Is now the time to Crossfire HD5870 or buy a 6/7 series card?

[adam_x_brookes]

Hello all, My system specs are as follow:
AMD phenom x4 955 @ 3.9ghz
Radeon xfx HD5870
4gig Ripjaw 1600mhz DDR3 Ram
OCZ 500watt PSU
Antec Dark fleet 85
23inch monitor (1980 x 1080)
I noticed when I bought battlefield 3 that I can not max it out at my resolution. I am wondering if ugrading my PSU and getting another HD5870 is the best way to be able to max out recent dx11 games or maybe getting a 6/7 series card might be better? And is there any need to upgrade my motherboard for the new PCI-E if I went for a 7 series card?

Thanks for all comments/suggestions

 

[larkspur]

2 x 5870 is very powerful. So is a 7970. At your resolution 2 x 5870 will own. So would a 7970. It comes down to price differences and whether you want to do XFire and upgrade that PSU to accommodate the extra 5870.

The 7970 requirements (as listed by AMD) only want a 500w minimum with one 8-pin and one 6-pin.

Edit: Shouldn't be any need to upgrade your motherboard for the 7970.

 

[adam_x_brookes]

I'm looking at around £250 to upgrade to a decent PPU and buying the second card second hand =/

 

[larkspur]

I'm looking at around £250 to upgrade to a decent PPU and buying the second card second hand =/

Well then by all means, XFire your 5870 with a used one and get a nice branded PSU. Your mobo wan't listed in your post, just make sure your mobo supports XFire and that you will have adequate airflow for each card.

I have noticed a general low-opinion of OCZ PSUs around here but Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, are premium.

 

[larkspur]

I saw your mobo in your sig - is this the one?

GA-880GA-UD3H http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3425#sp

That mobo has ONE PCIe16x running at 16x and ONE PCIe16x running at 4x. I'm actually not totally sure, but I think you need them each running at at least 8x for XFire. If that is your mobo, make sure you find out if that will work with XFire before getting a 2nd card.

 

[adam_x_brookes]

Ihttp://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3342#sp that's my motherboard I think, runs at x8/x8 as far as am aware