7970 Ghz trifire

somewhatdamaged · 1 Mar 2013 at 12:53

Hi,

I've sold my GTX580 1.5B SLI and moved to three of these in TriFire

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-097-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

I've read as much as i can about Trifire performance and it was apparently a little erratic, however this was on the older catalyst drivers, and i've read they are really starting to sort out performance problems now

Does anyone have a Trifire setup on recent drivers they could tell me about?

I'm going to try these and if they work well, i'll watercool them

thanks

tommybhoy · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:08

You want to get yourself a hold of Locky, he's a trifire user:

Locky said:
I am a massive Nvidia fan, always have been, but these 7970's have been some of the best cards I have ever owned tbh, right now I can't fault them, I do admit they was a bit of a headache on release, but AMD pulled their finger out.

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:21

I have trifire 7970's
What do you want to know mate?

somewhatdamaged · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:31

Hi,

Just what performance is like with regards to scaling, some of the older benchmarks i saw (like Skyrim) showed worse performance with three than a single card. Just interested to see how far the catalyst drivers have come really, as i want to make sure it will be a good jump from the 580 SLI

thanks!

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:36

I find that most stuff doesn't scale well after 2 cards mate. There are a few that do, like Black Ops 2, Hawx and a few others, but in the main, performance is better with 2 than 3.

The problem is, its not JUST the drivers that control the scaling, the game needs to be optimised too.
Here is a great example of a game optimised for 2 CPU's and not 3 or more. Crisis 3.

3 x 7970's

2x 7970's

Both taken at the same place, start of new York outdoor level
result = Identical 51fps.

**Note**
The above is related to my eyefinity 5760x1080 setup - results may vary outside of eyefinity - I don't know.

tommybhoy · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:45

Is that a ROG only tool stu that's giving the readouts?

somewhatdamaged · 1 Mar 2013 at 13:46

Ok thanks for that mate

I'm at 1920x1200 myself, just wanting good solid 60+ in every game i play

580 was running out of VRAM on modded Skyrim

leon4112 · 1 Mar 2013 at 14:18

somewhatdamaged said:
Ok thanks for that mate

I'm at 1920x1200 myself, just wanting good solid 60+ in every game i play

580 was running out of VRAM on modded Skyrim

You have bought 3x 7970 to play at 1920x1200 :eek:

Isn't that a little over kill?

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 14:20

tommybhoy said:
Is that a ROG only tool stu that's giving the readouts?

No mate, that's taken on my phone, its the Logitech G19 LCD display driven by Aida 64. Its awesome, would really feel lost without it nowadays. I only wish there was a nice LCD out there I could use so I could change keyboards as there are better around, but I couldn't lose the damn screen. I have different screens set up for pretty much everything nowadays, and its invaluable when overclocking or trying to figure out GPU usage.

somewhatdamaged said:
I'm at 1920x1200 myself, just wanting good solid 60+ in every game i play

Crossfired 7970's totally standard will do that with pretty much everything out there now and in the near future I expect mate. get them underwater with a nice radiator and enjoy the silence.

This image is after about an hours Crysis 3 gaming with NO RADIATOR FANS at all... but then I have a lot of water to heat.

Diagro · 1 Mar 2013 at 14:34

Yea Dont do tifire for that low a resolution mate

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 14:43

Diagro said:
Yea Dont do tifire for that low a resolution mate

That's easy to say and I have said it myself to people many times. However... if he had a 120HZ monitor, I wonder if X-fire would cope with Crysis 3?

I bet it wouldn't... and that's a sign of things to come as Crytek have set the graphics bar for others to try and beat now.

tommybhoy · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:12

Using 120Hz@1080p myself BF3 last I played it doesn't go under 60fps using 7970/50 CrossFire@1100/1400MHz.

Crysis 3:

tommybhoy said:
Crysis mp was roughly 60fps using 7970/50 CrossFireX all maxed with motion blur disabled.

But, never got to play the Campaign using CrossFire as my 7970 was under rma and just took a refund instead of a replacement.

I'm also not 100% convinced scaling/core utilisation is where it should be@1080p leaving me pretty undecided whether to replace my faulty 7970 with a 50 and go CrossFire again.

A single 7950 would probably suffice my needs, but I usually do my gaming in 3D with Tridef and it can be a bit of a hit or miss with scaling in 3D even if the equivalent 2D scaling is good.

@Stu, email logitech and see if they have any plans for a mechanical version as that looks sweet?

Always thought about the G19 a few times in the past, but the mechanical keyboard won out in the end.

I use AB OSD from time to time on the phone if the osd doesn't throw a hissy fit from time to time.

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:19

tommybhoy said:
Using 120Hz@1080p myself BF3 last I played it doesn't go under 60fps using 7970/50 CrossFire@1100/1400MHz.

That's kind of my point, so there is no point having 120hz if your cant draw 120fps... therefore you would benefit from more power if it can scale.

@Stu, email logitech and see if they have any plans for a mechanical version as that looks sweet?

Not a bad idea actually mate, I might do that. I too had the whole mechanical keyboard in mind, then saw Aida driving the G19 on a forum somewhere and just had to have it!
The inbuilt USB ports are quite handy too it has to be said.

Diagro · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:24

he has a 1200P monitor... Show me a 1200p Monitor thats 120Hz

tommybhoy · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:28

Stu @ MSD said:
That's kind of my point, so there is no point having 120hz if your cant draw 120fps... therefore you would benefit from more power if it can scale.

Well, hmm, in BF3, it sat at +100fps most of the time, it was more an honest 'absolute minimum' rather than the normal 'doesn't go under 100(but it really can dip to ~67fps in the most intense explosions, but I'll leave that part out)'.

Since that's what the op was looking for with 60+ min fps, if you know what I mean.

Stu @ MSD said:
Not a bad idea actual;;y mate, I might do that. I too had the whole mechanical keyboard in mind, then saw Aida driving the G19 on a forum somewhere and just had to have it! The inbuilt USB ports are quite handy too it has to be said.

It would set Logitech out from the rest of the mechanical crowd

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:29

Diagro said:
he has a 1200P monitor... Show me a 1200p Monitor thats 120Hz

Your missing the point... crossfire wont do Crisis 3 maxed at 120FPS in 1080P, let alone 1200 or 1440P.

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:30

tommybhoy said:
Well, hmm, in BF3, it sat at +100fps most of the time, it was more an honest 'absolute minimum' rather than the normal 'doesn't go under 100(but it really can dip to ~67fps in the most intense explosions, but I'll leave that part out)'.

Since that's what the op was looking for with 60+ min fps, if you know what I mean.

Sorry mate, I follow you now and totally agree.

Diagro · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:43

Stu @ MSD said:
Your missing the point... crossfire wont do Crisis 3 maxed at 120FPS in 1080P, let alone 1200 or 1440P.

I know..

But the OP wont be useing 120Hz!

Stu @ MSD · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:51

Diagro said:
I know..

But the OP wont be useing 120Hz!

Your advice to him in post 10 didn't mention refresh rate, only resolution.
I was just adding that things may be different if he, or anyone else reading were to use 120hz at similar or larger resolutions as that's a whole new ball game making your advice not quite as accurate as it could be.

tommybhoy · 1 Mar 2013 at 15:57

Stu @ MSD said:
Sorry mate, I follow you now and totally agree.

To be fair, it took a better explanation from my part but I understand where your coming from bud.