6850 Crossfire - ARMA2, LED Displays etc

[Janolifante]

Hi there folks!

Looking to upgrade, but im just wondering about a few things. Im really caught up between going 6850 crossfire, or 6950 and then modding it to the equivalent of a 6970? This will be the first time I would be going crossfire...so its all new to me. I am concerned about heat, not power. So, if a 6850 is in crossfire, is it accurate to assume that I will have to deal with double the heat then? What is YOUR case temps with 6850 in crossfire(rough average)?

Another thing, is there a fair bit of problems these days with 6850's in crossfire, and do most games support crossfire? Specifically, does Arma2 support crossfire? So, say a game doesnt supposr CF, is it easy and quick to simply turn off crossfire and use only one?

Another important thing, most motherboards are only x8 x8 - would I see a significant gain going x16 x16? Ive read a few answers which reckon the gain is not that significant?

Lastly, eith the advent of LED displays, there are a few 'LED' monitors out there today, HOWEVER, when one closely inspects it, you find its LED backlit, LCD! So, should I look for a LED monitor in itself, that is not LCD - is that possible? Or are all of them LCD...and, the backlit part thats LED...is that the actual part that makes the difference?

thanks folks, in advance, happy new year!

 

[drinkingcola86]

Well I can answer your questions about crossfire and about the 8x vs 16x.

First, games that don't do crossfire won't benefit from the second card. There is nothing to turn off the other card will just sit at 0% activity.

The 8x vs 16x, now this is where it kindof blurs. In that card you will see about a 2-5% difference in FPS if both pipelines are 16x vs ones that are 8x. However there are MB's that do a 16x main and then a 8x secondary card. these you will see once again very little fps gain, maybe 1-3%. Now you can look at this 2 different ways. If your looking at it as the I'll be above 60fps all the time and won't need to worry about the drop in pcie then i wouldn't worry about it, or you have the idea that you might be pushing it later on and need that extra 5% to be consistently above the minimum fps.

 

[benski]

I think there are a few huge jumbotrons that are actually use LEDs for pixels, but other than that what you see advertised as LED is LED backlit. There was a Tom's article a while back about PCI-E lane scaling and x8 to x16 was < 2% difference on a 5870 from what I remember so I wouldn't consider that a signifigant gain, not worth buying a new motherboard. Can't help you on the 6xxx radeons, but if CF is like SLI if it doesn't work it just doesn't work and only uses one card, there is no need to turn it off, it simply isn't utilized.

 

[purple stain]

Well if your looking at heat,i can tell you that all of the review i've read say that the 6850 is actually hotter than the 6870.So i think if your going to corssfire get the 6870.Average of 5-10c cooler than the 6850.Most important when your corssfireing is to have good case airflow,if you don't the cards will just bake everything inside the case.I would say to go with the a 6950.Although a single 6950 isn't as powerful as a crossfire of 6850/6870.You can get another 6950 for crossfire instead of getting x3 or x4 of either 6850/6870 to match the 6950 crossfire performance.

Fewer cards are always better in the heat factor.But if you have good case airflow than their should be no problem with case airflow.

Currently i have 1 6870 in a microatx-midtower with few fans.I'm hoping to upgrade to a haf932 for when i get a crossfire going.Currently i'm seeing a max of 75c so i'm guessing with a corssfire the temp around the 2 cards would be a little higher.I think you must have a side fan for a crossfire setup because the top card will be breathing in the hot air from the card below it.

 

[purple stain]

Temps and Noise levels for the 6850/6870
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/5

 

[Janolifante]

hey folks!

Thanks for the replies, especially the guru link!

Bump on the LED monitors?

 

[benski]

Reread my post. All consumer LED monitors are LED backlit LCDs, there are no true LED monitors except in stadiums, or you can rent one from here :http://www.visibledisplay.com/Events.htm

 

[Janolifante]

hey benski, i see, so the backlight part...is that the actual part then which produces the image? So an LED LCD monitor WILL look better than a normal LCD monitor (gaming wise)?

 

[Guest]

I use a LED monitor (backlit) and it does make a difference, lower dark areas that tend to go black when you should still see some detail (especially in gaming) appears better than a normal LCD, you still see detail. LED blacks and whites are better as there is more brightness control over the whole screen area rather than the usual LCD lighting, this allows dark areas that need some detail but only a little still come thro without blacking out. LCD owners will say LCD are the best but its all LCD just with different lighting, having used both types LED 'imho' seems to be better.

Temp wise my system reads between 39-45c when running Arma2 but lower for general use, is that a good temp or not! dont know you tell me..