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7970 or crossfire 7850?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Asa
  • Start date Start date

Asa

Asa

Asa

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411
Hey,

Sorry for another tedious "Which card is better reviews and benchmarks confuse me!" thread, but here it is.

I can get a 7970 with an out-of-the-box overclock
I can get 2 7850s with an out-of-the-box overclock
^^ Those 2 are about the same price
I could also stretch up to a couple of 7870s maybe if the gain was significant.

I wont OC beyond what is supplied, as my luck is bad enough with graphics cards even when I don't.

So which is better?

It/they will be sitting with an i7-3820 @ 3.6ghz, 16gb RAM
I play in stereoscopic 3d, 1080p and only a maximum of 30fps (playing on a plasma). Games grind to about 15fps on my 6950. I'd like to lock in 30fps for a good 2 or 3 years.

Thanks!
 
Honestly? Get a proper monitor and a single 7850. Even a basic decently calibrated 60Hz screen is going to be better than on a plasma TV.

If you're adamant you want to continue on your TV I'd say that both 7850 crossfire and a 7970 would be wasted on a 30 Hz TV and would opt for a single 7850 still (or a 7870).
 
Last edited:
No no, games look amazing in 51inch stereoscopic. Seriously.
30fps (for each eye) is smooth to my old eyes.

But like I say, relatively simple games like WoW can trudge down to 15fps even when the action is low. I'm looking to lock in 30fps when things get going, for now and the next few years ideally.

The 6950 was pretty ideal for that before things went stereoscopic.
 
Asa said:
No no, games look amazing in 51inch stereoscopic. Seriously.
30fps (for each eye) is smooth to my old eyes.

But like I say, relatively simple games like WoW can trudge down to 15fps even when the action is low. I'm looking to lock in 30fps when things get going, for now and the next few years ideally.

The 6950 was pretty ideal for that before things went stereoscopic.
Click to expand...

Well as a resolution of 1920*1080 is being stretched over 51 inches of physical space, by definition it won't be as sharp as a 24" monitor.

But that's fine it is your choice of course :).

I would say look at a 7950 then as a middle point and you can always get another later down the line if needs be. If you want all the power now, then 7850 crossfire is probably your best option.

WoW is more CPU intensive than GPU intensive so you could overclock the CPU to help perhaps.
 
Go for a single 7970, or 7950 if you want to save a little cash. Crossfire can be hit and miss (I have tried it with 7850's and didn't like it), and a single 7850 is not that much faster than a 6950.
 
Plasma is also not going to be as responsive, and 3D in general does no favours for my aiming :) I'm certainly pleased with the overall result though.

A second 7950 would get expensive as it'd push my to buying a new PSU as well.

So do you think 2x 7850 would offer more grunt than a single 7970?

Thanks for the responses thus far!
 
555BUK said:
Go for a single 7970, or 7950 if you want to save a little cash. Crossfire can be hit and miss (I have tried it with 7850's and didn't like it), and a single 7850 is not that much faster than a 6950.
Click to expand...

Layering crossfire profiles and tridef profiles does concern me, I'm not likely to stand for microstutter or crashes...


Ha I like upgrades <squeeeee>
 
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