Cross Fire.. Is it really work the extra £££

[johnrs]

Cross Fire.. Is it really worth the extra £££

Hi Chaps.

Have ordered a 4870 over the weekend and will be ordering a new MB later this week.

But before I do....

...thinking about going down the Cross Fire route in about a 2 months so was going to get a Cross Fire MB. But I am now wondering if the preformace you get from adding a 2nd 4870 is worth spending another £180 odd

Can someone who has gone down this route give thier thoughts and if poss what the preformace increase was

Thanks

 

[mike gunnz]

Its 'worth' will largely depend on your current spec and the resolution you game at. Post this info and you will likely get some well informed replies. I often think about going crossfire but find it hard to justify as a single 4870 handles most games inc. Crysis on high settings and I game on a 24" screen.

Anyway in a couple months time there wil probably be a new single card offering comparable performance so you'd be better served by getting that, or looking for a cheap 2nd hand 4870.

 

[ashmanuk67]

Well johnrs, I have gone down this route and yes its not been plain sailing but with the 9.1 driver out now and knowing how crossfire is in games there is no going back.

I do not know what games you play, for me Call of duty 5 and 4 are great, COD4 i can get 250 fps and now i am running that game with 4X anti and still get 150-250 FPS WOW.
As for Crysis well do not expect too much mate, that game geard towards Nvidia.

You will get allot out of it, What games do you play...

 

[jvowles]

For most games, no. For the benefit of having something your neighbour doesn't...yes

 

[Bradley8988]

I thought it was well worth the extra when i added another 4870. I couldnt live with them air cooled though as the noise from one was killer.

 

[muppetkiller]

I have 2x4850 running and have found it well worth it. Im one of the lucky people and have never had any problems.

 

[Rroff]

Depends on what you do - if your one of these online gamers who like 100fps solid then yes its very worth it - if you just spend your time playing single player games then the 4870 will get you playable framerates in most titles with fairly decent settings.

 

[Ging3r]

I mainly thing Crossfire only really benefits on 1920x1200 and above, unless your an fps whore
If you are then it really will make a difference i tihnk

 

[ssmacc]

Its 'worth' will largely depend on your current spec and the resolution you game at. Post this info and you will likely get some well informed replies. I often think about going crossfire but find it hard to justify as a single 4870 handles most games inc. Crysis on high settings and I game on a 24" screen.

Anyway in a couple months time there wil probably be a new single card offering comparable performance so you'd be better served by getting that, or looking for a cheap 2nd hand 4870.

Sound Advice, don't upgrade until games you play arn't playable. I thought about getting another 4870 (while its 'cheap' but everything i play runs great as is...Including Crysis at 1920x1200)

 

[johnrs]

Well johnrs, I have gone down this route and yes its not been plain sailing but with the 9.1 driver out now and knowing how crossfire is in games there is no going back.

I do not know what games you play, for me Call of duty 5 and 4 are great, COD4 i can get 250 fps and now i am running that game with 4X anti and still get 150-250 FPS WOW.
As for Crysis well do not expect too much mate, that game geard towards Nvidia.

You will get allot out of it, What games do you play...

Games I play are COD 4 and also Eve online. Started to play Dead Space

At the moment I am playing on either my Macbook Pro 9600GT connected to a 21" Monitor

Spec of PC I want to build

CPU Intel E8200 - Already own
MB - Looking to buy the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45
GFX - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB which should arrive tomorrow by DHL sledge
PSU is a Tagan 480 - Already own
2x250GB HDD & DVD RW - Already own

I know that when I head down the CrossFire route I will need to upgrade my PSU.

Basically looking to play games with nice detail and good FPS and also have the "OMFG is that 2 Graphics Cards in your PC" when people see it..

 

[Leezy]

which should arrive tomorrow by DHL sledge

LOL

 

[carrot1401]

GFX - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB which should arrive tomorrow by DHL sledge

I'm in the same boat mate, on that point aswell

Currently got a 4850 512mb that I cant shift along with an antec 500 earthwatts, just wondering if its worth sending the 4870 1gb back and grabbing a second hand 4850, although I have a 20" widescreen so only 1680x1050....

 

[johnrs]

Guess I will get a Cross Fire MB and then save as fast as I can for another 4870 and just hope that a good offer comes out again when I can afford the 2nd one

Thanks for your time chaps. If anyone else want to comment on thier Cross Fire Setup I would be glad to hear from you and how you find it

 

[carrot1401]

Tomorrow my 48701gb arrives and intend to crossfire it with a 4850 512mb (so basically will scale down 2 cf 4850's) so may give it a go with some games and will get back to ya.....

EDIT: e8400 @ 3.6ghz, 4gb ram and x38 motherboard so I think it means at cf both lanes will be 16 speed at 2.0?

 

[ashmanuk67]

With the 9.1 driver, image quility has shot through the roof.

 

[nalla]

Tomorrow my 48701gb arrives and intend to crossfire it with a 4850 512mb (so basically will scale down 2 cf 4850's) so may give it a go with some games and will get back to ya.....

hmm would be interesting to have some benchies on that setup, but cant really see why you would spend an extra 40-60 quid on a card thats going to be limited by you first card.

 

[Mike88]

Tomorrow my 48701gb arrives and intend to crossfire it with a 4850 512mb (so basically will scale down 2 cf 4850's) so may give it a go with some games and will get back to ya.

Why not buy a 4850 512mb card would have been cheaper for same performace boost.

 

[johnrs]

would be intrested in that too. I have a 4850 in my sons PC and was thinking of trying that until I got the cash for a 2nd 4870

 

[steve258]

I know that when I head down the CrossFire route I will need to upgrade my PSU.

in that case I don't think it's worth it. a single 4870 1gb should handle 21" monitor perfectly.

 

[Pyroblaze]

Don't buy the second card just for the sake of it, the resolution you play at isnt exactly card breaking. If at some point down the line you find some new games coming out that you'd like a performance boost from then by all means go Xfire, otherwise its just a waste of money for you at this point. You haven't even got your 4870 yet and seen its performance, why you'd be thinking that you need a second card already just doesnt seem sensible to me. Definately not on a 21".