Best New Cards for Crossfiring

[Donavaughn_08]

I have a Dell XPS 630i that ive had for a few years and it has done pretty good for my gaming needs im looking to upgrade my graphics cards and was wondering what would be the best new cards to use for crossfiring that would perform well on new games like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, WoW (i know it isnt new), new fps, and the total war series. I have a $300 budget here is my specs

Intel 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83 GHz) running at 3.01 GHz
Two ATI Radeon 4850 HD in Crossfire
8 GB DDR2 ram
500 GB HDD
750w PSU
Windows Vista SP2 64 bit

 

[borisof007]

You're not going to be able to get good crossfire performance for $300. You can, however, get a 6950 which will net you at LEAST a 60% performance increase.

Sources:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/vga-charts-december-2009/2
http://www.guru3d.com/article/vga-charts-spring-2011/4

This is also assuming that you'd get a pure 100% scale on two 4850's for Anno 1404, which we all know wouldn't happen. So likely it's even a higher performance gain than that.

A 6950 would also open doors for a really good crossfire in the future with a 2nd one.

 

[purple stain]

For $300 I would reccomend getting a GTX570.The GTX570 is faster than the 6950 and much much faster than your pair of 4850's.Although with either purchase,6950 or GTX570, your going to be bottlenecked by your CPU.I would suggest O.C.ing further if you can.Otherwise save for a SB or IB.

What is the make/model of your 750watt PSU?

MSI(Reference) GTX570 $325=$295 after MIR + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127552

 

[Donavaughn_08]

hmm not to bad and Ive never overclocked the CPU before so how do you do that? It is the original stock dell PSU it says that the total output cant exceed 750w

 

[Donavaughn_08]

My friend overclocked my CPU for me but I have looked up guides and stuff for how to do it but everytime I use the right settings to OC it further to 3.4ghz wouldnt past post and I have read that the mobo on the 630i isnt a good mobo to overclock with.. It says its a stock dell and says not to exceed 750w

 

[purple stain]

How many amps are the +12/v rail(s)?

In order to O.C. further your going to need a Aftermarket heatsink to deal with the added heat.

Overclocking Guide

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/259899-29-core-overclocking-guide

Heatsink/Hyper 212+ $28 + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[Donavaughn_08]

ok I see now, and 18 amps on all of the rails and -12v is 3amps

 

[purple stain]

How many rails are their? 18amps on each?
I only need info on the +12v rail.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

there is +12V1,V2,V3, and V4 and all of them have 18 amps on each one

 

[purple stain]

Well I would say you could support a single GTX570,GTX580,6950 or a 6970 but if you intend to SLI/Crossfire I suggest you get a new PSU.

Have you decided which card you want to get?

 

[Donavaughn_08]

Ok that is great! Im reading reviews on a few of them, I want to be able to play WoW on ultra, SWTOR, Total War and most new Fps maxed out I was thinking the 6970 because its cheaper but idk

 

[purple stain]

Actually the GTX570 is cheaper than the 6970 and it mostly performs better while using less power.

http://www.hwcompare.com/9020/geforce-gtx-570-vs-radeon-hd-6970/

 

[Donavaughn_08]

wow is there going to be a noticeable difference in the two cards?

 

[purple stain]

I would say your CPU's limit at it's current speed of 3ghz is going to bottleneck anything higher than a 6870/GTX560.So their really isn't any point in getting a GTX570 or 6970/6950 if you can't get higher clock speeds because they'll end up being as powerful as a 6870 but costing $100 more.

Their is a slight difference.I doubt a 5fps would be noticeable.5-10fps isn't worth $70,imo.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

that is true, I'm thinking about getting the 6790 instead of the other cards I think it will do the gaming I need to do and hold me over till I build another computer because my dvd drive went out today and I'm thinking of getting a new monitor and HD as well here is the link to the card tell me if its worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131397

 

[purple stain]

The 6790 is a repeat of the 5830.To me they are horrible cards.Not for performance sake but power consumption.The 6790 is based off of the 68xx series but they toned done everything so it still consumes the same amount of power but performs worse.

I would recommend getting a 6850.This card comes with Deus Ex.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127576

 

[Donavaughn_08]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161371

or this card which is a turboed version of the other i believe

 

[Donavaughn_08]

ok so you recommend the 6850? which card is the best to you on newegg? or manufacture of the card?

 

[purple stain]

Either the MSI Cyclone or the Asus DirectCU are the best versions,imo.

MSI Cyclone

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127576

Asus Direct CU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121419

 

[Donavaughn_08]

ok thanks well Im going to go with the Asus and I will see how it does.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

Best answer selected by Donavaughn_08.

 

[purple stain]

Welcome.

Happy Gaming.