Upgrade help (please)

[GlacierMint]

Morning everyone

Bit of a speculative one, bought a PC 3 or 4 years ago and I'm starting to think about upgrading the graphics cards. What's the most practical upgrade to a pair of ATI Radeon HD5870's in crossfire? I'm looking for a decent performance increase, but I'm not looking to blow a fortune (funds aren't what they once were)!!

Doesn't need to be Crossfire if a single card is better. Oh, and I'm clueless on the latest cards!!

BTW:- running an i7 960, 12Gb memory and Win7 64bit if that makes any difference.

 

[arc@css]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

 

[Doomedspeed]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Order it soon and you'll get a heap-ton of games with it

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18524378

 

[teppic]

The MSI 7950 Twin Frozr is on offer this week too, just came up today.

 

[GlacierMint]

Cracking, thanks gents.

Will one of these be faster than the two 5870's or am I going to need to get two?

I'm guessing the Twin is the way to go (given that it's cheaper on offer)?

I've also found that the m\board I've got is a bit of a bodge, it's an Intel P55 Express chipset which claims PCIe 2.0 but only at 1.0 speeds. Anyone know if this going to be a big problem?

 

[arc@css]

Will one of these be faster than the two 5870's or am I going to need to get two?

There will be a few games where one 7950 will equate to two 5870s, but for the most part you'll need a mild to moderate overclock to equal / be slightly faster than two 5870s.

I'm guessing the Twin is the way to go (given that it's cheaper on offer)?

No reason why not, though the HIS version is quieter. I can't recall if the MSI is voltage locked; I don't think it is, though I'm sure someone will hop on later and confirm this point.

I've also found that the m\board I've got is a bit of a bodge, it's an Intel P55 Express chipset which claims PCIe 2.0 but only at 1.0 speeds. Anyone know if this going to be a big problem?

I don't know that, though I would have thought that it won't matter much. Ask in customer services or see what others have to say.