Single GPU or crossfire.

[RICKST20]

Firstly hi to everyone as you can see i am new here. (first post). And im looking for some advice.

So basically my question is this.
I am currently running a single 6850 gpu. Nothing special but just about runs games well enough to play 1920x1080.
I now find myself in a position to either crossfire with a another gpu and new mobo, or buy a single more powerful GPU.

Question is which is the best option?

I currently only have one monitor but may purchase another two in the near future.

Any advice or links would be much appreciated guys!
Thanks!

 

[Rusty0611]

Hi there, welcome to the forums

Your 6850 even in crossfire is going to struggle to run Eyefinity (3 monitors) but crossfire 6850's are a good combination for most games although if you need to buy a new motherboard as well I would lean towards a single card solution. It is possible though that the 1GB of VRAM could become an issue in new generation graphics engines such as BF3 and Metro as an example.

What budget do you have in mind and what games do you play?

 

[spain]

Hi welcome to the forum.

If I was in your position the first decision I would make would be the monitors rather then the GPU setup. Theres no real point in investing in enough GPU power to drive 3 monitors and then deciding to stick with one, imho.

a lot depends on your budget for this upgrade, do you have one?

What is current PC spec's?

What PSU do you have?

 

[RICKST20]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Well my current specs are:
Intel i3 2100 cpu
asus h61 mobo (cheap i know)
8gb corsair vengeance ram.
Coolermaster gx650 psu
My monitor is an iiyama 22" hd. not great but does the job.
A pretty cheap but capable gamer for now.
I am mostly playing cs source, mw3, syrim, you know the usual. Bf3 is slightly out of reach as of yet hence my decision to upgrade.
Budget is 200-250. Could stretch to 300 at a push.
Cheers guys.

 

[RICKST20]

Well after some thought and obviosly the misses getting involved iv decided to run just the one monitor for the forseeable future.
so which is the best bang for buck card around @ £200. Im currently considering the 6970 but with the new range of 7000's out now is it worth splashing out on one of these instead? Im am an amd fan pesonally but if the nvidia cards work out to be better i could be persuaded!

 

[Defy Belief]

7850 at £180 + Dirt 3 and overclock it. Beats a 6970, which I sadly found out after purchasing one..

 

[RICKST20]

Hhhmm i think that is my answer then. Reading up on the 7850 seems to overclock very well too. Obviously being a new card new drivers can only improve it right?
Found a comparison database and they aren't too far apart stock either. Seems only logical to go with the newer card. Plus a saving and a new game to go with it.

 

[Rusty0611]

Yeah I'd go with a 7850 if I were you. Check out the 7850 overclocking thread for some really impressive results.

 

[Troezar]

Is 7850 crossfire worth a go?

 

[Gregster]

7850 at £180 + Dirt 3 and overclock it. Beats a 6970, which I sadly found out after purchasing one..

Yeah I'd go with a 7850 if I were you. Check out the 7850 overclocking thread for some really impressive results.

+1

Great card with great fps in all games. Not 100% on this but maybe OC your CPU as it could be a bottleneck at stock speed.

 

[RICKST20]

+1

Great card with great fps in all games. Not 100% on this but maybe OC your CPU as it could be a bottleneck at stock speed.

Im not sure that it is possible to OC my cpu. it runs @ 3.1ghz stock and is locked. Hopefully this wont be a problem. But something i should look into no doubt.