7970 or 6870 in Xfire?

[Squall321]

how well does Crossfore work out? would it maybe come on par, with a single 7970? i have a 6870 in my computer right now and ask myself, if it would be better to buy another 6870 and put them into crossfire or buying the brand new 7970?
and i'm worryied about cooling, when i opt to go crossfire. so watercooling will be the answer, thus making the price of a watercooled 6870 crossfire setup the same, as a 7970..

 

[sosofm]

Sell that 6870 and buy a new 7970. From the few test what we have seen its an amazing card.

 

[andrewcarr]

You will want to go with one 7970 then if that is too slow in the future you can CF it then.
Look at CF as a future upgrade not something to start with unless you are running three screens

 

[de5_Roy]

wait for the 7970 to be officially released and get benchmarked.
despite what other sites say, amd only paper-launched the 7970. the real launch is in january.
can't say anything without seeing proper performance results (preferably from toms).
meanwhile, you could compare 7970 vs gtx 580 (on sb-e with pcie 3.0):
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=517
and 2x 6870 vs gtx 580:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/301?vs=305
the tests were done on two different pcs, so the results are not directly comparable.

 

[Swolern]

7970 no contest

 

[dharmenparikh]

why are you getting 6870 water cooled? whats the need for that?

 

[nforce4max]

GCN is the way of the future and VL5 and VL4 era cards are pretty much obsolete. More performance without a massive increase in unit count while keeping a lid on power consumption. A 7970 is rather expensive but there will be other options coming out soon like the 7950 or a cheaper 7870.

 

[Earnie]

it all depends on your needs really,6870 crossfire is actually quite powerful,but things to consider,what resolution do you play at,what games,what is the rest of your system specs.how much do you really want to spend,?another 6870 is a lot cheaper than a new 7970,and no one will know exactly what that card is actually capable of until it is released and tested by review sites in real world scenarios.

 

[larkspur]

Tom's has a "preview" of the 7970 with some benchmarks here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-benchmark-tahiti-gcn,3104.html

That should give you a general idea of how it will perform. It looks great for single-card users but too pricey for an Xfire setup. For the money you'll get more "value" (FPS per $) out of crossfiring a couple 6870s (since you already have one).
But I'd wait it out and see what the 7950 looks like and then maybe consider one of those with future crossfire in mind. The 7970 is going to be expensive at actual launch. Every indication is that the 7xxx series is a vast improvement over previous generations.

Oh, and if you are planning to do eyefinity with your rig, then definitely wait for the 7xxx series and make sure to get card(s) with at least 2gb.

 

[mogen1000]

You will want to go with one 7970 then if that is too slow in the future you can CF it then.
Look at CF as a future upgrade not something to start with unless you are running three screens

7970 is like 190% better than the current 6970 (rumors).

 

[andrewcarr]

It isn't 190% better maybe 50% and 15% on the 580.

 

[Squall321]

wait for the 7970 to be officially released and get benchmarked.
despite what other sites say, amd only paper-launched the 7970. the real launch is in january.
can't say anything without seeing proper performance results (preferably from toms).
meanwhile, you could compare 7970 vs gtx 580 (on sb-e with pcie 3.0):
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=517
and 2x 6870 vs gtx 580:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/301?vs=305
the tests were done on two different pcs, so the results are not directly comparable.

thanks for the "anand"-links. helping out alot. +1 to you sir.

it all depends on your needs really,6870 crossfire is actually quite powerful,but things to consider,what resolution do you play at,what games,what is the rest of your system specs.how much do you really want to spend,?another 6870 is a lot cheaper than a new 7970,and no one will know exactly what that card is actually capable of until it is released and tested by review sites in real world scenarios.

I play at 1080p, got two screens, but the second is rarely use. I mostly play BF3, SCII, Minecraft :3, (HAWX, Just Cause II, Borderlands and so on)..
System:
Intel i5 760 oc'ed (cooled by Noctua NH14-D)
16gigs corsair cl9 1600mhz (a bit overkill, but hell they were on discount xD)
Corsair tx850W psu
Crucial m4 128gb ssd
MB: Asus P7P55DE LX
XFX 6870HD
and 3TB of storage..
all this packed in a Corsait T600 White

note, that the screen has been replaced.

 

[andrewcarr]

If you already have two screens buy a 7970 and a monitor and you can play some games on all three screens although you would have to lower some settings. Then in the future consider CF for more power and you should have a great 3 monitor set up.

 

[Squall321]

If you already have two screens buy a 7970 and a monitor and you can play some games on all three screens although you would have to lower some settings. Then in the future consider CF for more power and you should have a great 3 monitor set up.

i must say, that i'm not a fan of these eyefinity gaming setups.. maybe for desktop use, but for gaming i would prefer a single good monitor. the crossfire should only be used as a perfomance boost, then eyefinity use.

 

[bystander]

The 7970's look very good performancewise, but make sure to see some noise level tests before you buy one. The reference models currently being tested are extremely loud. It might be wise to wait until non-reference coolers are coming out if the launched versions don't improve things a lot.

 

[andrewcarr]

Ok, but just personal opinion I love 3 monitor setups for gaming.

 

[fadeblack]

I like that the 7900 powers down cards completely when not in use. Saves money on eletricity and keeps the pc cooler. New fab and cooler design I hope translates into a cooler card. Myself I would probably go with 7950 when they come out. Less power, heat and noise but still a awsome card. I own a 6850 and a 6950 and run everything maxed 1900X1200 but would still love the cushion a 7950 would provide.

 

[Squall321]

Thanks for all the constructive replies! since the majority of you guys said i should wait, i will wait´and see what the new 7970 has to offer, when they're officially released.

Med venlig hilsen
René