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Crossfire 6850

Laher

Laher

Laher

Associate
Joined
12 Dec 2011
Posts
199
I know this topic has probably been done to death on here. But I'm thinking of getting another 6850 to crossfire up.

Now without any nonsense (have heard conflicting views on here) :P what would this setup (with an i5 at a later date) be comparable to. I have seen benchmarks on anandtech putting it v. close to a 580, and im pretty much sure it should beat the 6970 hands down.

How would it compare to 7950 ? Close ?
 
What games do you play, and in what resolution/quality settings?

A pair of 6850's will still have 1GB memory - which may not be enough for some games, high resolutions or high levels of AA etc.

A single, newer card will likely have more memory. Also, single cards have fewer issues with most games, some new games take a while before there's a driver or CAP available to give stable performance for a crossfire setup.
 
I don't think I'd need more than 1GB. I'll be playing on 1080p with High quality settings. Possibly sometimes ultra high with AA :S. But most of the time just High is fine.

Edit: And I have no problems tinkering withcrossfire to get a game stable, or waiting for profile updates!
 
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arc@css said:
In terms of maximum frame rates, yes, close.
Click to expand...

Good to know ! When you say maximum, does that still mean the frame rate would be a lot lower in high action scenes? I wish I could just try out a crossfire setup somewhere lol...(all my mates are console gamers, with the odd one or two who run outdated systems (Counter-strike players) ....
 
Laher said:
Good to know ! When you say maximum, does that still mean the frame rate would be a lot lower in high action scenes? I wish I could just try out a crossfire setup somewhere lol...(all my mates are console gamers, with the odd one or two who run outdated systems (Counter-strike players) ....
Click to expand...

I think you would find the 7950 would provide higher minimum and average fps, and more than likely deliver smoother performance as well. However, that's not to say 6850 crossfire isn't worth considering. It offers high performance for much less expense, though for reference, I doubt they will overclock that close to what a 7950 can achieve.

I think it depends on how much budget factors into the equation.
 
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If you play at 1920*1080p you're already on the limits of what 1GB VRAM can offer. The way I see it, what's the point getting loads of GPU grunt - which a 6850 crossfire set up will offer - and then not be able to play max settings due to VRAM. I know you're going to get better FPS on med-high settings but it doesn't seem beneficial to me.

As I've said before, I hate the "VRAM not enough argument" but it applies here. You could be VRAM limited with 6850 crossfire.
 
Thanks for the replies, Budget is the main factor, or I'd be going with a 680 :D

I think I will be ordering one when I decide to upgrade to sandybridge i5 (Hoping the prices go down when ivy bridge is released)
 
Rusty0611 said:
If you play at 1920*1080p you're already on the limits of what 1GB VRAM can offer. The way I see it, what's the point getting loads of GPU grunt - which a 6850 crossfire set up will offer - and then not be able to play max settings due to VRAM. I know you're going to get better FPS on med-high settings but it doesn't seem beneficial to me.

As I've said before, I hate the "VRAM not enough argument" but it applies here. You could be VRAM limited with 6850 crossfire.
Click to expand...

Max settings is not the biggest issue for me. I just prefer higher frame rates/smooth gameplay...especially as an old skool gamer...
 
What motherboard / PSU do you have?

If you play BF3, you won't be able to handle AA and Ultra textures. The VRAM will stop you unfortunately even though you probably have the GPU power to handle it. You could be facing these kind of limitations in the future as well but I guess it depends how long you're planning on keeping 6850 crossfire.

You need to bear in mind that 6850's are last generation low-mid end cards and they will start to show their age whether it be VRAM or GPU architecture.
 
I'll be keeping this setup for approximately 6-12 months. As soon as the new consoles come out, I'll ponder on upgrading further.

IMO apart from BF3 there isn't much on the horizon for the types of game I play....The other game im looking forward to is CS: global offensive and gta v...

I won't be playing on ultra textures at all....I've come from a 6800 Ultra lol...so this is already overkill for what I need.
 
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