7970 or xfire 7870?

[sharpiedpanda]

Hello people,

So I am almost at a point of upgrading and am looking for some input on my situation.

I currently have a sapphire 7870 non-oc edition with a 2500k on top of a z77 gigabyte mobo powered by a 750w modular OCZ psu.

I am looking to eventually run 3x32 inch monitors @ 5760x1080 or something like one of those new 4k tv's down the road for gaming (figure most demanding games with all of the eye candy enabled).

I have never messed with multi-card setups but I believe that my system is capable of handling it.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

-SP

 

[bigcyco1]

I would just buy one of these cards http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003

 

[maestro0428]

7970 for sure. Although multiple gpus run multiple monitors at higher rates, Crossfire (and SLI) just don't work that well all of the time. They have driver, game and microstuttering issues (if you are able to see that, not everyone does). I have used Crossfire and SLI and never recommend them unless you are looking to do benchmarking or (in your case) multiple monitors. Even so, you may run into issues, so I say get the fastest single gpu you can get and that is this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161419.

 

[figgyfosta]

Keep in mind 4k tv's will cost $10-30k (the Sony is $25k @ 84"), and 8k will run well over that. Also the 4k is 4x the resolution of 1080 and the 8k will be 16x. More than likely the 4k gen will be short due to 8k tech already out, but too expensive. Around 2020 they're expecting 8k to be available. So don't focus on these for your future gaming experience, just stay on the eyefinity.

 

[kajabla]

The Tom's stuttering article found that microstuttering ceased to be a serious issue with cards above the 6950 level.
If you want to max games on triple monitors, you'll need two 7970s.

 

[maestro0428]

The Tom's stuttering article found that microstuttering ceased to be a serious issue with cards above the 6950 level.
If you want to max games on triple monitors, you'll need two 7970s.

I just read that article and here are the closing thoughts. Sure, you'll see less stuttering, if you are able to see it in the first place, by putting two ultra high end cards in your system, BUT, I would not pay a thousand dollars or more to find that there are still issues, even if they are smaller issues. That doesn't include the driver problems or game incompatibility either.

"Frankly, there haven't been any revolutionary developments in the fields of frame rate consistency and micro-stuttering, even though we have seen improvements from Nvidia's drivers. At this point, neither competitors can claim to deliver a 100% stutter-free gaming experience with two GPUs working cooperatively.

Bearing in mind that vendors purposely try to price two mid-range cards similarly to a faster single-GPU board wherever possible (generally, when the competitive landscape allows for it), we’d have to pick the single-GPU card every time. The three-way setup based on a trio of mid-range cards is the pièce de résistance. But AMD and Nvidia also know this, and purposely handicap their less-expensive boards with just one bridge, limiting configurations to two boards. The way around this, PowerColor's Radeon HD 6870 X2 bears its own significant price premium. It's also not a quiet board, and it requires a bit of faith on your part to trust that CrossFire profiles will continue to incorporate support.

We learned one other thing from our experimentation: the faster the linked cards are, the less you see side effects from teaming them up. This precludes using two low-end cards. CrossFire and SLI only make sense from the mid-range and higher, with a slight advantage for SLI. That makes both technologies a lot less interesting for upgraders and bargain hunters. Again, given comparable pricing, we'll take the single-GPU card any day. And even then, not having to worry about micro-stuttering would compel us to pay a little more."

 

[kajabla]

Correct. A single 7970 would be the best option in its performance range, but the OP wants more performance than that, so two are the best option.

 

[Pgooch]

I could of sworn the 4k TVs were 4x 720p not 4x 1080


Edit: looks like I was wrong after some researching.

 

[bigcyco1]

ASUS HD 7970 Matrix Platinum check it out my friend bought it it's a violent beast of a card i highly recommend it lol

 

[sharpiedpanda]

@bigcyco1: what is so good about the vapor-X model vs the regular sapphire release?

(ps those vapor and matrix versions look pretty freaking sexy but that matrix model is sold out on the egg)

So when you all are referring to 'high' and 'low' end cards, where does the 7870 fall? because looking at the AMD lineup, the 7870 isn't too far from the top.

And you all agree that the 7970 (or Radeon for that matter) would be the best card for the money right now for a multi-monitor set up?

-SP

thanks for the responses so far ^_^

 

[bigcyco1]

The difference is there are reference cards than non reference cards the special thing that sets the regular sapphire cards apart is it's not binnedas high as Vapor X In terms of power, the card uses an eight phase power design, along with Sapphire’s Black Diamond chokes. Sapphire's HD 7950 Vapor-X comes with a large dual-fan cooler that uses the company's famous vapor-chamber technology. On the Vapor-X you will also find a "Lethal Boost" button which switches to a second BIOS with higher clock speeds. Allot of the 7970 are prone to coil wine examples http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDcQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dd7Oliy3asjU&ei=45qJULGFNeizigKJt4H4CQ&usg=AFQjCNHrA_AH0F8pRaXr_fzsYRWfDQaAiA&sig2=0Uh-eDn8FBX2Iv7b8BdwiA
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=2&ved=0CDoQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DVa3UhENMzxc&ei=45qJULGFNeizigKJt4H4CQ&usg=AFQjCNGj6Mh4o-1RRIZhcqbWzV-8l0MG0A&sig2=N-oRbA-Il7YlVhjuc_LyhA&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=4&ved=0CEgQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DyR4APiVip70&ei=45qJULGFNeizigKJt4H4CQ&usg=AFQjCNFnCbzBzwVyvM30huHitIlT-RudBg&sig2=cnFIow9UXgc8RnxLPGT6gw&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=7&ved=0CFEQtwIwBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9AYrfggP7Y0&ei=45qJULGFNeizigKJt4H4CQ&usg=AFQjCNGzoN0XrWlENijfafa8qZaUkukoXA&sig2=okSzbjIXXwJyQVIVQm1_DQ&cad=rja

 

[TheRussian1]

I have never had stutter issues with 6950 CF. Or temperature, noise, or anything like that.


The problem with Xfire, is that a lot of games have utilization issues- either none, or not even close to what you would expect.
Drivers and Xfire compatibility is a real issue.

 

[bigcyco1]

To be honest i am not sure what all would consider 7870 me personally i consider it a mid range card not low end but not high end either of course this is just my opinion

 

[Wigglers]

Definitely the 7970
I have an MSI 7870 myself. It's a fantastic card, just looking for a little more power as you are. Went and grabbed a 7970 and am very impressed with the performance. This whole gtx 680 vs 7970 crap is bs. The differences are so minute that you wont even notice without an FPS counter. Yet people want to whine about a 3 FPS difference. On the matter of 4k TVs.... You would be completely and utterly wrong sir. You can get a 4k tv for a little over a grand
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BXF7I9M/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=22237086307&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=19091662171221880633&hvpone=965.99&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7dner0riqh_e

Yup. Although you would need one hell of a card setup to be able to utilize that resolution. Given your card even supports it at all. I would make sure before you purchase anything.