Crossfire 7870's?

[xSIx]

Hi all, I'm thinking of getting a 2nd Gigabyte 7870 to run in crossfire with the one I already have. I have seen them online for about £150 new and this seems to me like a good option. Just wanted to know if anyone out there knows if there may be any problems with me doing this on my system (below), if the microstutter is still a problem or if there is any other options to get similar performance without it costing much more.

Thanks.

My system;

CASE - Cooler Master CM690ii Advance Black and White Edition
MOBO - Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570K
CPU FAN - Cooler Master Hyper Evo
RAM - Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600MHz CL9 16GB (4x4GB)
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 7200RPM 64MB Cache
GPU - Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB
PSU - Cooler Master GX Lite 700w
OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64GB
KB - Cooler Master Quick Fire TK CHerry MX Blue's
Mouse - Sharkoon Drakonia Mouse
Monitor - BenQ XL2411T 24" 1080p, 144hz LED Monitor

 

[Doomedspeed]

Firstly, you won't be getting the full performance, as you motherboard only supports x4 mode..

Secondly your PSU isn't great and though it has the correct connectors i wouldn't like to try it myself, as with 2 cards at 100% would be getting closer to its limit.

No reason for you not to give it a go but i'd personally just have a single card.

 

[xSIx]

Ok thanks, I diddnt realise about the PCIE x4 speed thingy, i'm pretty new to PC's. Thanks for the help

 

[los]

A 7950 isnt much more than that. Personally I'd wait for the new amd cards to come out, sell yours then by a single card with the money from your card and your 150.
Although I really like the idea of crossfire personally but single cars are easier

 

[xSIx]

Thanks, I'll definitely take a look at the new GPU's before deciding what to do. As an afterthought is it worth overclocking my existing 7870? I mean would I see a noticeable improvement in performance and would I need to buy a better aftermarket cooler than the stock one?

Thanks again guys

 

[Warsam71]

Personally, I haven't overclocked my rig. It's still something I'm a bit nervous about since changing the voltage can potentially damage the CPU and/or GPU. Again this is just my personal view. So, I'd suggest you stick with los and DoomedSpeed recommendations.

About our new cards, the R9 and R7 series, these will be coming out soon. The R9 280X is priced at $299, the R9 270X is $199 -> close to your budget.

 

[Kaapstad]

Personally, I haven't overclocked my rig. It's still something I'm a bit nervous about since changing the voltage can potentially damage the CPU and/or GPU. Again this is just my personal view. So, I'd suggest you stick with los and DoomedSpeed recommendations.

About our new cards, the R9 and R7 series, these will be coming out soon. The R9 280X is priced at $299, the R9 270X is $199 -> close to your budget.

Is the R9 290X volt unlocked

 

[xSIx]

"The R9 280X is priced at $299" wow that's roughly £185 before VAT. What kind of increase in performance could I expect from that card over my 7870? Also what would be the Nvidia equivalent performance wise to the R9 280X?

 

[xSIx]

Also I've heard that the R9 280X is pretty much a re-branded 7970 so if it works out cheaper wouldn't it make more sense just to go with the older 7970?

 

[Heisenberg]

The x4 pci slot would probably mean you would lose about 5-10% of the crossfire performance. Regards the psu, 700w is plenty for crossfire 7870. Bang for buck, it is easily the best upgrade you could go for. That is depending on the new card pricing. Would wait it out for a few weeks mate.