6950's in crossfire on evga 790i ultra?

[axlrose]

Alright, I'm hemming and hawing between two 2gb cards, either two evga 560 ti's or two toxic 6950's from sapphire. The posts I'm reading say that I can't run crossfire with two 6950's, but the are all from 2008. I don't seem to find anything newer.

EVGA is telling me in their tech support that I should be able to run the two 6950's in crossfire, an while I have no reason to not trust them, their tech support is great, I don't want to end up with two 6950's that I can't run in crossfire without buying a new motherboard, processor and ram. I don't have the money right now as I'm trying to buy a new ssd, os and two gpu's.

Thanks for any help. I know it's an old board, but I'm going to get a new board, processor and ram some time this spring hopefully when I have more money saved up.

 

[monsta]

I have a similar mobo to you , and I'm not definately sure that CF is supported.
I would consider the 2 560tis as they will work without a hitch , I currently have them on my Asus Striker II Extreme.

 

[axlrose]

I know that's the safest route. I'll probably end up going that way, but the toxic 6950 flash with the second bios close to a 6970 and I think the performance would certainly be worth it (especially since they are a little cheaper as well!) if they played nice in crossfire.

 

[monsta]

I hear ya , but if you get a good 560ti that does voltage tweaks and good overclocking you will get speeds similar to a 570. The best for them would be the Asus and the MSi cards.

 

[axlrose]

I've never oc'd before, which doesn't mean I won't, only that I haven't taken the plunge yet. Sounds simple, I just don't want to brick a card (or two).

Plus, with 2560x1600 native resolution, I need to go to a 2gb card instead of a 1gb card (one of the main reasons I'm upgrading) and the only option I see for that is the EVGA.

 

[monsta]

Gainward also makes a 2GB version called the Phantom, its a really cool looking card. The cooler looks awesome.

 

[axlrose]

Checked it out. It does look cool. Not sure where to purchase it yet or what it costs. It looks like it's about four inches tall?

 

[monsta]

Hehe yeah its double wide 2.5 slots

 

[axlrose]

Your Answer:
Matthew,

Glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue. The 790i is capable of running AMD cards in Crossfire. If you have any further questions please contact us again.

Regards,
EVGA

That's what I just received from EVGA. I think I'm going to go for the toxic 6950's with dual bios that unlock to a sort of 6970 with a flip of a switch.

Best PCIe Card For ~$530:
2 x Radeon HD 6950 2 GB in CrossFire (Check Prices)

Excellent 2560x1600 performance
2 x Radeon HD 6950 2 GB in CrossFire
Codename: "Cayman"
Process: 40 nm
Universal Shaders: 2816 (2 x 1408)
Texture Units: 176 (2 x 88)
ROPs: 64 (2 x 32)
Memory Bus: 256-bit
Core Speed MHz: 800
Memory Speed MHz: 1250 (5000 effective)
DirectX/Shader Model: DX 11/SM 5.0
Max TDP: 400 W (2 x 200 W)

100312-3SR Radeon HD...
Amazon.com
$264.99
TigerDirect
$269.99

Recent tests performed by our very own Thomas Soderstrom confirm that the Radeon HD 6900-series features vastly improved scaling performance in CrossFire compared to previous-generation boards. As such, a pair of these cards represents a realistic pinnacle for our recommendations. At $530, two Radeon HD 6950s handily beat the GeForce GTX 580, and even come very close to catching the pricier Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590.

Read our full review of AMD's Radeon HD 6950 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.

 

[monsta]

If EVGA say so then go for it

 

[axlrose]

In a holding pattern. Got the two toxics and unlocked the shaders on both. But I can't get crossfire to work. Latest tech support is saying crossfire can't be done on my board. That means three people that said it can and now one person that said it can'tsto it's apparently going to higher authority as I now own two of them...

 

[monsta]

I didn't think they could , blame EVGA for saying so, can you take them back and get 2 X 560ti's?

 

[axlrose]

I have the 6950's on their way to RMA. Thank goodness I ordered from newegg.com. Two frozer II 560's are supposed to arrive tomorrow (though I bet they'll be another day or two as they always seem to be when shipped into the middle of the country).

Absolutely no help from EVGA after their big F-up at all. Just lots of run around topped up with a phone call saying the cards won't work in crossfire in the end. They just left me high and dry with no help and no solution. If I hadn't been able to RMA them (let's not even get into the $30 I had to fork out to ship their mistake) I'd have been stuck with both cards, only one of which I could use, and no way to get two different cards that I could actually use in crossfire...

Suffice to say, I didn't order EVGA cards to replace them...

 

[monsta]

Good man , after the bad advice they gave you , I would'nt give them any of your hard earned cash , they don't deserve it , they could of at least offered to pay for $30 for shipping or even apologise.