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Any 7970 CrossFire users out there?

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Graphics card Master

If anyone out there has CrossFire 7970s - can you comment on their performance? I'm thinking of picking up a second one in a couple months (after upgrading my CPU which I'm trying to sell) but I know that all the day 1 crossfire reviews showed AWFUL driver performance in some games. In particular, I'd love to be able to play The Witcher 2 maxed out smoothly at 1080p, but saw that CF performance was initially actually worse.

Don't feel like spending ~$500+ to get no performance increases in the games that matter to me (right now especially Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2).

However, I am very intrigued by the idea of putting 2 top-end cards together and seeing what they can do :D 

If the drivers are still total crap, maybe I'll eventually try to sell my 7970 and pick up a pair of 680s.

More about : 7970 crossfire users

BigMack70 said:
If anyone out there has CrossFire 7970s - can you comment on their performance? I'm thinking of picking up a second one in a couple months (after upgrading my CPU which I'm trying to sell) but I know that all the day 1 crossfire reviews showed AWFUL driver performance in some games. In particular, I'd love to be able to play The Witcher 2 maxed out smoothly at 1080p, but saw that CF performance was initially actually worse.

Don't feel like spending ~$500+ to get no performance increases in the games that matter to me (right now especially Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2).

However, I am very intrigued by the idea of putting 2 top-end cards together and seeing what they can do :D 

If the drivers are still total crap, maybe I'll eventually try to sell my 7970 and pick up a pair of 680s.


BigMack, firstly I love the Witcher 2.

Secondly, I was fiddling with the game last night. Tried the "UberSampling" and it didn't make much of a difference at all other than to my framerate! It was still playable but didn't look better.

I put the settings on Ultra and disabled UberSampling and it was smooth as butter.

I could max Battlefield 3 on a single GTX 580, your 7970 should easily do that.

To be honest, you'll more than likely see a performance gain with a processor upgrade.

If I was you I'd throw in another 7970 or go to SLI 680s but only because I think the amount of power is disgustingly awesome and more is always better.
Graphics card Master

Yup I don't think my CPU could handle crossfire 7970s. I'm gonna upgrade to Ivy Bridge I think... Then, I'm gonna grab a nice new full tower case as well to stick everything in since my mid tower is cramped and a mess of wires.

I just gotta find someone who will buy my CPU+mobo for $150-200 first.

After that, I'd like to grab a 2nd 7970 just for kicks - I also think that amount of power is disgustingly awesome. I'm maxing everything except The Witcher 2 perfectly smoothly - The Witcher 2 has an OK average framerate with ubersampling but it's not really playable because minimum framerates can be in the teens. I do however notice a pretty big difference in image quality with ubersampling on. It's definitely not worth 50% of your framerate, which is what it costs, but man it would be cool to be able to get that running smoothly at 60fps :) 
Graphics card Authority

Wait a couple of weeks to see how far 7970 prices slide. The 680 sort of torpedo'd the price point 7970 has been enjoying (better performance for $50 less). We should see the prices on the 7970's come down to at or below $500.
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Graphics card Authority

yes, the hd 7970 CF performance is incredible, i have upgraded my gtx 580 sli to hd7970 CF and now every game i have played with maxed easily with 70+ fps

skyrim= min 55 avg 70.9 max 89.2
bf3 = min 58 avg 75 max 94

and i didn't play the witcher 2 soon i will give you the result of T.W2

2500k oc'ed ~ 4.6ghz
asus p8z68 vpro gen3
g.skill ripjaws x series 2x4gb ddr3 1600
AMD hd 7970 crossfire
128gb vertex ocz3 ssd
2tb seagate barracuda 7200
silver arrow cooler
cooler mster silent pro 1000w 80
haf x 932
Graphics card Master

xtreme5 said:
yes, the hd 7970 CF performance is incredible, i have upgraded my gtx 580 sli to hd7970 CF and now every game i have played with maxed easily with 70+ fps

skyrim= min 55 avg 70.9 max 89.2
bf3 = min 58 avg 75 max 94

and i didn't play the witcher 2 soon i will give you the result of T.W2

2500k oc'ed ~ 4.6ghz
asus p8z68 vpro gen3
g.skill ripjaws x series 2x4gb ddr3 1600
AMD hd 7970 crossfire
128gb vertex ocz3 ssd
2tb seagate barracuda 7200
silver arrow cooler
cooler mster silent pro 1000w 80
haf x 932


What settings is that for BF3? I'm getting min:40, avg:65, max:120 on 64 player MP maps 1080p maxed out with just a single 7970. Kinda sounds like drivers need to improve a bit.

And yeah, I'm not gonna pay $550 for a second 7970 unless it's a custom one. I'm tempted to pick up one of the MSI Lightning models when it comes out, though, and regardless of price drops I'm sure that will command a price premium.

BigMack70 said:
Yup I don't think my CPU could handle crossfire 7970s. I'm gonna upgrade to Ivy Bridge I think... Then, I'm gonna grab a nice new full tower case as well to stick everything in since my mid tower is cramped and a mess of wires.

I just gotta find someone who will buy my CPU+mobo for $150-200 first.

After that, I'd like to grab a 2nd 7970 just for kicks - I also think that amount of power is disgustingly awesome. I'm maxing everything except The Witcher 2 perfectly smoothly - The Witcher 2 has an OK average framerate with ubersampling but it's not really playable because minimum framerates can be in the teens. I do however notice a pretty big difference in image quality with ubersampling on. It's definitely not worth 50% of your framerate, which is what it costs, but man it would be cool to be able to get that running smoothly at 60fps :) 


When I upgraded from a Phenom X4 to a Core i7, the difference it made was unbelievable. Ivy Bridge will be the next big thing, not even going to bother with LGA2011.

Case-wise, I have to recommend the Obsidian 800D, just make sure your PSU's cables are long enough to reach the slots regardless of which case you choose.

I'm just like you, I want unnecessary power just... because I can. Man you're gonna be running an absolute beast soon! :) 

xtreme5 said:
yes, the hd 7970 CF performance is incredible, i have upgraded my gtx 580 sli to hd7970 CF and now every game i have played with maxed easily with 70+ fps

skyrim= min 55 avg 70.9 max 89.2
bf3 = min 58 avg 75 max 94

and i didn't play the witcher 2 soon i will give you the result of T.W2

2500k oc'ed ~ 4.6ghz
asus p8z68 vpro gen3
g.skill ripjaws x series 2x4gb ddr3 1600
AMD hd 7970 crossfire
128gb vertex ocz3 ssd
2tb seagate barracuda 7200
silver arrow cooler
cooler mster silent pro 1000w 80
haf x 932


I get higher frames on Skyrim and about the same on Battefield 3, except my maximum frames are about 115~120 and I'm running GTX 580 SLI? That'a a bit odd. Surely driver related. The performance will probably increase as the drivers mature.
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