Moving on UP to Crossfire

Yevrag35

Yevrag35

Pushing Daisies on Saturn
Messages
1,118
Location
Wisconsin, US
After one year of having just a single gpu, I'm making the plunge (finacially) to splurge for a second one. I'll also have to upgrade the PSU as well, and that's where my question comes in.
Currently I have:
Intel Core i7-2600k @ 4.5GHz
ASUS P8Z68-V LE Motherboard
16GB DDR3 @1600Mhz (not overclocked)
Blu-Ray Burner/Combo
1 WD 500GB 7200RPM & 1 250GB Samsung SSD (both SATA6)
HIS AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
^
(Looking to purchase a second identical one.)

My current PSU is 600W, which I think was just barely enough for what I have now (idk). Various websites tell me that I should require "785W" with the second card, so I was figuring a 850W PSU should be fine. But now I'm second-guessing myself. So should I take the safe route and get a 1000W, or is 850W enough.

My budget is $180, but I guess it could be $200 if need be.

Thanks in advance for all help and advice.
 
A regular 6950 takes around 169W by itself stock, so assuming 2 at full blast (which wont happen during gaming) they will only take 338w. Add the ~130w tdp of the overclocked 2600k and you have 468w total system power. Given the fact that you might overclock these cards one can assume a 750w GOOD quality PSU will do the trick easy. Thing is, that takes up almost all of your budget if you got something like a TX750w or even an HX750w. Are you getting one of these 6950s used?
 
PP Mguire said:
How much are you looking to get another 6950 for? If you could fit the bill a 660ti or 670 would be better and you could retain your current PSU.
Click to expand...
As of right now, under $175. Are you saying that getting a GTX670 would be a better option then opting for a second 6950, or it's just a better solution if I don't want spend a lot of extra money?
 
Both. Performance would be better and you get the benefit of 3 things:
1: Nvidia drivers. Ask Sean, they are much better.
2: No dealing with CAP or worrying if a certain game will scale good.
3: Less heat and power consumption.

After having many many multi-card setups over the past 5 years I really don't think they are as good except for e-peen.
 
thanks for the intro PP

my 2 cents, as someone who has had crossfire 6950s...

DO NOT DO IT!!!!!!


alot of the games i wanted to play, for example, Call of duty black ops 2, simply would not run, the drivers werent supported. unless you have a slot gap between the 2 cards the top card is going to be super loud.

i just switched to a single 680 and havent looked back. my 680 performs about 40% better than my CF 6950s ( and i was unlocked to 6970s ).

take a look at my thread showing my findings when i switched to the 680
http://www.techist.com/forums/f75/switching-red-team-green-team-262905/

less noise, WAY BETTER drivers, temps are a lot lower across the board for all my components. sell your 6950 on OCN for $200 and get your self a proper current gen card, you will like it much better...

:cool:


EDIT: i didnt put enough emphasis on how CRAPY amds drivers are compared to Nvidia. ive heard about it for the couple years, " oh amds drivers suck, this and that " didnt really think of it untill i switched and used nvidias drivers, SO MUCH BETTER... not only that, when new games and applications come out nvidia updates their driers a lot sooner.... for sure read through my thread explaining my experiences after i switched!
 
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