bit.

 

[techmaniac]

Yeah, I was looking at that review, and all the others (TR, tweaktown, etc.). I wish they had used cards other than the ASUS for their crossfire v. the world article.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/20043

I get the feeling that the Sapphires would be slightly less total noise due to the more boxy shape and aforementioned cooler.

Tighter fit.:O

Price wise, the Gigabyte would be $20 cheaper. I'm not sure if a game comes with either.

 

[techmaniac]

There is also this:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/3678/his_radeon_hd_6850_1gb_video_card_in_crossfire_w_960_shaders_overclocked/index.html

Which had the HIS 6850 in crossfire with some nice OC'ing going on.

 

[techmaniac]

XFX Black Edition review over at Hardware heaven.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1077/pg1/xfx-radeon-6850-black-edition-dual-fans-review-introduction.html

Well now I'm thinking I'd like to throw a pair of these in the machine. The review just reminds me about that whole PhysX BS, and I'm wondering if I should be waiting to hear about the upcoming 5xx card from NVidia.

 

[17seconds]

XFX Black Edition review over at Hardware heaven.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1077/pg1/xfx-radeon-6850-black-edition-dual-fans-review-introduction.html

Well now I'm thinking I'd like to throw a pair of these in the machine. The review just reminds me about that whole PhysX BS, and I'm wondering if I should be waiting to hear about the upcoming 5xx card from NVidia.

They seemed to like the XFX Black. The vapor chamber cooler seems to do a great job as well. This review of the XFX Black includes the Sapphire Toxic:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_hd6850_blackedition/

Among other things, PhysX is one of several reasons I am not in the market for an AMD card. I played the Mafia 2 demo last night, and it was pretty cool, PhysX and all. I also play Unreal Tournament III with PhysX. It is a personal choice, based on whether you actually play PhysX games. For me, I would rather have it, than wonder if I'm missing out on something.

 

[techmaniac]

They seemed to like the XFX Black. The vapor chamber cooler seems to do a great job as well. This review of the XFX Black includes the Sapphire Toxic:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_hd6850_blackedition/

Among other things, PhysX is one of several reasons I am not in the market for an AMD card. I played the Mafia 2 demo last night, and it was pretty cool, PhysX and all. I also play Unreal Tournament III with PhysX. It is a personal choice, based on whether you actually play PhysX games. For me, I would rather have it, than wonder if I'm missing out on something.

Yeah, I'm no fanboy, but I haven't had a bad experience with any of the 5 or so Nvidia cards I've purchased. The 8800GT just can't keep up with even older games like ETQW at 1900x1200. I'm limited to xfire by the Mobo, so while the 460 in SLI would be a great alternative, I don't have that option. Maybe the next 5 series card will make this a conversation moot and I can stick with a single card solution. I may have mentioned this earlier though, I'm considering the purchase of a third 24" monitor and would like the option to use it. Seems Nvidia doesn't do the tri-monitor gaming goodness. Or is it just they don't do that with anything less than three cards?

 

[techmaniac]

What's the noticeable differences between UT3 in physx and without?

 

[17seconds]

Yeah, I'm no fanboy, but I haven't had a bad experience with any of the 5 or so Nvidia cards I've purchased. The 8800GT just can't keep up with even older games like ETQW at 1900x1200. I'm limited to xfire by the Mobo, so while the 460 in SLI would be a great alternative, I don't have that option. Maybe the next 5 series card will make this a conversation moot and I can stick with a single card solution. I may have mentioned this earlier though, I'm considering the purchase of a third 24" monitor and would like the option to use it. Seems Nvidia doesn't do the tri-monitor gaming goodness. Or is it just they don't do that with anything less than three cards?

You need two Nvidia cards to do 3 monitors, therefore SLI, which isn't an option. I'm starting to like the XFX Black for you, which also has a great warranty.

 

[17seconds]

What's the noticeable differences between UT3 in physx and without?

This is great because I only recently upgraded to a PhysX capable card in June. Prior to that, I was playing UT3 without PhysX. It really caught me by surprise at first, everything seemed normal, then I went to frag somone and the body parts and shrapnel went flying everywhere. I had never seen that before, it was actually pretty funny. It added a lot more "splat" to the frags. When you shoot down an aircraft, you see it explode and parts of it go flying off and fall to the ground. The flak cannon and other weapons shoot flak that ricochets off walls. There are times when you just say, "wow, cool". In terms of my experience, it added a lot more fun to the game.

You know, the GTX570 is due out next week, and the GTX560 should be out be the end of the month.

 

[techmaniac]

This is great because I only recently upgraded to a PhysX capable card in June. Prior to that, I was playing UT3 without PhysX. It really caught me by surprise at first, everything seemed normal, then I went to frag somone and the body parts and shrapnel went flying everywhere. I had never seen that before, it was actually pretty funny. It added a lot more "splat" to the frags. When you shoot down an aircraft, you see it explode and parts of it go flying off and fall to the ground. The flak cannon and other weapons shoot flak that ricochets off walls. There are times when you just say, "wow, cool". In terms of my experience, it added a lot more fun to the game.

You know, the GTX570 is due out next week, and the GTX560 should be out be the end of the month.

I'm in no hurry, although I am anxious since I've been seeing the FPS on some games reach unplayable levels recently. I may just wait and see what NV has to offer. On the other hand, I'm sure the price point on these two cards are going to be above the ~$250 mark.

 

[shadow187]

If you're looking for excellent value an HD6850 crossfire is it. Scaling has improved greatly with these cards comparably to the HD5000 series, and two OC'd HD6850's would challenge an HD5970, something even nVidia's highest-end card doesn't do well at the moment.

*Edit
GTX470 pricing is around $375. GTX560 would probably fall around the $250~275, and it would most likely compete with the HD6870 and lose to the HD5870.

 

[techmaniac]

If you're looking for excellent value an HD6850 crossfire is it. Scaling has improved greatly with these cards comparably to the HD5000 series, and two OC'd HD6850's would challenge an HD5970, something even nVidia's highest-end card doesn't do well at the moment.

In the big scheme of things though how do driver issues, PhysX, Cuda, multi-monitor, heat, noise and such make this a simple choice?

I'd love to just say F'it and buy a pair of cards, but I can't help but be concerned that I'll drop these into my box and spend the next week trying to solve issues with specific games or (worse) with the whole operation.

I do understand that AMD had done a better job with drivers for their video cards than ATI ever did and it shows in the 68xx series cards and 10.10 drivers.

 

[17seconds]

Here is a good article about 6800 series in Crossfire. They like the performance, but offer one caveat:
"So over the years Multi-GPU support has improved quite a bit, AMD still isn't up-to snuff at the level of NVIDIA though, multi-GPU supports still literally and directly remains the Achilles heel of ATI's Catalyst drivers. For years now we have been requesting user-based multi-GPU profiles. See when a new game comes out, multi-GPU support will not be supported by the Catalyst driver. ATI will always need to update this through drivers or downloadable profiles. What ATI needs to do is to allow the end user to make custom profiles per game. A small tip, renaming your game-executable towards a game title that is supported can, not always but often, help out."
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/1

 

[shadow187]

Drivers..I can't comment on myself. I've never had a single issue with the 3 ATI cards I've owned, but I've never done Crossfire.

 

[techmaniac]

Drivers..I can't comment on myself. I've never had a single issue with the 3 ATI cards I've owned, but I've never done Crossfire.

Thanks. That's the kind of personal experience I was looking for in posing the question. I'd like to also hear from someone who has recently implemented a Crossfire setup with 6850's. It'd be even sweeter if that person had moved from an Nvidia card.

 

[techmaniac]

I jumped over to Newegg to price out the XFX Black and the only review on there gives it four stars. The actually quote is:

um yeah $20 more than the gigabyte card I ordered just for a bunch of case stickers?

LOL

It's $219 BTW.

 

[techmaniac]

Ending up deciding to pull the trigger when I started hearing about the price point for the 69xx cards. I also couldn't wait anymore.

2 Toxic cards to go please. The price also dropped another $10 over at the Egg. 199 a piece!

 

[techmaniac]

Best answer selected by techmaniac.