After some advice please

[apoll]

HI. I'm new to this forum but it looked it might be the place to ask a question. I am considering upgrading my cards. I have two XfX 5970 black editions in crossfire (CPU i7 960, extreme MOBO 12 RAM). I am thinking about going up to two 6970s...or one 6990..or indeed, sticking with what I have an waiting until the new 7000 series comes out early next year, effectively skipping the 6000 series. (I understand one of the upper end 7000 series will beat two 6970s in crossfire...and is a significant jump in performance.) At the same time, I'm upgrading my rig to i7 3960k, Intel X79TO MOBO, 16 GB Quad Channel RAM. I will do this before the end of this year. My question is this: given the 7000 series is around the corner, and I'm updating the CPU and MOBO, should I stick with the XfX 5970 black editions in crossfire...or should I go to a 6970 crossfire setup...or one 6990...or wait to upgrade when the new 7000 comes out? Are two XfX 5970s black edition cossfire faster than standard reference 6970s? I'd really appreciate some advice here.

Thank you.

apoll

 

[Helltech]

A stock 6970 is less powerful than a stock 5970. With that said CF 6970s or a single 6990 are both less powerful than what you have already.

 

[apoll]

Helltech, really?? But what about black edition 5970 x 2 vs 6970?

 

[Helltech]

That makes it even worse! The stock 5970 is already better than it. What do you thinks going to happen when you throw in an overclocked 5970.

5970 BE CF > 5970 CF Stock > 6970 CF > 6990

 

[FlintIronStagg]

Are your cards not performing well? Or are you just itching for an upgrade?
At any rate the 7xxx are around the corner, but still will be some time before you will see their dual gpu chip or higher end stuff- its just how amd does things

 

[badtaylorx]

defininatly wait for the 7990 to come out....

and when you get your new card(s) hit me up with a pm(maybe we can work a trade???)

you will gain very little by moving up right now for what you'll be spending.

but if it is an itch that must be scratched id suggest getting one 6990 and one 6970 as Tri-fire is king of scalability at the moment.

consider instead the move to X79 and a 2011 cpu

are your frame rates unacceptable at the moment???


^^^^^^^
actually amd is changing its release strategy this time around......we'll have the 7990 sooner in the roadmap than usual

 

[apoll]

Helltech..thanks. But I have trouble understanding why a 6970 would be slower than a 5970??? Sure, can understand a souped up 5970 like the black edition outperforming a standard 6970...but what would they expect a 6970 to sell better than a standard 5970 if it doesn't improve performance. That doesn't make sense to me. But hey...do you have an opinion on my original question? What about my twoblacks vs a standard single 6990 at 4GB? Am I better just skipping the whole 6 series and going for the upper end 7000 series..which is coming out around March 2012 (rght?).

Thanks.

apoll

 

[Helltech]

The only upgrade option for him would be something in the tri-fire range, and it wouldn't be that smart because even then he won't be gaining much performance for what its going to cost.

 

[badtaylorx]

you do know your cards are dual gpu right???

 

[Helltech]

That makes it even worse! The stock 5970 is already better than it. What do you thinks going to happen when you throw in an overclocked 5970.

5970 BE CF > 5970 CF Stock > 6970 CF > 6990

Helltech..thanks. But I have trouble understanding why a 6970 would be slower than a 5970??? Sure, can understand a souped up 5970 like the black edition outperforming a standard 6970...but what would they expect a 6970 to sell better than a standard 5970 if it doesn't improve performance. That doesn't make sense to me. But hey...do you have an opinion on my original question? What about my twoblacks vs a standard single 6990 at 4GB? Am I better just skipping the whole 6 series and going for the upper end 7000 series..which is coming out around March 2012 (rght?).

Thanks.

apoll

AMD changed the naming scheme. A 5970 is more like the 6990, not the 6970. If you want I cant prove this to you. As for your question, your cards are more powerful, by a bit, than a single 6990.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

The only upgrade option for him would be something in the tri-fire range, and it wouldn't be that smart because even then he won't be gaining much performance for what its going to cost.

Agreed

 

[badtaylorx]

what is confusing you is amd changing their naming scheme

5870-6970

5970-6990

current- replacement



ps....i said that first^^^^^^^


and that crisis whd stat is no longer valid.........if that same bench was re-done now it'd be a MUCH different story.....

 

[Helltech]

ps....i said that first^^^^^^^

Yeah I was trying to reinforce what you say with the "only" comment.

I think ya get the point OP. Stick with what you have till the 7000 series comes out. Are you for some reason not happy with what you have? You should be destroying everything you come across.

 

[apoll]

Hmmm. Really thnaks to those who are replying. Badtaylorx, I guess I'm scratching an itch. I play DCS A10 and while it is acceptable, still can't play maxed out. I think DCS A 10 doesn't make use of crossfire. I play flight sims...which really push the envelope. I'm going to do the CPU and MOBO upgrade for sure this year...I'm considering sticking with the blacks until the new 7 series come out. A 6990 still costs around the $1000 mark..but I can get two 6970s for that in crossfire. Decisions...decisions...

apoll

 

[badtaylorx]

you do keep up with you drivers???

oh....i seeeeeeee

that is not a major title that will receive much cfx support......in this case you may want to try ONE good 580.......and oc it.....it may actually prove out to be better suited for your use!!!

 

[apoll]

Thanks guys. Amazing response to my question! Ahhh! I get it re the 5970s! Ok, I see now why a 5970 would be faster than a 6970. Thanks. I learnt something. So.....I'm thinking to stick with my cards at present and upgrade the CPU and MOBO and wait for the upper end 7 series? Sound sensible from all your advice. When do we expect the upper end 7s? Many thanks.

apoll

 

[badtaylorx]

re read previous post from me


or one badass 6970 if you're amd only

 

[apoll]

Badtaylorx, yes. I am scrupulous with my ATI drivers. Keep them up to date. I wonder if the slow downs re DCS A10 and some flight sims have more to do with a CPU issue or SSD being chocked full issue?

apoll

 

[badtaylorx]

doubt it........i really have to wonder if that sim can make use of multi gpu setups AT ALL

that WOULD cause some serious hiccups

unfortunately its UN-proveable without a single gpu card arround



if money is not a problem id pick up one of these if you dont mind nvidia

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121467

but if you do one of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127581

 

[Helltech]

Is this the sim you are talking about?

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/series/warthog/

 

[badtaylorx]

and than return it if you see no improvement

 

[jyjjy]

Do you understand that if the game you are playing doesn't support crossfire then your current setup is phenomenal wasteful? You have two HD5970s. The 5970 itself is actually 2 HD5870s in crossfire on one card. This means you have 4 GPUs in crossfire but only 1 is actually being used... You never should have bought them but you should sell them and get the best single GPU card available which is the GTX 580, like taylor recommended. The GTX 580 is approximately 30% faster than the HD5870(which is what your setup is equivalent to in a game that can't use crossfire.)
Also do NOT get the i7-3960X. The differences between it and the i7-3930K for $500 less are nearly meaningless.

 

[apoll]

Yes guys...the DCS A10 (but also play Rise of Flight). Jyjjy, well, in my defence, I bought the most powerful setup I could get at the time, trying to future proof my rig, figuring there wouldn't be much that the blacks could not deal with. Fine plan in theory it seems...except much of the software out there that I was interested in DIDN'T utilise crossfire! (RoF does...now). Fine plan. Until I visited this forum (BTW, I am REALLY having the scales lifted from my eyes with you guys!), I had not REALLY understood just how limited the setup would be. The problem seems to be, in both DCS and RoF, morph filtering.... or the super sampling AA. Granted, I run at max resolutions 1970 x 1200 and 16 AA etc...seems to REALLY slow both games down. I can understand now why DCS would be affected so...but RoF, which apparently use crossfire now, I can't understand. I guess it has to do with the software not liking double GPU cores or something like that. Anyway, I always try and get the best hardware at the time I can...the fastest (within reason of course: no way am I getting the 3970X for example at almost double the price!).

 

[badtaylorx]

do yourself a favor and pick up a game like dirt 3.....it will run really fast a really high fps.......and you'll feel much better about your hw choices


oy im tired!!!


i thinks im ganna ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

[Ohmybad]

i like to consult charts when i plan builds.

sell both your 5970's get a 580, and then a second later? then go to 7xxx series

i managed to miss what resolution you're using (guessing tri-monitor)

as for the SB-E line i7 2600k vs. i7 3960X show's that 1155 can still keep up, yes it has 2 more cores+threads but Ivy Bridge coming in 12' and being 1155 (my personal reason for staying with 1155 when i finally upgrade)