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Single 6950 1GB or Crossfire?

Swagger187

Swagger187

Swagger187

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Joined
4 Oct 2011
Posts
1,548
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Newbury, UK
Hi,

My system contains a Gigabyte 990FX, AMD Phenom II X6 1090T, 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3, 800W PSU, 1 x 1GB HD 6950.

I am currently playing the Battlefield 3 Beta at 45 FPS with settings on High but with HBAO off. My question is would it be worth while getting another 1GB 6950 and crossfire it?

Cheers

EDIT: Forgot to add I am gaming on a 22" LG monitor with resolution on 1920 x 1080
 
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Hi and welcome to the forums :)

1GB of VRAM is unfortunately going to be your limiting factor, esp with BF3. If you were thinking about Crossfire, I'd sell the 1GB 6950 and see if you can pick up a 2GB version before taking it any further.

Also any more details on your PSU?
 
iostream said:
Hi and welcome to the forums :)

1GB of VRAM is unfortunately going to be your limiting factor, esp with BF3. If you were thinking about Crossfire, I'd sell the 1GB 6950 and see if you can pick up a 2GB version before taking it any further.

Also any more details on your PSU?
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing this. Then hopefully I wouldn't really need to Crossfire... say hopefully. God ummm I think it is a Atrik 800W. Got it from PC World about a year ago and cost me like 70 quid I think.

Would a Sapphire HD 6950 2GB GDRR5 DiRT3 edition

Cheers
 
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Swagger187 said:
Had to put a space in as it gave me ***** otherwise :/
Click to expand...

Yeah, linking to competitors is not allowed, I'd edit your post and take your link with the space down to be safe as well.

With that PSU you'd be more than fine for a single 2GB 6950, perhaps someone else could advice if Crossfire would be alright? Haven't heard of Atrik..
 
iostream said:
Yeah, linking to competitors is not allowed, I'd edit your post and take your link with the space down to be safe as well.

With that PSU you'd be more than fine for a single 2GB 6950, perhaps someone else could advice if Crossfire would be alright? Haven't heard of Atrik..
Click to expand...

Ah right thanks for that oops. EDITED.

I think it is Atrik anyway :). Tbh I think I would prefer a 2GB version anyway so that extra VRAM is available to me
 
No worries ;) And yeah, you'll be happy with the 2GB buffer. Quite a few of my games at 1920x1080 use all of my 1GB of VRAM, I'm in the market for a 2GB card as well. Esp when you start adding texture packs, eg to Crysis, they love to munch on VRAM.

Anyways as for your PSU - 800W should be fine for Crossfire, but wattage isn't everything. It's down to the quality of the components within your PSU, the amount of amps per rail etc. If no one else posts about Atrik PSUs I can have a wee look online for you tonight when I get in..
 
Buy a 2GB 6950 instead.

I have nearly the same setup as you with dual 6950s and I'm very happy with the performance, high settings and I get between 60-90fps outside and usually see over 100 indoors.

I'm using a 750W PSU for my crossfire and have no issues, your 800W will be fine.
 
Don't make assumptions about the OP's PSU.

It's not a Corsair or similar.

OP, how many amps does the PSU have on the 12V rail(s)? It's usually stated on a label on the side.

Also how many PCI-E power cables does it have?
 
Right will try to reply to you all so bare with me

@iostream I also do play Crysis 2 so it will help me out a lot in that regard I hope.

@JamesM Is your configuration 2 x 2GB version.

@Surveyor I am currently at work but I have had a quick look on google and found this spec about my PSU

Silent and Better Ventilation
ATX 12V V2.2 Compliant for all Types of CPU and Mainboard
Automatic Fan Speed Control to keep balance and noise control
Separate 12V rail supply to mainboard and drives
12cm Green Silent Fan
Quad 12v Rails
CE & PFC Approved
AC Input: 230VAC 10A 50-60Hz
DC Output Max: +3.3V/28A, +5V/30A, +12V1/16A, +12V2/16A, +12V3/16A, +12V4/16A, -12V/0.5A, +5VSB/2.5A
Connectors:
1 x 20+4 Pin Main Connectors
1 x P4 4-Pin 12V Connectors
7 x 4-Pin Molex Peripheral Connectors
6 x SATA Connectors
2 x 6-Pin PCIe Connectors
1 x 8-Pin 12V Connectors
2 x Floppy Drive Connectors

Thanks for all your replies.
 
Surveyor said:
Don't make assumptions about the OP's PSU.

It's not a Corsair or similar.

OP, how many amps does the PSU have on the 12V rail(s)? It's usually stated on a label on the side.

Also how many PCI-E power cables does it have?
Click to expand...

Providing you have the correct cables, 2x 6pin PCI-E then it will be fine which I'm sure it does as he already has a single 1GB 6950 card installed.

Really don't know why everyone is obsessed with PSUs being this and that, he has an 800W PSU, it will run his 6950 fine.

Yes I have 2x 2GB 6950s :)
 
JamesM said:
Providing you have the correct cables, 2x 6pin PCI-E then it will be fine which I'm sure it does as he already has a single 1GB 6950 card installed.

Really don't know why everyone is obsessed with PSUs being this and that, he has an 800W PSU, it will run his 6950 fine.

Yes I have 2x 2GB 6950s :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that man I think I will go ahead with it do you agree?

Been looking at a 6970 would that be an overkill?
 
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I take it you mean upgrade to a single card? You don't have enough PCI-E connectors for Crossfire as far as I can see..
 
iostream said:
I take it you mean upgrade to a single card? You don't have enough PCI-E connectors for Crossfire as far as I can see..
Click to expand...

I would upgrade to a single 6970 and wouldn't bother to crossfire although dont 4 pin molex to 6 pin and 8 pin connectors come with the 6970 for example.

I have just spoke to one of the tech guys at my local company and they seem to think that my 1gb should be fine for now as not many games require more than 1gb but i am curious as to the requirements for battlefield 3 for example. the recommended is 1gb 6950 which will just about play it on Medium will it not?
 
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I personally don't think the small bump in performance from a 6950 to a 6970 warrants the price difference. With a 2GB 6950 you'll be able to stick most BF3 settings on high from what I've read :) A wee overclock would push your card's performance up as well of course.

EDIT: and you do indeed get molex to 6 or 8 pin converters, although I've never used them myself so can't comment. Somehow don't trust them :P
 
I have a 1gb 6950 too, is it possible to SLI that with a 2gb 6950?

Actually, for example - would i be able to SLI that with any 6XXX series, say 6870?


Sorry for noob questions, im an 'SLI-gin' :D
 
By SLI I take it you mean Crossfire ;) You could indeed Crossfire a 1GB 6950 with a 2GB 6950, however you would not be able to use the full 2GB memory buffer of the second card, only 1GB would be used. When pairing anything, be it graphics cards, RAM modules or hard drives for RAID, the configuration of the lower capacity/slower component is always used.

As for Crossfiring with something else from the 6xxx series, someone else will have to answer that for you..
 
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iostream said:
By SLI I take it you mean Crossfire ;) You could indeed Crossfire a 1GB 6950 with a 2GB 6950, however you would not be able to use the full 2GB memory buffer of the second card, only 1GB would be used.

As for Crossfiring with something else from the 6xxx series, someone else will have to answer that for you..
Click to expand...

Apologies - 'Cross-gin' (lol sounds really bad!)


Ah i see - seems i made an error with the 1gb, i was wooed by the price!


Cheers for your reply tho!
 
No worries - you managed to quote me before I got my edit in I see :P

And yeah, the more VRAM the better. I do love texture mods, could really do with a 2GB card as well for a bit of headroom. I failed and bought a 6870 right before the 69xx's came out :(
 
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