Dual graphics cards powercolor 7870 2gb questions?

[Delby Dank]

today i picked up PowerColor HD7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 (V2).
eventually i would like to get another one in my computer but this exact model is hard to find.
so would i beable to run it with normal ati radeon 7870 or dose it have to be the same one? dose it have to be a ghz edition? dose it have to be a 2gb? give me the run down I am abit of a noob.

and allso i havent put it in my pc yet cos i only have a 230 watt powersuppy. will it do damage to it if i put it in? or will it just not use its full power? and what kind of power supply should i get? im gonna pick one up tommorow.

im not planing to get anything more for my pc till the start of next year so i only really need a power supply for this setup.

and one more question, i have a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50ghz(i plan to upgrade this next year) will this cpu bottle neck my gpu?
thank you.

yes many many questions i know...

 

[Limerick]

As long as they are the same chip (7870) then you can crossfire between companies. And if one has a lower clock speed the second card will run at the lower clock speed so it's a waste of money to get the GHz edition. Also it's a waste of money to get the GHz edition because you can just overclock the stock clock but that's a story for another time.

 

[DarkSable]

You'd be able to crossfire with any other 7870, but here's the deal... if you get a lesser one, then the better one will down-clock itself to match the lesser. So if you get a non GHz edition, then your GHz edition will slow down to match it. Same with VRAM. (And keep in mind that in crossfire and SLI, VRAM doesn't stack. So if you have two 2GB cards, you'll have 2GB usable, not 4.)

It will do no damage whatsoever, but it probably won't start the system.
Have you double checked to see that your computer can RUN cards in crossfire? A lot of motherboards can't, or can only do so with shitty performance.

If you're planning to crossfire, you should get at least a 750w power supply of a reliable brand. (Antec, Corsair, and SeaSonic are the good ones you're likely to find in a store.)

Yes. That CPU will bottleneck your GPU, even more so if you're running crossfire or a low-resolution monitor. You have a couple options - try to overclock, if you can, or upgrade when you can to an i5-3570k, which is the king of gaming CPUs right now.

 

[Limerick]

You definitely need more than 230 watts. At least 700 watts to run 2 7870s. They won't even run without a sufficient amount of power. And your cpu will bottleneck your gpu. You need to upgrade to at least quad core. Like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

 

[Limerick]

DarkSable brings up a good point that you need to have a good brand psu as well. I personally like seasonic. Reliable and power efficiency is great.

 

[Delby Dank]

thanks guys, i will get a new cpu next year. im saving for my japan trip and am going in 1 month i will probably get a power supply thats just good enough for this current hardware (depending on price) next year i will get a new cpu, mobo(this one cant run 2 gpu's ASRock > G41M-VS3),power supply and gpumaybe even upgrade to nvidia. and also a better monitor im still using vga at 1440-900. but will everything still be maxed out ultra settings?

 

[Delby Dank]

ok i hound my self a XFX 750watt core pro edition ,Bronze 80 being sold by someone locally for $80. what are your thoughts on this psu? im leaving to get it in 40 minutes please answer me by then