5870cf @ 1440p performance

martos123 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:08

Hi, anyone got any idea how a pair of 5870s would run at 1440p. I'm struggling to find any info, so was wondering if you guys had any experience? Rest of rig is i7 920 @ 4ghz with 6GB ram.

d_brennen · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:16

Lack of VRAM and the age of the venerable 58xx series is against you

Might be alright on older <2010 games at decent settings and it would help if they were 2GB cards?

martos123 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:30

No, only 1gb cards I'm afraid. Most reviews seem to peg them around 7950ish type performance, but nothing concrete of am I off the mark?

arc@css · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:35

I would have thought they'll cope surprisingly well with some games - but no AA and probably not maximum settings for many games at all, and poorly for a number of others - unless you turn the settings quite a way down.

wazza300 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:36

your biggest issue will be heat with two cards,they run pretty hot and loud,plus they use a lot of power compared to the newer 7 series cards

martos123 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:39

They max most things at 1200p, so was hopeful they would do a job at 1440p. I can't really run to a gpu and monitor upgrade us all and even a 7970 isn't going to be a huge upgrade at 1200p (or is it)?

martos123 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:40

Cards have been running for a couple if years and are watercooled, so heat is already under control.

Randomface74 · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:43

prolly won't be able to use AA

arc@css · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:46

A faster single gpu like a 7970, will be smoother and deliver better minimum and average frame rates than your two 5870's. Also, with the 12.11 and more recent drivers, I should think it will give a reasonable boost to the maximum fps as well - though probably not quite as significantly as the minimum / average.

You may find this thread helpful :

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18498840

martos123 · 24 Mar 2013 at 09:03

Think i might go for one of these whilst they are on special and can then upgrade to CF later http://http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-097-GI. Seems like a reasonable place to start.

LtMatt · 24 Mar 2013 at 09:27

martos123 said:
Hi, anyone got any idea how a pair of 5870s would run at 1440p. I'm struggling to find any info, so was wondering if you guys had any experience? Rest of rig is i7 920 @ 4ghz with 6GB ram.

I'd bet my single clocked 7970 is faster than 5870CF at that resolution.

SpeckleD · 26 Mar 2013 at 09:05

I have just added a second 5870 to me system, also water cooled, I will run a couple of heaven benchmarks with 1 then 2 cards so you can see the comparison if you want?

LtMatt · 26 Mar 2013 at 09:06

SpeckleD said:
I have just added a second 5870 to me system, also water cooled, I will run a couple of heaven benchmarks with 1 then 2 cards so you can see the comparison if you want?

Ok mate fire away.

SpeckleD · 26 Mar 2013 at 09:17

I will do it tonight when I get in from work and post the results for you.

LtMatt · 26 Mar 2013 at 09:44

SpeckleD said:
I will do it tonight when I get in from work and post the results for you.

Tally ho ill run a couple of tests after to see how it compares. Not run that benchmark for a while.

SpeckleD · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:45

Ok so I run the following tests on Unigine Heaven 4 with one card the results shown:

Test 1
API=DirectX11
Quality=High
Tessalation=Moderate
Stereo3d=Disabled
Multi Monitor=Disabled
Anti Aliasing=Off
Full Screen=Yes
Resolution=2560x1440

Result:FPS:21.8
Score:550
Min FPS:11.5
Max FPS:47.2

Test 2
Anti Aliasing=x2

Result:FPS:19.7
Score:495
Min FPS:6.2
Max FPS:41.4

Test 3
Anti Aliasing=x4

Result:FPS:17.7
Score:445
Min FPS:6.0
Max FPS:36.9

Now the same tests run with 2 cards in crossfire:

Test 1
Anti Aliasing=Off

Result:FPS:42.8
Score:1079
Min FPS:17.8
Max FPS:97.8

Test 2
Anti Aliasing=x2

Result:FPS:38.8
Score:977
Min FPS:16.9
Max FPS:86.3

Test 3
Anti Aliasing=x4

Result:FPS:133.9
Score:855
Min FPS:13
Max FPS:76.8

8x Anti Aliasing was just too much for the old guys to take, I purchased this second card for £85 until the next Generation of cards are released. And gaming at 2560x1440 means you can run with less anti aliasing anyway. Be nice to see how this stacks up against newer cards like the 7970.

martos123 · 26 Mar 2013 at 19:17

Good tests! Do you have any game benchmarks you could do please? I have a very similar rig to you (920 D0 @4ghz) so will do a few runst at 1200p to see how they compare.

LtMatt · 26 Mar 2013 at 19:34

SpeckleD said:
Ok so I run the following tests on Unigine Heaven 4 with one card the results shown:

Test 1
API=DirectX11
Quality=High
Tessalation=Moderate
Stereo3d=Disabled
Multi Monitor=Disabled
Anti Aliasing=Off
Full Screen=Yes
Resolution=2560x1440

Result:FPS:21.8
Score:550
Min FPS:11.5
Max FPS:47.2

Test 2
Anti Aliasing=x2

Result:FPS:19.7
Score:495
Min FPS:6.2
Max FPS:41.4

Test 3
Anti Aliasing=x4

Result:FPS:17.7
Score:445
Min FPS:6.0
Max FPS:36.9

Now the same tests run with 2 cards in crossfire:

Test 1
Anti Aliasing=Off

Result:FPS:42.8
Score:1079
Min FPS:17.8
Max FPS:97.8

Test 2
Anti Aliasing=x2

Result:FPS:38.8
Score:977
Min FPS:16.9
Max FPS:86.3

Test 3
Anti Aliasing=x4

Result:FPS:133.9
Score:855
Min FPS:13
Max FPS:76.8

8x Anti Aliasing was just too much for the old guys to take, I purchased this second card for £85 until the next Generation of cards are released. And gaming at 2560x1440 means you can run with less anti aliasing anyway. Be nice to see how this stacks up against newer cards like the 7970.

Just quickly ran one comparison test for you copying your settings but with x4 AA. I kept my over clock very low (1125/1575) just in case you get a 7970 and its a bad clocker.

breadturbo · 26 Mar 2013 at 20:29