7970 MP in Crossfire or 7990 (or similar) for gaming?

chewylou

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Nov 5, 2013
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Hello, I have been considering a 2nd 7970 matrix platinum on crossfire, as just the one is great but I imagine a second would be amazing!

My friend said that he'd read 7970 on crossfire isn't very efficient because one card will over heat the other - since they'll always be practically touching in motherboard. Is this accurate? If I wasn't bothering with overclocking (much) them would this still happen?

There seems to be a lot of scare mongering on forums so hopefully someone can give me an educated response. The 7970 MP is currently on a deal at Scan so it wouldn't be that scary an investment. Otherwise I can sell my card and buy a single model card like 7990.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, would my current Corsair 800W power-pack run both cards in Crossfire?

P.s. I won't be bothering with any complex cooling systems, just fans. I just want to game in extreme settings for the next few years.
 
Solution
Given the way those cards are built, I think you're good. because that model is a triple slotter, this is actually built in space between the bottom of the 3rd slot, and the bottom surface of the card.

In general, as long as your case temperature is good, I think your system will be just fine. overclocking will be tough given the configuration tho, but I think you already know that
first of all, for what exact purpose do you want to crossfire? in general for gaming at 1080p or below you won't see a difference from adding a 2nd card.

other than that, there is a mix of confusing about 7970s. AMD had some problems on the drivers side for crossfire, but that has mostly been resolved. as for the overheating issue, yes, the cart sitting on top will be running significantly hotter due to the bottom card, but overall it should be fine as long as you have good case airflow. the matrix platinum have very capable heatsinks
 
Yeah i'm doing it for single monitor gaming at 1080p. Why would I not see a difference with two cards?

What would I need to do to achieve better performance for high demanding games such as Crysis 3? Because currently it plays quite chuggy at top settings...
 


A single 7970, especially after a bit of overclocking, already gets very good frame rates at 1080p on almost all games. with the exception of titles like battlefield 4, the difference a second 7970 would make is not detectable by most people. (it's like the difference between 70 and 120fps, it exists, you might see it if you're sensitive, but it is rarely worth an extra $300-350 imo)

Ok, yeah, Crysis 3 is another one of these demanding titles. I guess if you're determined to do whatever it takes to max out the settings for that, then a second 7970 would be a wise investment
 
Thanks for answering. Yeah I'm looking to max out the high demanding games, purely for the fun.

Lastly then, If my cards do fit but are practically touching, is there a high danger of breakage/low performance? Or as long as there is good airflow am I looking to be sweet...?
 
Given the way those cards are built, I think you're good. because that model is a triple slotter, this is actually built in space between the bottom of the 3rd slot, and the bottom surface of the card.

In general, as long as your case temperature is good, I think your system will be just fine. overclocking will be tough given the configuration tho, but I think you already know that
 
Solution