Can I SLI an Gigabyte 7950 an Power Color 7870 Myst?

[ehyde1029]

I have a Gigabyte 7950 3gb GPU and a Power Color 7870 2gb Myst Tahiti LE. I read that the 7870 Myst was using some of the same hardware as the 7950. Does this mean they are compatible for SLI?

 

[LeoMatrix]

It's crossfire. And I believe you can't. Only amd gpu with the same first two digit can cf, for instance 7850 and 7870.

 

[mousseng]

Actually he can - he's got the 7870 LE, which is a Tahiti GPU just like the 7950. Shitty naming conventions from AMD (what a shocker) have caused a bit of confusion about this.

 

[Onus]

Technically, no. SLI is for nVidia cards; Crossfire is for AMD cards. I am not sure these two will run together in Crossfire, but if I were a betting man, I'd bet against it. Cleeve or another GPU expert can confirm that though.

 

[LeoMatrix]

Actually he can - he's got the 7870 LE, which is a Tahiti GPU just like the 7950. Shitty naming conventions from AMD (what a shocker) have caused a bit of confusion about this.

oooh. However, I wouldn't do it if I was you because it would degrade the 7950 to 7870 level . I would sell one of them and get another one same model 😗

 

[Kari]

actually you can, but that wouldn't be very smart so you shouldn't, but as you already have both then why not give it a try..
7870 myst uses the same tahiti chip as the 7900 series, thou it has more stuff disabled

edit lol this thread is busy

 

[ehyde1029]

That's why when I looked up SLI AMD card there was no results. I understand it would lower the 7950 performance but wouldn't it still be an upgrade from a single 7950?

 

[LeoMatrix]

yes, it's still better than a single 7950 😀

 

[LeoMatrix]

yes, it's still better than a single 7950 😀

 

[ehyde1029]

So since I have both cards right now (The 7870 is going to be RMA'd unless this works) I will give it a try. I have the SLI connector but have never done it before so off to browse the web for some videos on how to set it up

 

[Onus]

SLI connector, or Crossfire connector? They look similar, but are two different things. SLI connectors are typically packed with motherboards that support SLI; Crossfire connectors, otoh, usually come with graphics cards, although not all include one.

 

[ekagori]

Actually according to Tom's review on the PowerColor 7870LE Myst card found on the home page, you can CF it with a 7950 since it's a Tahiti GPU, the only thing you would need to do is OC the slower card to match the performance of the other.

 

[Au_equus]

The performance of an OC'd powercolor 7870 LE (or sapphire's 7870 XT) is on par (sometimes better) with a stock 7950. CF'ing a 7870LE with a 7950 would in effect give you a CF'd 7870LE setup. Before attempting, you should see if your MB is compatible and if your PSU has enough amperage in your 12V rails as the 7870 LE uses more power than a 7950 (200W v ~180W). Including OC, you would need at least a combined 40A along your 12V rail (>600W PSU).

 

[LeoMatrix]

The performance of an OC'd powercolor 7870 LE (or sapphire's 7870 XT) is on par (sometimes better) with a stock 7950. CF'ing a 7870LE with a 7950 would in effect give you a CF'd 7870LE setup. Before attempting, you should see if your MB is compatible and if your PSU has enough amperage in your 12V rails as the 7870 LE uses more power than a 7950 (200W v ~180W). Including OC, you would need at least a combined 40A along your 12V rail (>600W PSU).

One oc'd is always better than the next better at stock clock, in my knowledge. Anyway, your setup is beast!!

 

[ehyde1029]

IDK why I keep saying SLI when I mean crossfire. I do have the Crossfire connectors and my mobo (gigabyte TA990FXE) is Crossfire capable. My PSU (Corsair TX650) said it was Xfire ready but after opening my case to plug the other GPU in I noticed my "Xfire ready" PSU only had 2 PCI-E 6 pin connectors. Both the 7950 and the 7870LE require 2-6 pin PCI-E connectors each so it's a no go for now. I guess they didn't lie because some GPUs only take one 6 pin. Getting a new PSU soon so I hope it will work

 

[ehyde1029]

Just a side note for future buyers the 7870LE is about 2-5 FPS lower than the 7950 in games I've played so far which I could have lived with but the problem I was having with the 7870LE was the temp. They only put 1 small fan on it and in game the GPU temp was 90c on average and would start to lag due to heat. The Gigabyte 7950 Windforce 3 edition was about $40 more but I haven't seen it go above 45-50c so far even in very demanding games

 

[LeoMatrix]

Just a side note for future buyers the 7870LE is about 2-5 FPS lower than the 7950 in games I've played so far which I could have lived with but the problem I was having with the 7870LE was the temp. They only put 1 small fan on it and in game the GPU temp was 90c on average and would start to lag due to heat. The Gigabyte 7950 Windforce 3 edition was about $40 more but I haven't seen it go above 45-50c so far even in very demanding games

Good to know

 

[admbautista]

IDK why I keep saying SLI when I mean crossfire. I do have the Crossfire connectors and my mobo (gigabyte TA990FXE) is Crossfire capable. My PSU (Corsair TX650) said it was Xfire ready but after opening my case to plug the other GPU in I noticed my "Xfire ready" PSU only had 2 PCI-E 6 pin connectors. Both the 7950 and the 7870LE require 2-6 pin PCI-E connectors each so it's a no go for now. I guess they didn't lie because some GPUs only take one 6 pin. Getting a new PSU soon so I hope it will work

don't you have molex to 6 pin connector?

 

[ehyde1029]

I thought the PSU would have come with at least 1 but I got a molex to 4 pin with it? I was having some problems with the 7870LE anyway so it's RMAd. I just played Crysis 3 today and after some sub-par FPS with the 7950 I might have to go to the dark side and get a GTX690 or just wait till AMD puts out their 8xxx series in a few months.

 

[Kari]

molex to 6pins usually come with the cards, the molex to 4 pin is meant for the mobo atx power connector if your psu doesnt have native one and I would think it was included with the mobo, not with the psu...

and no new gen cards from either camp until the very late 2013.

 

[ehyde1029]

Yeah I heard that they would come out before Christmas time. I don't want to buy another 7950 to crossfire for 6-7 months just to upgrade and loose all that money.

 

[jimbo02816]

You can indeed crossfire a 7870 tahiti and a 7950. In fact, here's a link that verifies it. In this test they overclocked the 7870 tahiti to 1150 core to match the 7950.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tahiti-le-7870-7930-benchmark,3401-5.html

 

[ehyde1029]

Never got to try because the card would get to hot and shut down ended up RMA to Newegg. If you get a working 7870LE they have great performance but from what I've read the overheating is a common problem. Thanks for all the help