6850 x16 x4 vs x8 x8

[samuelspark]

What'll be the performance difference? Because right now I have to decide on whether to get a asus 970 evo or 990 evo. The price difference is $25 and I'm wondering if it's worth it just to pay that much for a performance increase.

 

[HostileDonut]

What'll be the performance difference? Because right now I have to decide on whether to get a asus 970 evo or 990 evo. The price difference is $25 and I'm wondering if it's worth it just to pay that much for a performance increase.

8x, 8x will yield the same performance as 16x, 16x, but 4x can make you lose 25 percent performance on the card, so never do 4x. Go for 8x 8x. It will be worth it.

 

[samuelspark]

I'll have to drop to 4 gigs of ram.... and a extra fan for hyper 212 evo.

 

[wa1]

Most of situations you will never use more than 4GB of RAM, so don't worry about that. AS for setup, yes go with 8x + 8x and never going to 4x, it will hurt performance noticeably...

 

[HostileDonut]

Most of situations you will never use more than 4GB of RAM, so don't worry about that. AS for setup, yes go with 8x + 8x and never going to 4x, it will hurt performance noticeably...

^+1 Yeah, 8gb RAM is a luxury, not a must. 4gb is fine, and no need for two fans.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

It's $15 extra for 8Gb over 4GB ....if 64 bit try and squeeze it in of possible.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-6.html

In a 64-bit system with a powerful graphics card, 8 GB of RAM really is a must if you're going to play demanding games. This is the case regardless of whether you're using 32-bit or 64-bit applications. However, even more than 8 GB of RAM can be subjectively noticed while playing. There is no real need for 16 GB of RAM, though. Going with 8 GB is quite enough unless you're running some taxing application in the background. We’ll comment more on this subject later, because the problem is often overestimated, as shown in our 64-bit gaming benchmarks.

Very few games show a drastic increase at x16 x16 today (typically 2-3%), but some do (i.e STALKER @ 10%) .... most review sites predict more will in the future. The price difference between boards that can do x16 x16 and those that can not varies substantially from week to week....but has usually been about $20

Right now for example, the NF200 equipped ES Revolution costs $225w/ rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131714

The equivalent board w/o the NF200 is $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

For $10, it's a no brainer..... drop the rebate and not so much.

 

[G3ox]

Actually, x16 x4 is almost the same as x8 x8.I saw a review that said that there is very little performance lost between x16 x16 and x4 x4 SLI , so x16 x4 should do just fine.

Here is the link to the review

 

[samuelspark]

So should I get 8GB and go for a M5A97 evo or M5A99X + 4GB and Hyper 212+ instead of Evo.

 

[HostileDonut]

So should I get 8GB and go for a M5A97 evo or M5A99X + 4GB and Hyper 212+ instead of Evo.

990x, 4gb, and 212+. Better choice if you ever plan to CF.

 

[samuelspark]

I might. Might not. I mean I need a build that I can keep upgrading for the next 4 years.

 

[HostileDonut]

I might. Might not. I mean I need a build that I can keep upgrading for the next 4 years.

Then x8 x8 is the way to go. Add more RAM as needed, maybe even an 8gb kit making 12gb total. Add another fan to the 212+ if needed (I believe that is possible), and another GPU in 8x.

 

[Djentleman]

Actually, x16 x4 is almost the same as x8 x8.I saw a review that said that there is very little performance lost between x16 x16 and x4 x4 SLI , so x16 x4 should do just fine.

Here is the link to the review

^+1 I agree, i don't see the point in paying a extra 100$ when you're only going to see a 5% performance increase.....

 

[samuelspark]

Best answer selected by samuelspark.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey