Crossfire Time (Christmas Gift to myself)

[zandre88]

Hey everyone!

Well I've decided for a Christmas gift to myself I'm going to get myself a nice little LCD TV for my newly claimed computer room and a second HD5870 to crossfire with my current one. I figure doing this will keep me ahead of the curve for at least a little while in most games out there as well as fill my needs of at times playing a game and watching a movie at the same time. I just have a couple questions.

As far as crossfire goes. Is it as easy as me just installing the 2nd HD5870 onto the mobo and then connecting the crossfire connector? Or is there more I will have to do to get them to work together or basically as one.

Next while I am sure it is the smart thing to do, this question is just more out of curiousity, is it absolutely necessary to get the exact same manufacturer as my current HD5870 (XFX) or would it be possible to do it with another brand? I do not plan on doing that just curious.

Lastly, would it make any difference if I decided to spend a little extra money on my second HD5870 and get the 2GB instead of the 1GB like I currently have or would that just be overkill? Or would I just not really see any difference with the two of them running in crossfire.

Thanks in advance again everyone!

 

[Abstract Hero]

I'm not sure if 1gb or 2gb will make a difference but you can mix brands. Just so long as they are the same GPU.

I'm pretty sure installation is plug and play.

 

[snowsurfer]

Remember that in Crossfire and SLI the RAM does not add-up, what your apps see is the memory of one card. I am not 100% sure what it would report in case of one card having 1GB and the other 2GB, but I'd be willing to bet my X-Mas presents it is the lower amount.

 

[Slaymate]

I would make sure both cards have the same amount of ram.

 

[acerinpa]

Also - make sure you don't do what I did= I made the mistake of trying to crossfire two 5770's- one was the Sapphire and the other was XFX- due to the specific brand configs they are not compatible in crossfire- something about the crossfire bridge modifications (mod 1 or mod 2 ).

 

[zandre88]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I bought the same brand/same video card. It is on its way right now and I will be installing it more than likely sometime tomorrow looking forward to it.