Possible Graphics Upgrade

[LtMatt]

I have the upgrade itch. The oldest part in my computer is my Power Color PCS 5850 overclocked at 850/1140.

I will be playing battlefield 3 and im a little worried that the 1gig of vram wont be enough.

I was thinking of getting a 6950, but another possibility is getting another 5850 for crossfire but that wouldnt help the vram issue.

I have an P8P67, so crossfire is possible but it will only be at x4, although from what ive seen the effect this will have on fps is minimal.

Thoughts?

I was edging towards doing it, now im having second thoughts thinking i should wait for ati's next cards.

I could get a second hand 5850 off of flea bay, but i dont like the thought of having a second hand card.

 

[Surveyor]

In a best case scenario there's no difference running at x16/x4 compared to x8/x8.

In a worst case scenario there can be around a 25% reduction in frame rates using x16/x4 compared to x8/x8.

It depends on the particular game but the average reduction is ~10%.

See here:

Does CrossFire Work At x16/x4?

 

[LtMatt]

In a best case scenario there's no difference running at x16/x4 compared to x8/x8.

In a worst case scenario there can be around a 25% reduction in frame rates using x16/x4 compared to x8/x8.

It depends on the particular game but the average reduction is ~10%.

See here:

Does CrossFire Work At x16/x4?

Thanks, thats a helpfull link ill take a look.

Hmmm, seems to be a bigger performance hit than i was led to believe. Interesting to see that when aa was applied the difference was smaller.

 

[ndaar]

Ive thought about this before as one of my PCs has a x16 x4 option, always heard conflicting reports and opinions and eventualy got put off by people saying the performance drops were bad or that it caused games to stutter a lot and all sorts so in the end i ended up with a one card solution. 5850 are still obviously a good card and people rate them in crossfire well, so one option might be a replacement Mobo if you could get a cheap one or a single card solution like a ati6950 or nvida 560to or 570.

 

[LtMatt]

Ive thought about this before as one of my PCs has a x16 x4 option, always heard conflicting reports and opinions and eventualy got put off by people saying the performance drops were bad or that it caused games to stutter a lot and all sorts so in the end i ended up with a one card solution. 5850 are still obviously a good card and people rate them in crossfire well, so one option might be a replacement Mobo if you could get a cheap one or a single card solution like a ati6950 or nvida 560to or 570.

The motherboard i have (p8p67) is brand new, just a month or so old. I definitely dont want to sell it or replace it, its a great motherboard.

I'm still unsure of what to do, atm im edging towards getting a 6950.