Looking on upgrading RAM...or maybe something else

[kryne]

Was looking around and found something that prompted another question...
Looking for benchmark tests, games supported crossfire and such. Stumbled upon a forum saying that someone with a AMD 975 3.4 CPU that was going to crossfire 2 6850's that that CPU wasn't good enough. And that once he upgraded to a Phenom II 965 that he noticed the increase.

This is probably a really stupid question but I just want to make sure :\

Is the AMD 975 3.4 an older processor and not the Phenom Quad Core? Otherwise I'm confused lol.

So just double checking but my processor (or anything else on my PC) wouldn't hold back crossfire 2 6870's?
Thanks!

Also hes the link to the forum post...
Looking for a list or link of games that support crossfire - PC-Gaming - General

 

[Roark]

No, the 975 is a Phenom II, I think he listed the wrong CPU since it's stock frequency is 3.6GHz.

I want to say the 955 at stock will bottleneck crossfire 6870s, but its not as bad as it sounds.
There will almost always be a bottleneck in your system, either CPU running faster than GPU or vice-versa, its rare to get them perfectly matched.
That being said you're looking at maybe a ~10FPS loss, but considering the massive increase from a single card I doubt you'd notice the loss.

 

[kryne]

Ok cool thanks!

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Newegg.com - ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE FleX 100314FLEX Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Are the ones I'm looking at.
Leaning more towards one of the sapphire ones...input?

Sorry to keep bothering really appreciate the help!

 

[Roark]

Personally around that price-point I would go with:
Newegg.com - HIS IceQ H687Q1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Having two cards running means twice the heat, better to have them both pushing their exhaust out the back of the case than having one of them just dumping it in the case.

 

[kryne]

How does that one differ from the others? By the name assuming it has better cooling? But I don't see anything in details that say its a lot better? I don't see how this one would allow for one not dumping into the case and the others would be dumping

And the 2nd Sapphire has a "Physics processing support" which i don't think mine does currently.

 

[Roark]

Its not in the literature, its just a matter of figuring out where the fan is blowing.
The three you picked the fan is in the center if the card and pull air onto the heasink (usually, it may push), then goes off in every direction.
The card I linked (and the one you currently have) the fan is at the far end and pushes air across the heatsink and out the back.
Granted, your current card is fully enclosed and better at this, but the same concept applies and the air heads in the same direction.

As to the "Physics processing support", I google'd around and couldn't find a solid answer.
My gut tells me its just a gimmick, like the RAM sets that say "Intel i3/i5/i7 ready" even though any old RAM will work.

But its just my suggestion, if you're sold on the Sapphire FleX then get it, there is no major downside.

 

[kryne]

Ok, once again thanks for the input I will keep all that in mind!
Thank!