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Crossfire my 5870 and wait or upgrade now?

Zenduri

Zenduri

Zenduri

Soldato
Joined
17 Mar 2009
Posts
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Location
Nottingham
I've been toying with the idea of upgrade my graphics card for a few months now but unsure which way to go.

Currently the only game i run that really tests by 5870 is Arma2 and while that's fine i do fancy an upgrade to something more beefy. However I'm in part holding out to see what the 8 series has to offer but from what I've read that wont be around until early-mid 2013.

So I'm now toying with the idea of picking up another 5870 cheap and crossfiring to give me that increase but at minimal cost until the 8 series is released.

....Or do i just wade in and grab a 7950?
 
I'd say it's entirely how desperate you are to upgrade. If you've been waiting for a few months it might not hurt to wait a little longer till the new cards come out and make your mind up then. If they don't wow you then you could always pick up a 2nd hand 79XX card as they should have come down in price both new and 2nd hand.
 
If you're likely to upgrade your monitor to res over 1080p then get a 79x0. If not then another 5870 is probably more sensible in the short term and certainly a lot cheaper.
 
1GB/GPU will stop you from top quality anyway, so one more card should only make a difference in games that do not use more vRAM. I'd say an overclocket 7950@7970GHz ed. levels should be a good buy or if you can, wait for the 8th series.
 
well since i posted this i checked my mail and i've got a tax rebate coming to the tune of £500 which is a bonus and out the blue. I need a new monitor anyway
 
I changed from a 5870 to a 7950 and had a vast improvement.

Also considering that I paid 380 quid for my first 7950, the current price level really does make it a cracking card.
 
Menty said:
I changed from a 5870 to a 7950 and had a vast improvement.

Also considering that I paid 380 quid for my first 7950, the current price level really does make it a cracking card.
Click to expand...


what kind of performance increase realistically i cant seem to find any comparisons between the 2.
 
I got a 7950 from a heavily overclocked 5850, and it's great. Saying that, if you can hold out a while, it would probably be smart to see what's around the corner (might even push 7xxx prices down if it isn't your cup o tea)
 
HybridX said:
what kind of performance increase realistically i cant seem to find any comparisons between the 2.
Click to expand...

I did not do any fps checks but if I give an opinion on how it affected BF3 @ 1080 I would say it went from quite playable (with some juddering from time to time) to very nice and smooth.
Add the nice overclock and it really is night and day for me, hope that helps.
 
i went from a 5870 to a 7850 and noticed the difference,even more so with the newer beta drivers,plus it uses less juice and runs cooler,can only imagine what a 7950 would feel like,and they overclock above and beyond any 5870

depends on the deals floating around as you can pick up a decent 7950 plus the games thrown in
 
7950s are cheap atm and have great game package.

The 1GB vram is holding you back a lot, id upgrade now at them cheap prices. Even if they drop another £30 is nothing really. Plus the game bundle could run out?
 
weehamish said:
The 1GB vram is holding you back a lot, id upgrade now at them cheap prices. Even if they drop another £30 is nothing really. Plus the game bundle could run out?
Click to expand...

Actually the 1GB of VRAM is perfectly matched to the GPU grunt of a single 5870.

Crossfire 5870's will see the VRAM wall being hit in some games at maximum settings but far from all.
 
To be honest im cautious of buying a 7950 then in 6 months the newer and better cards come out. When I upgrade my card its got to last a few years as im going to have to spend a fair bit back end of next year to get off my current dead socket line
 
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