x-fire 6970 or 7970 ?

[Dicehunter]

got a chance at getting a cheap 6970 for x-fire or should i put that money aside and save up for the 7970 ?

 

[arc@css]

How much is the cost of the 6970?

 

[Dicehunter]

How much is the cost of the 6970?

£150, practically new.

 

[arc@css]

£150, practically new.

In that case, I think in your shoes I'd take the offer.

 

[Marine-RX179]

So it's pretty much down to weighting between the two like this:

Two 6970 in Crossfire for cost of £300 with better performance but with higher power consumption and heat plus possible driver and game scaling issue vs £435 on a 7970 which is slower, but with the peace of mind not having worrying about multi-GPU performance...

 

[Gregster]

In that case, I think in your shoes I'd take the offer.

This I agree with.

So it's pretty much down to weighting between the two like this:

Two 6970 in Crossfire for cost of £300 with better performance but with higher power consumption and heat plus possible driver and game scaling issue vs £435 on a 7970 which is slower, but with the peace of mind not having worrying about multi-GPU performance...

and this I agree with

 

[tommybhoy]

It depends on how adapt you are at keeping windows in order imo, if you know what your doing, twin cards are easy to live with.

If on the other hand you install/uninstall things just for the fun of it(more or less) and are jumping on new beta drivers for ~5% extra performance you face a battle keeping everything trim.

Been using 6950>70 CrossFire for a year with zero issues and keeping them rather than go for less performance(I'm on 1080p) at a higher cost.

Yes the 7970 is a very fast card oc'd but the 6970's can be clocked further too.

 

[slade]

I hope your Phemon II is up to it, dont expect fantastic scaling even at 4.2

I've been disappointed to the point where i might sell mine and get a 7970.... or upgrade to a 2500K

 

[MAK360]

Go for the new tech with better features, future proof in games that are coming and it will have a better resell value down road.

 

[ooEy]

Go for the new tech with better features, future proof in games that are coming and it will have a better resell value down road.

Ignore this man. There are NO better features, The 2 card solution would be faster so it will play any games present or future BETTER than the 7970 (How many games don't have crossfire support now?). Granted he may have a point about resell value but to be fair it would probably be minimal. Nothing in the enthusiasts market really keeps any value.


If you already have the PSU to power it and can afford an increase in heat and noise then go for the second card.

 

[ALXAndy]

Ignore this man. There are NO better features

Really? So Zerocore is all marketing hype? I think you need to do your research.

 

[ooEy]

I say no better features you hit me with a fancy power management gimmick. I swear GFX cards used to be cool.

 

[BaNksY IV]

But if your like me when i go on my computer i wouldnt leave it long enough to go to screensaver let alone blank screen so zerocore would make zero difference to me.
On a side note im waiting or my 2nd 6950 to arrive on tuesday, i can let you know how i get on as a 1st time xfire user.

 

[arc@css]

But if your like me when i go on my computer i wouldnt leave it long enough to go to screensaver let alone blank screen so zerocore would make zero difference to me.
On a side note im waiting or my 2nd 6950 to arrive on tuesday, i can let you know how i get on as a 1st time xfire user.

Let us know you get on. I've used crossfire before and will again one day I'm sure. Tbh, although I think it's a great idea to cut back on resource usage, I haven't yet seen much evidence showing that a significant amount of $ can be saved.

 

[Cleeecooo]

Go for the new tech with better features, future proof in games that are coming and it will have a better resell value down road.

There aren't any new features worth blowing a £150 6970 off for. If you have good airflow and a great PSU, then 6970 xfire definitely over a 7970

EDIT: zerocore is a pointless feature IMHO. Nice to have, but you don't particularly give a **** either

 

[tommybhoy]

it will have a better resell value down road.

Silly comment if you read the op, in this case, the better resale value goes clean out the window when you factor in a £150 upgrade over a £300 upgrade!

Zerocore while not a deal clincher, it has it's uses, great for using in the bedroom pc for zero gpu noise through the night, full power down of second(or more) gpu when not in use, and I suppose saves a few quid if the pc is used 24/7.

 

[BaNksY IV]

My 2nd turned up today, set up xfire very quickly, didnt even need to reinstall any drivers.
Only thing i did have to do was uninstall msi afterburner and reinstall that as it was causing bsod when i tried to adjust the clocks.

Will post my heaven score tomorrow think it was 2150

Booted up bf3 now runs everything maxxed out (minus motion blur only as i dont like this) with vsync turned on its running silky smooth!
Very impressed so far will have to see how i get on with different games tomorrow.

I think the obvious thing to do is get the 6970!

Hope that helps

 

[MANFACE]

Got 6970 in X-fire too, was thinking of getting a 7970, no point really.

Performance wise, X-Fire 6970 is so good. Actually, I've had lots of SLi/XF set-ups, and 6970 XF is the best I've had so far.

Good purchase, and well done.

 

[Martini1991]

6970 Crossfire, though you'll be bottlenecked by your CPU.
And will continue to be bottlenecked even after you get an FX8170.

 

[tommybhoy]

^
Why, worst case scenario, he'll be looking at 135fps instead of 150fps!

On a [email protected], it can hit 4.8GHz but the heat/power draw isn't worth it imho, but disagreeing with your 'doom and gloom the end of the world is nigh' thoughts on BD.


It isn't that far behind in gaming @1080p that the naked eye will notice any difference 99% of the time.