[Help] What card to pair with my 6870?

[Dallorian]

I currently have a XFX HD radeon 6870 card. It has one fan and its pretty loud. It runs idle maybe 48C average. I want to pair it in crossfire with another card that won't add more heat to him or maybe help him some.

I tried finding aftermarket cooling stuff but they looked pretty big and one I tried didnt fit.

Anyone got good advice on the other card I should pair with this one?

Trying stay around $250 or under which should be plenty. I am not interested in selling my current card yet. Maybe if I run into more issues with heat. I mainly use the cards for gaming, I understand not all games use Xfire.

I plan to add another monitor to the mix to replace my current. Depending on the second card and the performance of the two I will buy the best monitor for the set up they provide.

My current card:
XFX HD6870 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

My PC

Spoiler

1680x1050 720p monitor

HX850W PSU Corsair
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

AMD Phenom IIx6 1100T Black Edition Thubian
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913

Fatilty 990FX professional mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157267

Azza Hurrican 2000 with every fan replaced but 4x230mm (10 Total, all other fans are 120mm. All replaced with better)
My CPU has a cooler master 212 hyper plus heatsink with 2 fans.

16GB memory 1600 channel low G. Skill ripjaws
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

 

[Traildriver]

For ideal crossfire you need to get another of what you already have. Problems may occur when cards are mismatched

 

[Dallorian]

Yes I need another 6870 so my question is which one?
HiS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, Asus

I know some are different and are better paired for cooling.

Also confused as to which 'model' is current? Sapphire Toxic, HiS Iceq etc etc

 

[DM186]

well first off you have to have the same card that you have now it just has to be the same 6870 it is prefered to have the exact same thing but you can use any brand 6870 if you choose to.

If your card now temps at 48c on idle that is not good well it is with in the norms but on the high side and if your fan is making all kinds of noise something is wrong.

I would see if you can just get a replacement fan and swap it out. The after market cooler, they make them for you GPU and most are able to fit any card. You just have to look around.

If you need help in finding all this I will be more than happy to find eveything you need. There is one more thing for $250 you could get a better card the 6870 and run just the better card.

I think there is micro stutter with 6870's in Cross fire if I remember right So you might check that out for sure. There are other programs out there to help monitor your temps and I can link you to them as well.

Just get back to us and we will go from there. Good luck to you. Also here is the 6870 to go with if you go that route.

 

[Dallorian]

Do you think the other sapphire cards act the same as heat? Some reason I can't find the toxic for sale anywhere. I originally was going to buy 2xsapphire toxic but they sell so fast.

 

[Dallorian]

well first off you have to have the same card that you have now it just has to be the same 6870 it is prefered to have the exact same thing but you can use any brand 6870 if you choose to.

If your card now temps at 48c on idle that is not good well it is with in the norms but on the high side and if your fan is making all kinds of noise something is wrong.

I would see if you can just get a replacement fan and swap it out. The after market cooler, they make them for you GPU and most are able to fit any card. You just have to look around.

If you need help in finding all this I will be more than happy to find eveything you need. There is one more thing for $250 you could get a better card the 6870 and run just the better card.

I think there is micro stutter with 6870's in Cross fire if I remember right So you might check that out for sure. There are other programs out there to help monitor your temps and I can link you to them as well.

Just get back to us and we will go from there. Good luck to you. Also here is the 6870 to go with if you go that route.

Ya I didn't like his temp either. I tried GElid solutions but the heat pipes hit my graphic card hardware so I returned it. There is a 3 fan arctic cooling option but for that price I would just replace the XFX

From what I read on micro stutter I run 16GB they say above 8GB it doesn't run into issues. Could be wrong but thats the info I got from another post in toms hardware.

Which card was it you mentioned for the other route?

 

[DM186]

My bad I thought I had posted it must be getting sleepy So here is the other link to the XFX above the one you choose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

I didn't know about the ram fixing the stutter so that is good. So you are having problems with XFX I take it so the link I gave you will go to the trash. I would really be thinking of going with the new 7xxx series.

Reason being is they don't use as much power that have better cooling platforms and they are all around better, so you would have to save a little more like $50.00 to get the 7850.

This is just food for thought and just to keep your options open. Good luck to you and sorry for not posting the link in my first post.

7850 vs 6870
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=540

 

[Dallorian]

I am leaning towards the 7XXX cards but I hear all kinds of crap on the drivers so far. I had the other XFX DD in mind also. Just curious if I should get something different since they both operate the same and probably dispense heat the same poor way.

Is that benchmark 6870x2 or just one? can't tell

 

[Dallorian]

Ya that's what I figured the bench doesn't show two cards for some reason

 

[DM186]

Ya that's what I figured the bench doesn't show two cards for some reason

So look at this in the single view and look and write the differences down. I don't know about the 7870's but the cards that are getting a lot of complaining on here it the 7970's.

For some reason they are having problems with them. Before you get a new card you might want to wait for July or Augest when the 660 Ti's are suppose to be released not 100% for sure just rumored.

Anyway below are the two cards one is CF and the other is just your normal HD 7870. So good luck on your problem and which ever way you go will be better than where you are now. Cheers

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/301

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548

 

[Dallorian]

Best answer selected by Dallorian.

 

[Dallorian]

Thanks I appreciatte the info. Still wondering best 'brand' card to get. on OC.net site someone stated they fixed the micro stutter in a recent driver fix. Hope they did.

Guess back to trying to find a brand!!