good replacement for 4870x2 CF

[PCGamer3000]

I had to RMA one of my 4870x2 cards and got as a replacement a 5870 which is a good card but my Unigine 2.1 DX10 1280x800 FPS benchmark went from 146.6 to 78.6 and I cannot get another 5870. Even one 4872x2 posts Unigine 2.1 DX10 1280x800 FPS of 107.7 but I left the 5870 in there just to test DX11.

Considering upgrading the whole system but also looking at a replacement for the two 4870x2s until next year.

What would be a cheap replacement that would be the same as 4870x2 CF with the following system to run games with full effects at 1280x800 like Witcher 2, Skyrim, Rage, Deadspace 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Portal 2, and Red Faction Armageddon?

Intel Quad Core 2 Extreme QX9770 3.2Ghz
Asus P5E3 Premium Wifi-AP
4 GB DDR3 Dual Channel Corsair 1600Mhz
300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor 10000rpm
300GB Seagate IDE
Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium and Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Thermaltake Toughpower 1200 watt
Coolermaster CM Stacker case w/glass side panel
Windows 7 64-bit
16x Pioneer DVD-ROM
HIS Radeon HD 5870

 

[3DVagabond]

Well, as you seem to have surmised, a second 5870 would be the obvious way to go. If you just can't find one then 2x 6850 would be the cheapest possible solution. Even though on paper 2x 4870x2 would appear faster, I'd wager that due to 4-way crossfire scaling inefficiencies compared to how well the 6000 series performs in 2-way crossfire, the 6850's will keep up. Now, I can't guarantee it, as I've never seen a direct comparison. Seems about right to me though.

If you can squeeze a bit more out of your budget you can go 2x 6870, possibly, 2x 6950. If you go with 2gig 6950's I'd think you'd be set for quite a while again. It doesn't sound like you upgrade just because something new is out, but only when you need to and then buy more top of the line.

 

[RussianSensation]

What would be a cheap replacement that would be the same as 4870x2 CF with the following system to run games with full effects at 1280x800 like Witcher 2, Skyrim, Rage, Deadspace 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Portal 2, and Red Faction Armageddon?

Unigine is not a game engine but a synthetic bench. Therefore, it's misleading to use it to project videocard performance in real games, especially games like BF3, Modern Warfare 3 and Skyrim that likely won't even have Tessellation. At best it's a useful Tessellation benchmark.

A single HD5870 will max out all of those listed games at 1280x800, unless Super-Sampling Anti-aliasing is a requirement for you. I have no idea how you were gaming on such a crappy monitor with 2x HD4870x2 in the first place (or were you just testing at that resolution for reference purposes?). Certainly you weren't doing your videocards or your eyes any justice! I mean seriously $600 worth of hardware on that resolution?

In modern games an HD5870 pretty much equals a single HD4870X2. However, HD4870X2 can have scaling issues where it often loses to a single 5870. So 2 of those 4870X2s is pretty much a huge waste. Not even the latest generation GTX590 and HD6990 scale that well in Quad-Fire/SLI. So if anything you got a nice little upgrade since you get "free" DX11, a quieter card, and no problems with scaling issues, plus MLAA anti-aliasing option. Sell the 2nd 4870x2 while it still has any value.

Here is specific performance for the games you mentioned:

Witcher 2 @ 1920x1080 High Quality
HD5870 = 48 fps
HD4870 = 25 fps

Red Faction: Armageddon @ 1920x1080 Very High Quality
HD5870 = 52 fps
HD4870 = 24 fps

Portal 2 @ 1920x1080 8AA
HD5870 = 166 fps

Dead Space 2 @ 1920x1080 8AA Very High Quality
HD5870 = 132 fps
HD4870 = 70 fps

Modern Warfare 3 is a console port. Looking at Black Ops, an HD5870 gets 73 fps @ 1920x1080 VHQ

BF3 and Skyrim will be most intensive but at 1280x800, a single HD5870 will crush those too since that resolution is very low. I could see Witcher 2 crippling an HD5870 on Ultra since it forces Super Sampling.

So in short, unless you are planning to upgrade your monitor, a single HD5870 will last you well into next year. Using HD4870 X2 x2 was a major overkill. If you end up upgrading your monitor to 2560x1600, just grab a 2nd 5870. For now I would sell your remaining 4870X2. :thumbsup:

 

[PCGamer3000]

I already have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.

What other places other than ebay could I find a second 5870 for under 100$? Can I get these cards for under 50$?

 

[3DVagabond]

I already have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.

What other places other than ebay could I find a second 5870 for under 100$? Can I get these cards for under 50$?

5870's are still a pretty valuable card. Even used, you'd be lucky to find a good one under $100.00, IMO. You might find a 5850 for ~$150.00 (if there are any left anywhere). Cross-firing that with your 5870 would still be an improvement over what you had.

 

[edplayer]

I already have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.

What other places other than ebay could I find a second 5870 for under 100$? Can I get these cards for under 50$?

Find a ghetto where crackheads trade videocards


R u using 1280x800 on your 30" monitor or you have a separate monitor?

 

[RussianSensation]

I already have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.

hehe, then why were you asking what setup you'd need to max out games at 1280x800 and running those Unigine benches at that same resolution? For 2560x1600, it would be preferable to have a videocard with 2GBs of VRAM. So neither a 5870 1GB or the 4870 X2 are optimal. Did they send you a 1GB 5870?

Still, 2 HD5870s scale reasonably well. Considering a single 5870 = HD4870 X2, 2x HD5870 would = 2x HD4870X2 in the best case scenario. But there is no way you'll get good scaling with 4x HD4870 GPUs, so I would say they won't be any faster than 2 5870s. In other words, if you sell your other 4870x2 and get a 2nd 5870 in its place, you are better off (plus you get DX11).

What other places other than ebay could I find a second 5870 for under 100$? Can I get these cards for under 50$?

HD5870 is only 15-25&#37; slower than the HD6970 and GTX580, respectively. There is no way you can find an HD5870 for < $100 USD, esp. since these cards are very valuable for bitcoin mining right now. However, this means you'll be able to sell your HD5870 for a very good amount on eBay right now. So if you sell your remaining 4870X2 and the 5870, you may walk out with 2x HD6950 2GB cards without a lot of out of pocket expenses. If you want a powerhouse setup for 2560x1600, nothing touches 2x HD6950 2GB for $500. Alternatively, you can just sell/trade the 4870X2 for a 5870. That would also work.

 

[PCGamer3000]

Thank you RussianSensation and 3DVagabond for you suggestions.

For 2560x1600, it would be preferable to have a videocard with 2GBs of VRAM. So neither a 5870 1GB or the 4870 X2 are optimal. Did they send you a 1GB 5870?

Yes they sent me the 1GB card not the 2GB.

However, this means you'll be able to sell your HD5870 for a very good amount on eBay right now. So if you sell your remaining 4870X2 and the 5870, you may walk out with 2x HD6950 2GB cards without a lot of out of pocket expenses. If you want a powerhouse setup for 2560x1600, nothing touches 2x HD6950 2GB for $500.

Would a 6950 be bottlenecked by a Core 2 QX9770 by a high percentage?

 

[3DVagabond]

Would a 6950 be bottlenecked by a Core 2 QX9770 by a high percentage?

I wouldn't think so at 2560*1600.

 

[RussianSensation]

Would a 6950 be bottlenecked by a Core 2 QX9770 by a high percentage?

Not really. At that resolution, it's mostly all about the GPU.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Sell that 5870 and grab two 6950 2GB cards. Or two 6970s. Or a single 6990. 6950s are the best deal.

 

[tincart]

Unigine 2.1? Never heard of it. Does it have multiplayer?

 

[Ghiedo27]

Unigine 2.1? Never heard of it. Does it have multiplayer?

Only if you count people you call over to show how pretty it is.

 

[-Slacker-]

To go back to you original plight, even a hd 4870 would nail all the games you mentioned at 1280p, So you're more than fine with the 5870 - and by "more than fine", I mean overkill, but that's not really a bad thing.

Unless you really want to go back to gaming at 2560x1600, there's no reason to change your video card. Otherwise get, like, 2 reference hd 6950's or something.

 

[PCGamer3000]

If anyone has a Q9550, Q9650, or Q9770 extreme with 6950 xfire unlocked or 6970 xfire
please post Battlefield 3 benchmarks. Thanks.

 

[lehtv]

Wait until HD7000 series, shouldn't be long now

 

[PCGamer3000]

I opted for 2 Sapphire 6950 toxic running in crossfire from newegg and both of them unlocked to 1536 shaders(6970s)!!

The thing is I have had lots of cash and freezes with Battlefield 3, Dirt 3, and Deus Ex HR with the exception of Deus Ex HR which only freezes if room temperature is above about 72 degrees F. Using 11.10/11.9cap4, 11.11/Cap2.

I suspect it is the unlocked shaders because the top card runs hotter especially because there is about 1/2 a cm between both cards even though I have been running the fans on both cards at 50&#37;.

 

[ghost recon88]

I opted for 2 Sapphire 6950 toxic running in crossfire from newegg and both of them unlocked to 1536 shaders(6970s)!!

The thing is I have had lots of cash and freezes with Battlefield 3, Dirt 3, and Deus Ex HR with the exception of Deus Ex HR which only freezes if room temperature is above about 72 degrees F. Using 11.10/11.9cap4, 11.11/Cap2.

I suspect it is the unlocked shaders because the top card runs hotter especially because there is about 1/2 a cm between both cards even though I have been running the fans on both cards at 50%.

What's your power supply? And yea you're gonna need more spacing between your cards than just that small amount.

 

[PCGamer3000]

I increased the fan speeds to 60% and made sure room temprature did not go above 72 degrees so I did not have any crashes after that.

For the Skyrim texture mod is there a way to increase ram from 4GB DDR3 to 8GB DDR3 without reinstalling windows 7 64 or should I plan on doing another windows 7 reinstall becaues of the bios will change with the new ram?

Has anyone been able to get away with only 4GB DDR3 with the Skyrim 4GB texture mod?

 

[Makaveli]

Why would you need to reinstall windows to add memory?

Just add more memory and if it post you are fine.

 

[PCGamer3000]

As it turns out disabling crossfire seems to be the best thing because now I can play Dirt 3 and Deus Ex both at 1920x1200 without freezing and crashing.

Dirt 3 117fps avg/card temp 63 degrees max
Deus Ex 74fps avg/card temp 55 degrees max

There seems to be either a problem with crossfire combined with the unlocked 1536 shaders or maybe a power issue. I noticed in GPUZ that the voltage rail varies between 12.13v and 12.16v when the cards were in Crossfire and I thought about pulling the second hard drive but is set to turn off after 20 minutes in power options and only comes on if I click on it in Windows Explorer. A 1200watt power supply should be enough.

I would hate to try to relock the shaders because all I had to do is flip the switch on both cards to unlock the shaders and it may corrupt the card’s bios. Also since they are both Sapphire 6950 toxics these cards are sold out on newegg.

But if Skyrim runs this good on one unlocked 6950 along with all the other games in my orignal post I guess that is someting good.

 

[PCGamer3000]

I and my 6950 completed the main quest today in the Skyrim collector's edition on ultra settings.

Down with you Alduin!


Now I have my own personal dragon to clear out necromancers and bandits. Odahviing! Hear my Voice.......