6870s in xfire

[empier1988]

Was mulling over the best bang for $300-$400 for bf3 and was leaning towards going with the 6870 in cf but I was reading that two 6870 have much more GPU power than they will effectively be able to use due to a lack of vram. In other terms, the vram/gpu power is a little out of balance for the 6870s. Any knowledge on this and its effect on the game and is there a better option for that price range?

 

[HugoStiglitz]

if your worried about VRAM shortage.

XFX do a 2gb version

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150563

 

[HugoStiglitz]

VRAM will make a diff the bigger resolutions you play in.

 

[empier1988]

Im looking to play bf3 in 1080..no aa just high settings...My specs

i5 760@4.2
8gb corsair DDR3 1600

 

[empier1988]

bump

 

[purple stain]

I don't know where you heard that from but it isn't true.If your using a single display chances are the full 1GB of VRAM won't even be used.Let alone having 2 cards producing the single display.Their's plenty of VRAM.

As for the best bang for buck I would say a a 6870 crossfire is a good choice but recently their has been a lot discussion about the 6870's in crossfire causing lots of problems such as micro-stuttering.Because of that I would say to go with a GTX570.

Or if you can stretch an extra $50 I would suggest going with a 6950 crossfire.With a 6950 crossfire you should easily be able to play BF3 on max settings with all the eye candy.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

you wont need 2 gb for your situation. if you had a multiple display setup or anything greater than 1920x1080, then you would need the 2gb. the 6870 xfire has been notorious for micro stutter though, i would steer clear personally and do as stank said about rounding up another 50 bux and doing the 6950 xfire. a single gtx570 as suggested by Mr. stank is a great choice as well for a single card solution. I run one and it runs everything

 

[empier1988]

so 2 6950s would be the best option for fps in my price range on high in 1080

 

[empier1988]

I've also read that the 6950's can be flashed to match 6970's...and that they would rival 580s in sli. My one remaining question is in regards to 6 series drivers..Ive heard they are pretty terrible....any 1st hand knowledge?

 

[purple stain]

They just came out with new drivers not to long ago.Everything seems fine so far.

 

[empier1988]

is it true the 6950's can no longed be flashed??

 

[wolfram23]

Two 6870s in CF would be pretty stellar though. That should offer better stock performance than what I'm using, which is a pair of 5850s, and I can say you'll have the power to max out any game at 1080p. VRAM will not in any way be an issue at this time.

The other good option is SLI 560s (non Ti), or just go with a single bigger card. If CF 6950s is possible for your budget then that would of course be the best, but chances are it's more GPU than you need unless you also are considering spending a few hundred more on either 2 more monitors or a 3D setup

 

[empier1988]

I was very encouraged after hearing the 6950's can be flashed to match 6970 performance but it seems that is no longer possible? Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[purple stain]

I think you still can.I was just talking to someone who flashed their MSI Twin Frozr 6950 last week.

I've heard that Sapphire are the sure ones for flashing but it voids the warranty.

 

[johnnyq8]

after amd find out about flashing the 6950 ( i think they planned the first versions to be able to flash so they sell alot of it ) but in order to do that the gpu must have dual bios switches but the newer versions of it only comes with single bios switch and some people tried to flash the newer version and it ended up to render the bios chip useless
lets talk about the 6870's if you arent planing for eyefinity or 2560-1600 monitor then your fine with 1 GB version but if you are in need for that extra ram take the xfx 2 gb version and i wish that i have 2 6870's in crossfire this bad boys showed they can beat 580 SLI in some games i didnt believe and they are going to be even more powerful with future drivers take them without any doubt but remmeber you will need 2 if them so you can unlock there true power