Time for crossfire!

iBeInspire · #1 13-01-13, 12:06 PM

Hi everyone

The times of my HD6850 being a tank and being able to play anything well are over. I've been playing Hitman absolution on quite low settings to get decent framerates, and I'm honestly sick of it.
I have the chance to get a used XFX HD6850 (Same as mine) for £75 off a friend which is very good because with the right CPU that's GTX570/80 level performance for another £75, but I understand this setup would be quite badly bottlenecked by my CPU... BUT I plan on upgrading my CPU in the near future :/

Basically the question is, would the £75 be worth it for now, is there something better that I could do with the money, and would HD6850 xFire be bottlenecked by the FX6300/4300 (OC to hell)..?

Side note : I've also been looking at getting a SSD, but I'm mainly a gamer, and loading times don't bother me all that much, so would a 120gb HyperX SSD be a better buy over a 2nd 6850..?

Sorry for the long post, If you've just read all that, I salute you

Deejeta · #2 13-01-13, 12:26 PM

cx430 psu and xfire no.... Not enough power captain.
Save up for something like a gtx660 or hd7850, even a overclocked 650ti would be worth a look if your strapped for cash.
Personally a ssd is by far thing to add to any system. Everything is just so much faster. 120gb is plenty for os, apps and a handful of games.

iBeInspire · #3 13-01-13, 12:30 PM

Oh sorry, I haven't updated my sig.
I have a TX550m now, and that'll power it all fine

Sorry for the confusion :P

Edit : Updated sig now, hopefully It'll show up :/

dragoonk · #4 13-01-13, 12:58 PM

Umm, I don't know... a sinle 6850 draws almost 130w... It should be fine but straining the PSU... hmm. You could try crossfire, really hard to answer the bottlenecking question. I got the same CPU and frankly... I definitely need another one fast!

alxcsb · #5 13-01-13, 12:59 PM

I think that X3 bottlenecks even the single 6850, so I would get a new CPU first. As far as I know the 6850 scales well in xFire, so if you can get a second one for a low price you should do that. Should be looking at a 80% increase in FPS @1080p in most games. The PSU is fine for xFire.

G-sus · #6 13-01-13, 01:06 PM

I would go for a never card if you can afford it, from experience I can say that if your single GPU isn't enough now, adding a second one will only prolong it a little bit, but you will find that it won't be enough again pretty soon. I would sell the 6850, add some more and buy a 7950. Also there are all sorts of games that don't support crossfire and you'll end up turning down the settings to be able to play, like the new Assassin's Creed.

yassarikhan786 · #7 13-01-13, 01:21 PM

I don't think it'll be worth it tbh. I would stick with a single faster card later on and purchase something else or save up.

seumasbeathan · #8 13-01-13, 02:05 PM

For £75 you can have a set up equivelant to a 570/80 so I say go for it, no reason not to IMO

iBeInspire · #9 13-01-13, 02:21 PM

See this is exactly what I'm thinking... Just cause it's so cheap, I'm leaning towards just going wit it to see a little boost now, and a bigger one when I've upgraded the CPU in a few months...
I know it'll get outdated eventually, but won't everything else too..?

I don't have the money now to go for something nicer like a 7850/70, if I coud, trust me I would...

The only thing stopping me is maybe the SSD would be a better overall addition to my rig... I'm going to have to buy one eventually :/