Options with Crossfiring, Upgrading, or other...

[tnick771]

Hey guys, I am in a good situation - I have some money to spend and I want to do it right.

This is my current C/GPU setup:

i5 3450
Sapphire Radeon 7850

I play:
FPS (rarely)
Civ (Often)
Total War (Occasionally)

Given the options what would help me most in terms of noticeable change:

1. Crossfiring with another 7850

2. Water Cooling System

3. Upgrading to a 7950

Or any other ideas?

Thanks!!!

 

[Chinmoy Debnath]

Crossfiring with another 7850 THAT CAN EASILY PROVIDE PERFORMANCE UPTO 7970 AND WILL BE A noticeable change IN FPS YOU CAN PLAY IN ULTRA SETTINGS.

 

[chesteracorgi]

Xfire is probably the greatest increase that you can have in boosting graphics performance, however, there are issues that you will have with dropped frames and stuttering with an Xfire that you do will not see with a single GPU.

Water cooling will not improve performance, and because of the clock limitations of the processor would be a waste (unless you upgrade to an over-clock-able chip).

From your post it looks like you will have up to $350 to spend. I'd buy a second 7850 to Xfire and consider a different component (SSD, gaming mouse/keyboard, headset, etc.) fpor an upgrade.

 

[coozie7]

Put it in the bank, Crossfire or a stronger single card is only likely to be useful in FPS games, at the highest settings and a CPU/MB upgrade is not likely to be cost effective either.

 

[tnick771]

You definitely don't need water cooling so save your money there. If you are in the mood to sell your current GPU then I would sell it and go with a single card solution. Xfire and SLI can always have compatibility issues with some games but it also requires a lot more power usage and creates a lot more heat. Single cards are always better to do if what you are using the cards for only needs a single card. What you plan to do doesn't need more than one card.

I'd sell your current 7850 and grab either a 7950 http://amzn.to/11pmP2a or if you can get a GTX 770 http://amzn.to/12iIbiR then get one of those.

Put it in the bank, Crossfire or a stronger single card is only likely to be useful in FPS games, at the highest settings and a CPU/MB upgrade is not likely to be cost effective either.

How much different would a 7950 be than a 7850?

 

[coozie7]

The HD7950 is a good deal faster:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/16.html

Its biggest advantage is the 3Gb framebuffer which means it suffers less performance loss at high resolutions with AA enabled.
Please provide complete details of the current system, including monitor resolution and power supply.
If memory serves correctly Nvidia are releasing their revised GTX760 cards next week (or week after) , if you do decide to upgrade I suggest you hold off and see what this refresh brings to the table before making a final decision.

 

[tnick771]

The HD7950 is a good deal faster:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/16.html

Its biggest advantage is the 3Gb framebuffer which means it suffers less performance loss at high resolutions with AA enabled.
Please provide complete details of the current system, including monitor resolution and power supply.
If memory serves correctly Nvidia are releasing their revised GTX760 cards next week (or week after) , if you do decide to upgrade I suggest you hold off and see what this refresh brings to the table before making a final decision.

Oh oops! I didn't mean to include you in that reply -- I guess I got lucky!

Thanks for taking the time to do this, here are my specs:

Processor: Intel i5 - 3470
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7870 2GB (I was mistaken by which level I had)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB DDR3
MoBo: Biostar TZ77B
SSD: Samsung 840 Series 120 GB
HDD: Hitachi 1 TB
PSU: Corsair CX 500W

Monitor: LG LED IPS 27EA63 (27")

 

[coozie7]

Mr Harry says: "Guess you were feeling lucky were n't you."
Having now seen the full specs I'm convinced my first reply was correct: Put the money in a bank.
Or use it elsewhere, because you have a excellent system, perfectly balanced for your needs.
Enjoy your gaming and relax knowing that you have a little money in the kitty in case something goes wrong.

 

[tnick771]

Mr Harry says: "Guess you were feeling lucky were n't you."
Having now seen the full specs I'm convinced my first reply was correct: Put the money in a bank.
Or use it elsewhere, because you have a excellent system, perfectly balanced for your needs.
Enjoy your gaming and relax knowing that you have a little money in the kitty in case something goes wrong.

Yeah I'm a little OCD. I'm in Marketing so I'm always looking for ways to improve but I never know how to stop while I'm ahead -- it leaks over into my real life far too much.

Thanks again for your time! I really appreciate it!

 

[coozie7]

^ We're all a little guilty of that, I think it's part and parcel of PC gaming .