A8-3850 + Asus F1A75-M Pro + dual 6670's?

[hikalea]

I've been investigating adding a HD6670 to my A8/F1A75 Pro setup, and noticed that I have 2 PCIe x16 slots.

A few questions I'm sure someone has the answers to:

-If I use a single HD6670 to hybrid crossfirex, whats the pro's and con's of using a ddr5 vs a dd3?
-If I decide to fill both PCIe slots, how can I benefit the most? Hybrid crossfirex the onboard to BOTH cards? as in 2 6670's?
-Or can I run the 2 physicals in crossfire, AND 1 of them in Hybrid? As in onboard + 6670 AND 6670 + (high end card)?

Trying to squeeze the most graphics potential possible out of this build, currently running:

Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
AMD A8-3850
Asus F1A75-M Pro
16gb - 4 x 4gb Corsair HyperX Genesis 1600 memory
500w psu

 

[hikalea]

...anyone?

 

[haider95]

I swear down bro you dont even need to invest in two hd 6670's just buy a higher end card but if you really do wanna do it then go ahead. but i dont think you'd be able to a tri crossfire with that integrated gpu might aswell fit an nvidia card in there for physx

 

[Roddfather]

I've been investigating adding a HD6670 to my A8/F1A75 Pro setup, and noticed that I have 2 PCIe x16 slots.

A few questions I'm sure someone has the answers to:

-If I use a single HD6670 to hybrid crossfirex, whats the pro's and con's of using a ddr5 vs a dd3?
-If I decide to fill both PCIe slots, how can I benefit the most? Hybrid crossfirex the onboard to BOTH cards? as in 2 6670's?
-Or can I run the 2 physicals in crossfire, AND 1 of them in Hybrid? As in onboard + 6670 AND 6670 + (high end card)?

Trying to squeeze the most graphics potential possible out of this build, currently running:

Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
AMD A8-3850
Asus F1A75-M Pro
16gb - 4 x 4gb Corsair HyperX Genesis 1600 memory
500w psu

DDR5 vs DDR3 may not make as much of difference in this instance. It may be better to look at the core clock speeds, memory clock, memory interface and memory size before worrying about the DDR 3 vs 5 issue. If everything is equal on the specs and price, go for DDR5. If not, see what has the better overall specs to fit your needs.

Speaking of your needs, what are you trying to do with your computer? Like what games are you trying to play, the resolution you like to play at, your budget? You will get more responses that way.

Also, I am pretty sure you can't crossfire two cards and than also use hybrid crossfire as well.

My advice for you would be to by the most powerful card you can afford that is within your PSU limits.

 

[hikalea]

Thanks for the reply guys. Gaming wise I'm looking for max Skyrim/BF3/Diablo III, but also an all-around high end HTPC.

My budget is $150, so I'm aiming for a top-notch discrete standalone card, or something comparable using Hybrid crossfire. Any suggestions? A spec breakdown on what makes the discrete better then hybrid crossfire with a 6670 would be awesome as well.

 

[Roddfather]

My understanding is that if you want to game at 1280x720 or 1680x1050 you will see some improvement in your games frame rates. But if you want to max out games like Skyrim and BF3 @ 1920x1080, you are going to want to a discrete gamin card and your budget is going to have go up. Your processor is great for streaming and video playback, and not too graphics intense gaming, which makes it great choice for a HTPC. Throw in a 6670 if you want to slightly improve the quality of games. You could also go take a look at these cards which should give you better performance than hybrid crossfire: NvIdia 650 or 650 ti. Also take a look at the 7770 from AMD. You shift your budget to the $200-$220 range you could get a 7850 or 560/660 and be pretty happy with your gaming.

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea i agree with Rodd. And in order to max out skyrim and bf3 you will need more then 150 dollars into a graphics card.

 

[hikalea]

Is crossfire useless now? Even disregarding the APU and hybrid crossfire, is there no combination of $100-120 cards in crossfire that could outperform $200-240 cards?

 

[bigshootr8]

I wouldn't say that but you run into things like a card having less ram adding another doesn't double the ram. Its less of a value I believe at this point to pair to cards up at that range.

 

[Roddfather]

Is crossfire useless now? Even disregarding the APU and hybrid crossfire, is there no combination of $100-120 cards in crossfire that could outperform $200-240 cards?

Crossfire isn't useless, it depends on what you want to do. You can HTPC with just your APU without adding a second card. You can add second card and have slightly better gameplay at lower resolutions. I don't think the HTPC side see any sort of increase. You add a discrete GPU, you can have better gameplay than hybrid crossfire. So if you don't want all the bells and whistles or are willing to game at lower resolutions than by all means hybrid crossfire. If you want more graphical "oomph" in your gaming and have smoother gameplay, I would recommend saving a little more money and going with a more powerful card. It's really up to what is the most important to you in terms of budget and how well you want your games to perform.

 

[Roddfather]

And like bigshootr8 is saying, crossfire/sli isn't really a good option until you to the higher mid range cards and upper end cards. That's when having two cards can start to really have an impact. I saw some reviews on Newegg an some people were very happy having just 6670 to game with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-127-586&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Since the card can work with your APU it may be enough for you. But crossfire (like using two 6670's) at the lower range of cards tends to be more expensive than buying one card that is a better performer.

 

[bigshootr8]

+1. Normally you will find 2 groups of people who do SLi/CF. People who buy mid range cards for example a gtx660Ti and later decide to purchase another one because they didn't have money to buy a more expensive card at the time or..... an enthusiast who wants the best of the best and gets two cards the 680/or the 7970 in SLi/CF.