Will this config run 2x HD 6970 in crossfire?

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nytmode

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Hi guys,

I'm planning to upgrade my current GPU to a Sapphire HD 6970 2GB x2 crossfire config. (I like AMD now so please don't advice me to try the GTX 5xx series.) I will also replace the stock cooling with Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus on both the cards. I need to know a few things before I order the cards. I have given all the details I could about my current config so that my current WATT usage can be calculated more accurately.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.20GHz (Stock Clock)
Zalman CNPS9700 LED CPU Cooler
Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 Board
Gigabyte ODIN GT 800W PSU
XFX GTX260 XXX Edition GPU with Arctic Cooling Xtreme Accelero GTX Pro
8GB (2GB x4) RAM Corsair Dominator DDR3 @1333Mhz (Stock Clock)
4 x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 32MB HDD
1x WD Velociraptor 300GB HDD
Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion (PCI Express 1x)
GGC-H20L LG Blu-ray Drive
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
GigaByte 3D Aurora 570 Black ATX Case
Samsung BX2450 (@ 1920 x 1080)

Things I already know:
1. Here you can see 2 x HD 6970 running on an Antec 750W PSU with the CPU @ 5Ghz. I personally found it weird.
2. A Sapphire HD 6970 2GB fits perfectly into my case. So there shouldn't be any case problems.
3. The X48 Chipset allows Dual 16x PCI-E lanes, so crossfire should be at its max. This is how the board looks like (Just incase).

Things I want to know:

1. Will MY 800W PSU be enough for the crossfire on default clocks?
2. Will 2 of them (with Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus) fit and be able to breathe on my mobo?
3. Will MY 800W PSU be enough for the crossfire overclocked?
4. What problems will I encounter with this setup (if at all any)?
5. What will be the performance gain over my current GTX260?

No, I'm not going to be using multiple displays. I'm just preparing for Battlefield 3 :)
 
1. Your PSU will work fine with that setup.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/Odin_GT_800W/7.html

2. One thing to note is that when you use the Xtreme Plus cooler it turns a 2 slot card into a 3 slot card.Although on your mobo their is suffient enough space to use it,it would be a tight fit.

3. With a test setup used (which use's more watts than your system) the totaly system power draw for a 6970 crossfire is right around 600watts so you should be able to O.C. without any problems.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1488/18/

4. Granted your CPU is an Extreme edition it is still a dual core,this setup your getting really requires a fast quad core to not get a bottleneck.I would suggest that you O.C. your CPU to about 4ghz to less the bottleneck.

5. If you are talking about a single GTX260 then the 6970 crossfire is about 10 times,maybe more,as powerful.

Since BF3 will utilize 4 cores(maybe more) you are really going to bottleneck the performance of the 6970 crossfire running it with a dual core.Even so you should still be able to max out everything and run int the high 60's FPS wise.I would strongly recomend O.C.ing if you can.
 
O.I'm sorry.I went looking for the QX9770 but all I found was dual cores.I kinda figured it was because it had a Q.Anyway even though it's a Extreme quad core you are still going to have a bottleneck because it's outdated.As I said before O.C.ing to 4ghz should help minmize the bottleneck.
 

nytmode

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Yes, Im pretty sure there is nothing like a bottleneck with my config and neither are 2 6970's overkill. Overkill would be 3x 6970's or 2x 6990's

If the 2 6970s's will take around 600W, QX9770 might take another 130-150W more, then I get nothing left for the other components. I don't really know how does calculating all the different components power draw work that's why I had asked this.
 

nytmode

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Ive tried it before, its not accurate. With 2 x 6970's it says:

Minimum PSU Wattage: 873 W.
Recommended PSU Wattage: 923W.

The youtube guy was running it on 750W easily thats why I am confused. Someone has to be in this forum with accurate information.
 
No your reading it wrong.600 watts is for the Total System Power draw,thats everything inclusing all the HDD's etc.

A 6970 crossfire by itself is around 400 watts.

It's not that BF3 is going to max out his hardware it's just that in any CPU demanding game his aging quad core is going to bottleneck the 6970 crossfire.Of course your still going to get over 60fps with everything maxed but it could be much higher with a better CPU.

Also if you haven't already bought the 6970's I would reccomend you get the 6950's instead.Theirs only a 20-40fps increase with a 6970 crossfire over the 6950 crossfire which isn't a huge deal and not worth spending the extra money in my opinion.Also theirs about a 50watt increase when going from a 6950 to a 6970.In total thats 100 watts extra for only 20 FPS,not to mention the extra $100.
 

Youngmind

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Never hurts to be safe, and maybe it is accounting for those companies that overrate their PSU's?
 

nytmode

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Do you think playing on a SSD will increase the FPS further more somehow? And 20-40fps is a lot of increase in my opinion so I dont mind the $100 but I do mind the 100W! :(
 

brandondiep

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Seems like money is not a problem for him so the 6970's would be good. SSD would speed up load times, such as the maps and stuff. I do not know how you got 873 Watts, unless you have 15 fans.
 

nytmode

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Try the same config on that page and see what you get. I'm getting 873W minimum with this:

1x Physical CPU QX9770
1x High-end desktop board
4x DDR3 Sticks
2x HD6970
4x Regular SATA HDDs
1x High RPM SATA HDD
1x Blu-Ray Internal
1x Sound Blaster w/ Front Bay
1x Fan Controller
1x Front Bay Card Reader
3x High Perf Fans 80mm
20% Capacitor Aging (Its almost 3 years old)
 
Well look at this way.If your already getting over 60FPS with a 6950 crossfire why would you want to have the extra FPS?Say your getting 100 FPS with a 6950 crossfire,exactly why would want 40FPS more if it's not going to make a difference?

Use Antec's PSU calculator.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp


EDIT:A thought just occured to me,if you have the money to spend why don't you just buy a new PSU? Instead of worrying about whether your current PSU will or will not support it.I'm sure you don't mind spending the extra $100 for a new PSU that ill be fully capable of powering this and more if need be.
 

nytmode

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I was using this calculator only, if you read above, brandondiep had suggested it earlier. And its not like if I have the money to spend, why don't I upgrade to a Core i7 2600K? I only said I don't mind the extra $100 (or extra £50 where I am). 40FPS difference is a lot of difference, I am pretty sure it is noticeable!
 

brandondiep

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Anything over 60 fps is pretty much useless. Yeah the extra frames can help but they stress your card and use more power just to see a high number
 

aznguy0028

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Hmm... I have the Accelero Twin Turbo on one of my 6870 in xfire, and it's a pretty close fit as they take up more than 2 slots. My other 6870 is a XFX black edition, and I've tried both configurations with the slot placement. When I had the the accel card in the main pci-e slot, there was verrrrrrrry little room between it and the back of my xfx one, and the temps went up quite a bit because of that. I have the xfx in the main slot now and the accel one on the lower pci-e slot, and there's about an inch breathing room between the two cards, and temps are significantly lower. I also have 2 Scythe Flex fans blowing in from the side panel as well.

My advice to you, if you're using both accel coolers, it might still be hot if there are no room for airflow between the two cards. I would pick up a MSI 6970 Twin Frozr version as one of the cards, so there will be space between the two.

One more thing, I know you didn't ask about it, but I would rather upgrade the CPU/mobo than get a 2nd 6970. Reason being is I had the same platform as you did, and upgrading to the i5 2500k saw over 100% increase in FPS.

I had a Q9450 at 3.4ghz with my xfire 6870. In BFBC2, I was running around 45-90 fps.. with 45 being in heavy action and average being around 55 or so. Playable, yes, would i settle for it as a hardcore gamer?? Hell no. When I switched platform to the p67 with the i5 2500k, I saw my fps jump to up 110-200. I average about 120-130 fps with every settings max at 1680x1050. People say you don't notice any fps over 60, but I believe this is untrue. Personally, I would say say the range of 80-90 fps gives you a more smoother gaming experience, and anything above that is not noticeable.

Besides, the Yorkfields still sell for quite a bit on ebay. I was able to sell my Q9450 for 130$, and i saw some getting 150$. If anything I would try to sell your chip and using that money towards a new platform.
 

nytmode

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Well in that case (bottlenecking) I will have to upgrade but its too late to upgrade to a P67 or Z68 now. Plus there aren't any mobos with dual x16's and a lot of space between the slots.

I'll wait for the X79 and then Sandy Bridge-E it out. I have decided to get the 6970's and use them in xfire without the accelero fan upgrade for now and use them on stock clocks.

I'll upgrade to accelero fans with the new system in Dec-Jan 2012 now. This way I can actually benchmark and compare both systems (QX9770 to i7-3960X).
 

brandondiep

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Few fps difference between 8x and 16x and those sb-e are more expensive than the sb. Thought you said money was a problem. The i7-3960x will be replacing the 990x and you know how much the 990x is.
 

nytmode

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I never said money is a problem. I bought my QX9770 for £800 itself when I was released so I can invest the same amount again (specially if you are upgrading after 3-4years).

And I have read that 8x 16x slots matter on high-end cards like the 6970/6990's and 580/590's.
 
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