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Single vs Dual?

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LiL_JaSoN

Registered
Joined
Sep 14, 2011
Do you prefer to get a single CPU, or split the money in half and buy 2?

At the moment, im looking at getting a
Sapphire 9650 ~ which cost around $290

or i can get 2 lower spec one such as
2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 - $135ea = $270

also save $40 on a Display -> DVI link.. so the 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 is $60 cheaper as the 9650 doesn't come with the cable
 
I think you need to do a better job proofreading your posts. I assume you mean GPU even though you said CPU? 9650 doesn't exist, I assume you meant 6950?

Two 6770s are going to put you almost right at the performance of a single 6950. If you can stretch your budget a bit, I'd try going for 6850 or 6870 crossfire instead as that would have a commanding lead over any current single-GPU ati card.
 
Keep in mind that most of the benefits for dual-GPU depend on XFire profiles. If a game does not have a profile you'll be stuck with the performance of a single card (and single 5770/6770's are comparable in performance to a weaker 4870 with the addition of DX11). Additionally, you'd need to factor in the cost of a reasonably powerful PSU to run dual cards.
 
My general rule of thumb is to always go with the most powerful single GPU solution you can afford. While XFire might provide more immediate performance, you can get a single 6950 now and XFire later as an upgrade for monster performance.
 
6950, easy as pie, even without unlocked shaders, a good overclock and its as fast as a 6970, atleast my new 6950 i bought to replace my toasted 6970 is
im at 900/1375 on stock voltage

its running black ops at the same and greater fps than my 6970 did for 100$ less!!

lol sorry had to get that out today was a great day!

but yea its better to get a single gpu for now and upgrade to xfire later seeing as how high the increase is now i believe its in the 90+% area of gains?
 
Crossfire profiling is a big deal with games, single GPU's will give you the most consistent and stable performance. And as stated above, you could eventually crossfire two 6950's and have a heck of a machine.
 
Keep in mind that most of the benefits for dual-GPU depend on XFire profiles. If a game does not have a profile you'll be stuck with the performance of a single card

It's really been a long time now since lack of Crossfire profiles were an issue. They now release crossfire profiles independently of the driver and release several per month. I can't honestly think of a single game that doesn't support at least 2-way crossfire. The latest CAP already contains a profile for Battlefield 3 lol.
 
^^^
I hadn't heard that but that's pretty cool.

A second 6950 or 6970 is now in my (probably distant) future. :)
 
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