Crossfire 5850s

[Adster3000]

Since the new 5850s OCUK have are quite cheap, I'm considering buying another one to accompany my current one.

I've never crossfired before and am wondering if this is really worth doing. I'd like to have better performance on many games such as Metro 2033 and Lost Planet 2.

I've researched micro-stuttering and haven't found many solid answers on how well 5850s perform in terms of this. So I would like to know if anybody out there is currently crossfiring a pair of 5850s and what their experience is.

Is there anything else I must take into consideration? I'm sure my current PSU can cope and my motherboard has crossfire support.

Assistance and opinions appreciated.

 

[j.col]

i an no expert but i will give it a try
to OP, a couple of important bits needed
what is your monitor resolution?
list your system specs, especially motherboard, as these can vary with their pci-e slots, ideally your mobo should support x16/16 or x16/8
but not x16/x4
and make and model of psu

this info will get you better answers

also some reviews
http://guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5850-review-crossfire/15

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1097/1/

 

[Adster3000]

i an no expert but i will give it a try
to OP, a couple of important bits needed
what is your monitor resolution?
list your system specs, especially motherboard, as these can vary with their pci-e slots, ideally your mobo should support x16/16 or x16/8
but not x16/x4
and make and model of psu

this info will get you better answers

also some reviews
http://guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5850-review-crossfire/15

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1097/1/

Okay:

I game at 1280x1024. I'm using an OCZ Stealth XStream 700W PSU.
I'm using an Asrock M3A770DE which does have a 16x and 4x but I have researched that the performance drop on the second slot is only about 5%

 

[Trusty]

You don't need to crossfire at the moment at that resolution. Save your cash i would say.

 

[Adster3000]

You don't need to crossfire at the moment at that resolution. Save your cash i would say.

But what about for running the games that I mentioned on settings other than dx9? (LP2 and Metro)

I also want to able to max Battlefield 3 when it's released.

 

[Heatsinked]

j.col has provided you with some very useful benchmark information. Take a look at the difference in frame rates between your preferred resolution and 1920x1200 - a single 5850 still manages to push 30+ FPS even in DX10 mode for both resolutions. Impressive considering the game being tested.

So at 1280x1024 your looking at over 50 FPS with a single card for one of the most demanding games available. Crossfire will provide you with around 12 FPS more (not all the time I'm assuming) according to the benchmarks, which to me isn't worth it as I doubt I would notice the difference when the frame rate is already pretty good. But that's just me. I don't think I'm as sensitive to frame rates as some people

Now I don't know what your preferred minimum frame rate is but I'm happy with 35+ FPS in most games, so long as it's playable and not juddery. If a single 5850 is already providing a solid gameplay experience with good FPS for one of the most demanding games available, I'm confident it will handle other games with ease.

You mentioned Metro - again, a single card at 1680x1050 in DX11 mode using "High Quality" settings manages just over 45 FPS! And that's above your preferred resolution!

So I agree with Trusty. If you are sticking to 1280x1024 then another 5850 seems a bit of a waste My second 5850 will be arriving tomorrow for my first Crossfire experience but I game at 1920x1080 and need the extra muscle!

Hope this helps! And if my analysis is terribly wrong, I'm sure someone will kindly point it out

 

[Devlish]

Heats inked, post your experiences please. I'm thinking of CF at 1920x1080 so would appreciate a review and your specs.

 

[Adster3000]

j.col has provided you with some very useful benchmark information. Take a look at the difference in frame rates between your preferred resolution and 1920x1200 - a single 5850 still manages to push 30+ FPS even in DX10 mode for both resolutions. Impressive considering the game being tested.

So at 1280x1024 your looking at over 50 FPS with a single card for one of the most demanding games available. Crossfire will provide you with around 12 FPS more (not all the time I'm assuming) according to the benchmarks, which to me isn't worth it as I doubt I would notice the difference when the frame rate is already pretty good. But that's just me. I don't think I'm as sensitive to frame rates as some people

Now I don't know what your preferred minimum frame rate is but I'm happy with 35+ FPS in most games, so long as it's playable and not juddery. If a single 5850 is already providing a solid gameplay experience with good FPS for one of the most demanding games available, I'm confident it will handle other games with ease.

You mentioned Metro - again, a single card at 1680x1050 in DX11 mode using "High Quality" settings manages just over 45 FPS! And that's above your preferred resolution!

So I agree with Trusty. If you are sticking to 1280x1024 then another 5850 seems a bit of a waste My second 5850 will be arriving tomorrow for my first Crossfire experience but I game at 1920x1080 and need the extra muscle!

Hope this helps! And if my analysis is terribly wrong, I'm sure someone will kindly point it out

I wouldn't really say Crysis is one of the most demanding games any more. It seems the games like LP2 and Metro's DX11 settings just resource-rape.

When I play Metro on this I don't think i was getting 45 FPS. No way with DX11 on & maxed.

But I think I'm gonna focus on upgrading this 3GHz tri first to a 3.4GHz quad first., then see how I feel after, if it makes a difference.
Really fed up with BC2 performing badly. I hate bad ports. (GTA4.....)

Feel free to hit me with any other opinions.

 

[Heatsinked]

Heats inked, post your experiences please. I'm thinking of CF at 1920x1080 so would appreciate a review and your specs.

Sure will do

I wouldn't really say Crysis is one of the most demanding games any more. It seems the games like LP2 and Metro's DX11 settings just resource-rape.

Fair enough, I'm a bit behind these days. Just wanted to try and put things in perspective.

When I play Metro on this I don't think i was getting 45 FPS. No way with DX11 on & maxed.

I didn't say maxed settings... See below:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/296?vs=295

High Quality no AA

Maxed out, according to the above bench, is considerably less - just under 30FPS

Anyways you've had my two pennies so ultimately tis up to you

 

[Adster3000]

I didn't say maxed settings... See below:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/296?vs=295

High Quality no AA

Maxed out, according to the above bench, is considerably less - just under 30FPS

Anyways you've had my two pennies so ultimately tis up to you

My bad 'tis late.

There has always been something wrong with my Metro. Whenever I put DX10 or above on, AA or not, I'd get some weird lighting glitch. But that's a completely different matter.

Reckon I'll still go for the CPU first though. Already established that it's bottlenecking. Gah D: