q9550 @ 4GHZ vs i7 in multi gpu scaling

[bauer123]

hia i currently have a q9550 @ 4ghz equipped with a nvidia 295 and 4 gb of corsair ddr2 ram @ 1122 MHZ.

i was thinking of purchasing 2 6950 in a crossfire setup but was curious if i would get a considerable gap in multi gpu scaling with my current cpu vs say the new i7.

this article http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i7-multigpu-sli-crossfire-game-performance-review/19 suggests that i would get better gpu scaling with an i7 over my current cpu architecture.

anyone with personael experience have any input on the matter?

thanks!

 

[cmndr_andi]

If you are running three cards, then perhaps - but those tests may be highlighting limitations with the nvidia chipset s775 boards and Tri-SLI.

However, if you are running a Core 2 Quad at 4GHz, with two 6950 cards and in a good board that offers two PCIE v2.0 x8 or x16 lanes per card then in pretty much all games crossfire scaling should be excellent. May I ask what make and model motherboard you are currently using?

 

[bauer123]

cheers for reply, i currently have a asus p5q deluxe. was thinking of upgading in near future to new 2600k i7 but was just wondering if that cand of purchase would be justified.

thanks bud!

 

[cmndr_andi]

Ah, nice board - since that board supports PCIE v2.0 x8/x8 crossfire (just like the P67 boards) then the scaling should be pretty comparable to the Sandy bridge (SB), although the SB is a faster CPU and has less chance of getting CPU bottlenecked in more CPU intensive games. That said, there are few games that will really make a 4GHz Q9550 struggle, even when running alongside dual 6950s.

If you want more CPU power then the sandy bridge CPUs are a good shout - however I wouldn't upgrade until you really feel the need for it. As I said, in pretty much all modern games a 4GHz Q9550 should be more than sufficient for excellent performance. Also, the upcoming AMD Bulldozer Octo cores are worth keeping an eye out for if you plan on a CPU/mobo upgrade.

 

[bauer123]

any idea as to when bulldozer will be released?

off topic, how much you reckon i could get for my gainward dual pcb 295?

 

[cmndr_andi]

any idea as to when bulldozer will be released?

off topic, how much you reckon i could get for my gainward dual pcb 295?

I'm not sure when it will be released, we were all expecting the chips and boards to be released in a week or so - however it may be much later now (have a read here). The board companies may still release their AM3+ boards imminently - since they work with AM3 CPUs and offer nice new features (SLI included).

As for the price of the GTX 295 - we aren't allowed to do price checks in this part of the forum (there is a dedicated price check part when you get access to the members maket), all we can do is point you look on auction sites for average prices.

 

[Michaeljcox24]

I've considered this mate (and posted in the past). the conclusion I came to was that I couldn't justify the investment for the performance gains. Yes, you can have the joys of saying you run two cards, but a single card solution for the same price combined with the chip we are running would be just as good.