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To X-fire or not?

lee20010

lee20010

lee20010

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Joined
2 Aug 2011
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Newbury
Loving my MSI 2GB 6950 so much I dont see the point of selling it and adding the case for a single card as I wouldnt need a new PSU to support X-fire.

My question is, with Skyrim slowing getting better more gfx demanding mods. Would a 2nd card be useful and keep me afloat for the next 12-18months? I say I get about 60fps on skyrim with everything maxed, various mods @ 1080p. With the new 120Hz monitor, Im wondering if I get another card, other games will benifit from x-fire?

I would like to get an MSI 580 and nvidia 3d vision, but thats going to cost more then £170 (for my card) + another £210 I have spare.

So should I waste my money? Nothing else really to buy :/
 
Either that or hold out a few weeks/months until the 7xxx series is out, sell the single 6950 and stump up for a 7970.

IF you do go xfire on the 6950, I'm using a 120hz monitor and hit the vsync wall of 120fps inside, dropping to around 95-110 outside on skyrim.
 
pgi947 said:
hold out a few weeks/months until the 7xxx series is out, sell the single 6950 and stump up for a 7970.
Click to expand...

+1

The new cards are expected to be a good step up from the current 40nm ones and it seems like you have your system running rather nicely - so waiting a few weeks shouldn't restrict your gaming enjoyment too much.
 
Should I sell the MSI card now? I can hold out playing Skyrim for a couple of weeks if it means I dont lose out too much money. Mobo has a hdmi output anyway :)
 
Like suggested here, it would be more desirable to go with a single 7XXX card in the future.

As with any Xfire or SLI configuration there can be driver/compatibility issues with games. Some games might not even work with xfire, some might scale amazingly, others not quite so much.
 
You would probably get a few extra quid for your HD 6950 (my guess is £20) by selling it now versus selling it after the HD 7000 series launches. Whether this is worth being without a gaming machine over the Christmas holiday is up to you.
 
I'm sure there will b a fair few gfx cards on mm once the new 7xxx series get realised... I'm trying to figure out what to do next tbh... I wanted to replace my i5 with an ivybridge to open up pcie3 then look at gfx cards... Oping my 5850 will keep me going for a while.. Also want a new monitor too >.<.. Upgrading seems like it never ends
 
Well I just bought another MSI 6950 for £170, at best the value will drop to £150 next month if I wiish to sell it on.

Would it be worth getting another 8GB in my rig? Or will using all 4 dimms stress the memory controller?
 
Unless you have needs for 16gb (heavy encoding/editing) then I wouldn't bother, all its going to do is empty your bank account quicker and put more stress on the memory controller.

If you want to spend money go get another 60gb SSD for SRT :)
 
I was/am in a similar situation, have the upgrade/build bug but nothing to spend it on. Suggest you do what I'm currently doing, saving for a pair of 7970's and an ivy bridge chip, possibly a PCIe 3.0 motherboard too :D

If all else fails buy a load of games from steam that your never ever going to play. *looks at steam account with 112 games, only 43 played :(*
 
I dont see much gain from onboard sound and a £100 sound card IMO?

Also getting new wireless turtle beach from xmas, they are like £160 which should do the trick for Xbox.

Using 2x 6950 until IB come out, then probably upgrade then. Not many games coming out soon that will demand more then BF3 imo
 
Stick to one card unless you like sitting in a damp dark corner jacking off to benchmark results.

If you are a gamer? Give it a wide berth.

If you aspire to be Sid Fiddler and like constantly fixing things and having to wait for your games to work when you realise there's nothing you can do? Then by all means go Xfirex.

SLI is far better, mostly because EVGA have taken that into their own hands, but EVGA don't sell Radeons so you're at the mercy of AMD.

Personally I'd rather be stuck on a desert island with a cannibal, but hey, each to their own and all that.
 
ALXAndy said:
Stick to one card unless you like sitting in a damp dark corner jacking off to benchmark results.

If you are a gamer? Give it a wide berth.

If you aspire to be Sid Fiddler and like constantly fixing things and having to wait for your games to work when you realise there's nothing you can do? Then by all means go Xfirex.

SLI is far better, mostly because EVGA have taken that into their own hands, but EVGA don't sell Radeons so you're at the mercy of AMD.

Personally I'd rather be stuck on a desert island with a cannibal, but hey, each to their own and all that.
Click to expand...

hah
 
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