6950 crossfire to 7950/7970 crossfire

[icehot666]

Hey guys,

Now that crysis 3 is out, I've had to drop some settings to high just to get around 40fps (with mins around 25) on 1920x1200 with 6950s in crossfire, and even things like hitman absolution struggle to stay at 60fps at the highest settings. So I'm thinking about upgrading to try and maintain a min of 60fps in most games.

I know a single 7950 or 7970 is not a good upgrade to 6950 crossfire as the performance is about the same so I'm considering going up to the 7 series in crossfire as well. Can't decide between the 7950s or the 7970s though, I know there's an obvious price increase, but I think what appeals more about the 7950s is they're an inch or so smaller so they'll fit in my case easier without impacting on any sata cables. However I think the 7970s in crossfire will probably give me another 10 to 20 fps, and well raw power is always good too

What do you guys think? I can probably guess that most people will say the 7950s are better value, and although that is important I am an enthusiast and this is my hobby so money isn't always the answer to this.

Thanks

PC Spec: i7 2600k @ 4.5GHz with water cooling, Asus P8Z68 deluxe, 256Gb Crucial M4 SSD, 16Gb 1600Mhz ram

 

[Deceptor]

Seems like you'd only be against 7970s due to the size, so I'd find out if they can in fact fit in your case and go for it

Yeah 7950s are better value, but I completely understand if you want raw power

 

[icehot666]

Well it would be a squeeze that's for sure, within a couple of mm, I think if I remember back I went with the 6950s instead of 6970s just to give a bit of room. I suppose really it depends which setup will give me mins of ~60fps for the next year or 2 with the highest settings, I won't be changing my monitor resolution or anything due to lack of space so that's not anything to consider for the future.

 

[tommybhoy]

Had 2 7970's and 2 7950's, the physical size of the PCB's were the same.

The biggest one was the IceQ due to the massive cooler overhanging the PCB of the 50.

7970's I can't see offering 10-20fps extra over the 50's@1920x1200 either when they are on similar clocks either.

Usually 5% difference but up to a maximum of 10% may be seen in very demanding shader intensive titles on matched clocks which is +~3/6fps extra@60fps.

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

If 7950 CrossFire can't cope, 7970 CrossFire probably won't cope either in games.