upgrading to AMD Radeon HD 7970

[omid76]

Hello,

I like to upgrade my video card from AMD 6950 to AMD Radeon HD 7970.
My question is would I be able to get %100 out of it considering my pc spec.

circuit board: GA-MA790GPT-UD3H
Processor: 3.40 gigahertz AMD Phenom II X4 965
8GB RAM

Thank you

 

[Gam3r01]

You are going to be hard pressed with your processor, if you OC to around 4 GHz you should be able to run a 7950 no issues and maybe a 7970. With stock speeds you are looking more at the 7870. As I am hitting the same issue here I would say try to OC as high as you can get it stable and then see with those speeds. Anything over 4 GHz should work well with a 7950.

 

[omid76]

Thank you for the replys, much appreciated.

So I understand that the 7970 6GB is too much for my 3.40 gigahertz AMD X4
Would two HD 7950 3G crossfire still be too much still with the same processor?

I am doing this for battlefield 4, and really like to be able to run it on altra with anti-aliasing

Thank you

 

[Gam3r01]

That would indeed still be too much. I would say at MOST the best you can get would be a 7950, and that is if you overclock as well. If you dont OC there will be some bottlenecking.

 

[omid76]

Thank you.
Please tell me then, what do you think if I just add another 6950 so I have a crossfire of 2 6950 to make 4GB?! would that make sense?
Do I still need to over clock or upgrade my processor?
and when you say there will be some bottlenecking, howmuch you mean, like would it be wasting half of GPU capacity or like 10%.
Thanks for bearing with me!

 

[toyftw]

Thank you.
Please tell me then, what do you think if I just add another 6950 so I have a crossfire of 2 6950 to make 4GB?! would that make sense?
Do I still need to over clock or upgrade my processor?
and when you say there will be some bottlenecking, howmuch you mean, like would it be wasting half of GPU capacity or like 10%.
Thanks for bearing with me!

Hi - your processor is a tier 2 of AMD CPU's in TOM's CPU gamer hierarchy. Generally moving up one tier
(your only option) does not yield a significant performance increase. I think your best bet is to
get a 7950 boost and stay with your current CPU. To jump up the 1 tier on AMD CPU's is going to cost
approx $120 - $180 for a small increase in performance.

 

[Gam3r01]

Thank you.
Please tell me then, what do you think if I just add another 6950 so I have a crossfire of 2 6950 to make 4GB?! would that make sense?
Do I still need to over clock or upgrade my processor?
and when you say there will be some bottlenecking, howmuch you mean, like would it be wasting half of GPU capacity or like 10%.
Thanks for bearing with me!

I would just go for the single card, the 7950. As crossfire has some issues, and one higher end card is better than 2 in crossfire. The bottlenecking would be fairly bad too, it would make a 7970 perform like a 7870. If you OC it would be like a 7950, so either way, its a waste of money. Also in crossfire the GBs dont add up. 2 2 gig cards is still 2 gigs.

 

[omid76]

Thank you, I get it now.
can you just explain a little when you say "in crossfire the GBs dont add up" so how would crossfiring benefits one?
The reason is I have two exact PC

circuit board: GA-MA790GPT-UD3H
Processor: 3.40 gigahertz AMD Phenom II X4 965
AMD 6950 2GB
8GB RAM

and wanted to by a new graphic card for one and crossfire the second one with my two 6950

 

[Gam3r01]

The way it works is the cards share the work across themselves, so their 2 gigs each do half work, so it can be split better. So it wont double the memory, but it will split the work load. I would say getting a better card is the priority, and crossfiring those cards on a second pc would also increase performance.

 

[smeezekitty]

I would say it would bottleneck to some extent. But you could always but the 7970 now and then upgrade the CPU once you have enough funds.
Overclocking would help too.