6850 Crossfire or New Card?

[mman74]

I am running an i7-2600K, with 8GB of 1600 RAM. I have an Intel X25 40GB SSD, which is full to capacity and seems to be running much slower than when it wasn't.
I have a 750Watt Cooler Master PSU. I am running an 6850 on a single slot.
My question as I look forward to picking up my copy of Battlefield 3 tonight is, now that I feek comfortable spending a bit more money on the machine -
1. Is it worth me getting another 6850 and putting it in Crossfire? Am I better off just getting another card reasonably priced (remembering I got the 6850 in the first place as I didn't want to go full top end) - but would I get anything for my old one? Also my machine runs kind of quiet and cool now. Will running Crossfire make it hot and noisy?
2. Will bringing me up to 16GB improve my gaming performance?
3. Should I invest in a bigger SSD or is installing on the HDD good enough? If so what model?
Thank you.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

What motherboartd do you have?

the 6850's in crossfire make for a pretty good setup, i dont know if there is a single card (apart from the 590's and 6990's) that will outperform it.

i doubt u will notice the diff from 8 to 16gb RAM tbh.

a bigger SSD would help as windows likes to have 10-25% free space to operate.

as for noise it should not change (maybe 1-5db) and as long as u have 1/2 decent air flow ( having a full atx case will help) heat should not be an issue.

 

[ilysaml]

1- Crossfiring the HD 6850s/70s is not recommend because they are known for generating the Microstuttering explained recently by Tomshardware, if you don't care about it you can just grab the HD 6850 and CF it, you'll max out BF3 on Ultra.
2- Also article recently stated that regular user doesn't need more than 8 GB of RAM so, 16 GB is usless for you.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-9.html
3- Yes you should, at least a 90 GB SSD or more with faster R/W speeds.

 

[hunuok]

1. Is it worth me getting another 6850 and putting it in Crossfire?

The cheapest option would be yes. Performance wise, it does quite well:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/1

Will running Crossfire make it hot and noisy?

Depending on your motherboard. Assuming both cards will be next to each other with minimal spacing, the top card will run hotter because it being starved of fresh air.
IMO, it will be acceptable. Most crossfire setups run fine in this configuration. Just make sure you have extra airflow and/or fan profiles.

2. Will bringing me up to 16GB improve my gaming performance?

No. 8Gb is plenty.

3. Should I invest in a bigger SSD or is installing on the HDD good enough?

A 40Gb is a little small to run OS/Programs. It needs ~15% free space to run optimally. I would suggest an 80Gb minimum. OCZ Vertex3/Agility3 are fast but have been plagued by bugs in the SandForce controller. Firmware 2.15 (released last week) seems to have fixed/minimized issues. I have used G Skill Phoenix Pro, OCZ Vertex 2 and am using Vertex 3 (Firmware 2.15) ATM. No issues yet. Crucial M4 series are quite good. Samsung/Intel are reliable but have reduced performance.

 

[mman74]

Best answer selected by mman74.

 

[mman74]

I am not sure what my motherbord is as I am not at home right now, but I am sure it supports Crossfire. I got a feeling both cards are going to be parked right next to each other.
Thanks for the advice, I think I will get the 6850 as well as the SSD. Can someone recommen a good reliable one?