VTX3D 6870 X2 Edition

[bazman25]

hi all im thinking of buying this card http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-VX&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866
it is supposed to beat the gtx 580! my current card is a ati 5870 vapour-x 1gb but i would like some advice do people think this would be a good upgrade from my current card?
the only thing that seems to be a problem with this card is heat according to the review it gets pretty hot!
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/vtx3d-hd6870-x2-review/

 

[harmony]

Typically, this card only beats the GTX580 under (relatively) low resolution with (relatively) low AA, due to vram shortage.

 

[bazman25]

power consumption seems pretty good only 255 watts for a dual card is this right?
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/vtx3d-hd6870-x2-review/21/

 

[Dancer]

Typically, this card only beats the GTX580 under (relatively) low resolution with (relatively) low AA, due to vram shortage.

I am currently in the market for a new GPU to power games in 2560x1600 so I've been doing some research, and from reading various benchmarks and reviews this simply isn't true, but if you have any links do share (edit: all the links in this thread points to the 6870 x2 winning most hi-res, 4xAA benchmarks).

The review linked was interesting, and I also found these:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/club3d-radeon-hd-6870-x2-review/
and this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_6870_X2/1.html

As far as I can see - Good:
- Beats GTX580 for most games even at 2560x1600 (there are several exceptions)

Bad:
- Noisy
- May experience stutter and gets very warm
- Two 6870 in SLI is going to be cheaper and less noisy/hot solution if your MB supports SLI

I'm currently leaning towards the GTX 580 as a single GPU is less risky and I don't want to spend time troubleshooting when SLI doesn't work or I get stuttering or some games don't support it properly, but also as it is much less noisy for about the same performance. The 580 does cost a bit more though so there is still some doubt left in my mind.

 

[Freddie1980]

If you got two Radeon 6870's working in SLI I think Nvidia might want a word with you about licensing but if you shop around you can get a couple of 6870's for about £270-£280. The only case for the dual solution is if your motherboard doesn't support crossfire or if you want to go quad fire (I'm not sure if you can quad these cards).

 

[mountaincow]

Two 6870 in SLI is going to be cheaper and less noisy/hot solution if your MB supports SLI

Crossfire

I would take the 580 over it any day, remember in the future if you end up needing more power another 580 will be much better than going for a third or fourth GPU.

 

[Surveyor]

Crossfire

I would take the 580 over it any day, remember in the future if you end up needing more power another 580 will be much better than going for a third or fourth GPU.

If the OP went with 2 HD 6870's they couldn't use a third or fourth GPU.

Crossfire with the HD 6870 is limited to 2 cards.

 

[Marine-RX179]

If the OP went with 2 HD 6870's they couldn't use a third or fourth GPU.

Crossfire with the HD 6870 is limited to 2 cards.

Can the 6870x2 actually be crossfired with a 3rd card though...considering the X2 card itself is already basically running crossfire?

 

[Surveyor]

Can the 6870x2 actually be crossfired with a 3rd card though...considering the X2 card itself is already basically running crossfire?

I would think so.

The limit on the HD 6870 is that it only has 1 Crossfire connector so 2 cards maximum.

The HD 6870 X2 also has a single connector so it should be possible to Crossfire with another HD 6870 or HD 6870 X2.

Club3D show this for their dual GPU HD 6870:



Radeon HD 6870 Dual GPU

Scaling with 4 GPU's is pretty bad though and you have 4 GPU's but effectively only 1GB of VRAM.

Ask harmony about VRAM.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Ask harmony about VRAM.

Don't really need to, considering he spam that in almost every single graphic related thread

But yea...Quad-fire would scale quite poorly, and much higher chance to get micro-shuttering.

 

[psychas]

if it was 300 £ and had better cooler would be nice buy

 

[Dancer]

Yes, seems I got SLI and crossfire mixed up. I understand that they use different solutions to dual cards and it's all about marketing and rights, but as an end-user I find the different namings annoying and I can see people being confused by the terminologies.

Back on the 6870 X2 I did see in the OP's linked review that they had some problems with micro-stuttering.