7970 crossfire for 1440p?

[Lox]

Good afternoon everyone,

In short: my 1080p monitor decided to start smoking , so i'm in the market for a new monitor.
This will most likely be a 1440p (perhaps a 1600p) but that has yet to be decided.
(atm I'm using my 1080p TV, but the glossy screen gives my headaches from the reflections, plus i'm getting tired of moving my TV from room to room )

What conserns me more is the graphics power I will need to run games on this new monitor.

currently I have a Asus 7970 DC2T which served my very well up untill now (on 1080p) in my current range of games (BF3, Assasins creed, starcraft & Skyrim)
I havent tried to OC my current card yet, on 1080p i never felt the need for it.

However, looking at benchmarks & graphics I will most likely need more for 1440p. If not for the current generation of games, most likely for the next generation (thinking of BF4, GTA5 - if/when it gets to PC)

So I was thinking of grabbing a second 7970 DC2T while they are still available. Most likely the supply will run dry in the next few months if not weeks.


I was also wondering which other options that there are besides a 7970DC2T (1000Mhz - 5600Mhz memory)

Other Asus 7970 available at this point for roughly the same price: (in my area)
- 7970DC2 - 950Mhz - 5600Mhz Memory
- 7970DC2T - 1000Mhz - 5600Mhz Memory
- Matrix - 1050Mhz - 6600Mhz Memory
- Matrix - 1100Mhz - 6600Mhz Memory

I presume mixing wouldnt really matter since they would all lock to the same (lowest) frequency?


other alternatives?
A collegue of mine suggested a 780, while i'm open for suggestions, This would cost more, and would be less powerfull on its own then two 7970, so imo that's not an option.

a 770 would put me in the same boat as the 780. One would give me similar performance to one 7970, 770SLI would be double the price of one extra 7970


PSU wise I have an Antec HCP850, which should be able to handle two 7970's

any suggestions or input would be appreciated, Thx!

Signed, Lox

 

[marco]

Hi, welcome to the forums, 7970 CFX is overkill for 1440p, I use a single gtx 670 2gb absolutely fine.

 

[Cru]

Hi, welcome to the forums, 7970 CFX is overkill for 1440p, I use a single gtx 670 2gb absolutely fine.

depends on what settings you run and how many frames you want to get
i can't see a 670 getting 60fps+ on high-ish settings

would go with the two 7970s bth

 

[JR23]

WHOA! Hold the phone. What motherboard have you got? more specs and intentions are needed for a well informed recommendation here like cooling, acoustics and layout intentions.

Just thinking not many setups would let you stack two triple slot graphics cards on top of each other and let them breathe easy, even X79 boards would struggle. You will end up with a hideously loud and hot solution and for that reason I would recommend a single GTX780.

JR

 

[WillSK]

in terms of power needed to run a smooth 1440p setup I agree with Cru3L139. The cfx 7970s would prob do a better job than a single 770 and the extra memory would come in handy. I wouldn't go for 670 as Marco said because I don't think you'd be able to run very high graphics at good FPS on a single one of those.

As you've said though your power supply should be fine

 

[MicroAlex]

Hey there.
I would say that you should first get the monitor and then see how your current 7970 performs in your use scenario. Only after doing so consider anything else.

Even tho AMD fixed most of the driver issues for the crossfire solution and general single card performance, I am yet to recommend that solution. Not to mention the power needed to run them at the same time and heat output in to the case.
As I understand u have the Sabertooth X79, so you should be fine to run both crossfire and SLI.
Tho, it might be wiser to stick to your current setup if the performance satisfies you, only after you run in to some problems think of getting something new from either AMD or nVidia. The 7xx series from nVidia are quite expensive at this present time, but all should change once AMD rolls out their new line.

Hope this helps.

 

[WillSK]

Hey there.
I would say that you should first get the monitor and then see how your current 7970 performs in your use scenario. Only after doing so consider anything else.

Even tho AMD fixed most of the driver issues for the crossfire solution and general single card performance, I am yet to recommend that solution. Not to mention the power needed to run them at the same time and heat output in to the case.
As I understand u have the Sabertooth X79, so you should be fine to run both crossfire and SLI.
Tho, it might be wiser to stick to your current setup if the performance satisfies you, only after you run in to some problems think of getting something new from either AMD or nVidia. The 7xx series from nVidia are quite expensive at this present time, but all should change once AMD rolls out their new line.

Hope this helps.

This actually hits the nail on the head really nicely. Good shout Alex

 

[NeverBackDown]

AMD is releasing new series of cards on Sept. 25th... may be worth waiting to Xfire 7970s.. Also to the above post about drivers. AMDs 13.8beta drivers have fixed the runt issue. it still has some problems but the majority of it is fixed to the point where it's unnoticeable except for the computer.

 

[MicroAlex]

This actually hits the nail on the head really nicely. Good shout Alex

Thanks mate Appreciate that!

 

[Excalabur50]

As NeverBackDown has said wait for the new cards from AMD in Sept.

 

[Lox]

Thank you all for your input.

Since i have my current PC, almost every game has been run at max settings, perhaps AA & AF not fully maxed out.
But for the rest all games were maxed out and ran without any issues. (note: i havent played crysis )

The Sabertooth X79 should be able to handle the two three slot cards.
The case everything is in is a Antec P280, so space wise i would even be able to use the lowest slot (PCIe2.0 x16) on the motherboard to give me more room between the cards (2 slots).

But I can see the point of things getting hot & loud. Currently the corsair fans dont have a problem handling the heat, even during this hot summer. everything stayed at the same temps without the noise increasing.



I suppose Alex's post does make the most sense, see how the performance is on the monitor, and adjust accordingly.

I'm not sure to go for completely new cards (wether it be a 770, 780 or the new AMD series) since id just have one 7970 lying around.
You could argue i could sell it to someone second hand, but personally i wouldnt buy a used performance card. plus the value of a second hand, one year old card wouldnt be much around here.

Perhaps there will be some more pricedrops on the 7970 Cards, but i think they will all be sold out by then.

thank you all for your input.

Signed, Lox

 

[WillSK]

Thank you all for your input.

Since i have my current PC, almost every game has been run at max settings, perhaps AA & AF not fully maxed out.

Remember that as Monitors increase in pixel density AA becomes less and less important due to how small the pixels are.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Sell the card now before new ones come out. Once they do resale value hits the floor harder than your jaw will after you see the difference in prices. New cards are supposed to be about = to 780. Obviously not as great as 2 7970s but in all honestly saves power and heat(meaning noise) so in the end its a win win.