The next decent step from 6950's in Crossfire?

[phatboy]

So,

Having just bought a new CPU, water cooler, new fans etc for my system

I am now thinking that some new cards might be nice in the near future.

for a budget of 150-200 (MM of course) what do you reckon I got get...if anything that that would be a decent jump from the 6950's?

My initial thoughts were 7950's or a pair of 280X's might squeeze into the budget, but would they be a big improvement apart from the fact they will do mantle

 

[mickyflinn]

What res are you gaming at ?

 

[Captain]

For £220-£240 you could pick up a 7990 from the MM.

 

[phatboy]

1920x1080 on a 24in display

Might be considering a 2nd for eyefinity at a later date

 

[phatboy]

For £220-£240 you could pick up a 7990 from the MM.

tempting prospect....

Are they meant to scale better than 2 independent cards as its controlled on-board?

 

[Captain]

tempting prospect....

Are they meant to scale better than 2 independent cards as its controlled on-board?

For scaling i'm not sure, my 7990 handles everything better than when i had 7970's in CF due to less heat and power

 

[shankly1985]

I would go looking at 290, leaves room for upgrade.

 

[gareth170]

i had a 6990 and upgraded to a 290x. it gives between 50 to 100% extra performance

 

[meldarthx]

with the prices on 290 being insane......I'd go for that

 

[phatboy]

Maybe i will just play the waiting game on a used 290 then . However i think at the right price a 7990 could be a tempting option

Thanks for all the info guys, massively appreciated

 

[melmac]

if you aren't in any hurry to upgrade, I would wait until September October before making a decision. You have held onto the 6950's this long, a couple more months won't hurt.

New cards are on the way from both companies and it's looking very likely that both NVidia and AMD will release cards between now and the end of October. That would mean there should be some good second hand cards for great prices popping up on the MM.

 

[phatboy]

Sound advice too need to save some £$ up anyways tbh

 

[postmanfw]

Unlock and overclock in the meantime

 

[humbug]

I would go looking at 290, leaves room for upgrade.

with the prices on 290 being insane......I'd go for that

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[phatboy]

Done the unlock, unfortunately only one goes to 6970 . They are PE Cards do are quick for what they are anyways

290 is looking more and more tempting. Seriously quick card! One on MM for £190 now!!

 

[Resa69]

Done the unlock, unfortunately only one goes to 6970 . They are PE Cards do are quick for what they are anyways

290 is looking more and more tempting. Seriously quick card! One on MM for £190 now!!

I seriously need 1000 posts thats incredible value for money

 

[Noxia]

MM is really good, a lot of the AMD cards have been used for mining though.

 

[ShivP]

MM is really good, a lot of the AMD cards have been used for mining though.

Tbh nothing wrong with that, as long as they have decent warranty left and have been kept well, they should be just fine

 

[pgi947]

6950 cf is equivalent performance wise to a single 7970/280x, agree you should sniff out a 290, seen ref ones go as low as £180-220, bargain, or find a little more cash and grab one of those aib cooled 290's for £270.

 

[James J]

Due to the price of the 290 cards atm, thats where I'd put my money. Very nice upgrade in performance that uses less power too. Plus then you have the upgrade option of adding another later down the line if you require it.