Single vs Dual?

LiL_JaSoN · 09-15-11, 09:56 AM

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

GotNoRice · 09-15-11, 10:42 AM

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.

grumperfish · 09-15-11, 06:24 PM

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.

Knufire · 09-15-11, 11:08 PM

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.

wagex · 09-16-11, 12:02 AM

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?

prime81 · 09-16-11, 02:29 PM

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.

GotNoRice · 09-16-11, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumperfish

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.

grumperfish · 09-16-11, 10:06 PM

^^^
I hadn't heard that but that's pretty cool.

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

09-15-11, 09:56 AM	Thread Starter #1
LiL_JaSoN Registered Join Date: Sep 2011	Single vs Dual? 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
	QUOTE Thanks

09-15-11, 10:42 AM	#2
GotNoRice Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Pleasant Hill, CA	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. __________________ Main Rig: i5-2500K @ 5Ghz - ASUS P8Z68-V - 2x EVGA Geforce GTX680 Superclocked in SLI - 16GB DDR3 1600 - X-Fi Titanium PCI-E - Crucial M4 128G - Antec TruePower Quattro 1000w - Corsair 800D LAN Rig: Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz - Gigabyte EP45-UD3P - 2x 4870x2 Quad-Crossfire - 6GB PC8500 - X-Fi XtremeMusic - Intel X25-M G2 80GB - Thermaltake Toughpower 1000w - Thermaltake Armor Jr. Server: Core i5 650 @ 3.85Ghz - Asus P7H55-M PRO - 12GB DDR3 - FSP 550w PSU
	QUOTE Thanks

09-15-11, 06:24 PM	#3
grumperfish Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: South Florida	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. __________________ Desktop: i7 2600K @ 4.6ghz w/ TR HR-02 + SD 120x38mm // Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P // XFX 6950 2GB 16GB G-Skill RipjawsX 1600mhz // Samsung 830 128GB // 6TB // Thermaltake Armor // Corsair TX750 Server: Q6600 G0 // Gigabyte EP35-DS3R // 4GB G-Skill DDR2 // 4850 512MB // 4.25TB // Corsair TX650 Laptop: Latitude D630 // C2M T7300 // 4GB DDR2 // X3100 // 160GB Smoothwall: P4 2.4C // 1GB DDR // AOpen MX4GVR // 80GB // Corsair CX430 I like HEAT
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09-15-11, 11:08 PM	#4
Knufire Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI	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. __________________ i7-920 3.8 Ghz \| Venomous-X w/ Panaflo HS \| Sapphire Vapor-X 4890 EVGA X58 SLI LE \| 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 \| 500GB Samsung OEM \| Rosewill 850w \| Thermaltake Armor Series \| OCZ Vertex 2 60GB Secondary Rig: CM Elite 430 \| A8-3870K stock \| Radeon HD 6670 \| 500GB WD Caviar Blue \| 4GB G.SKILL DDR3-1333 \| ASUS A55 HEATWARE
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09-16-11, 12:02 AM	#5
wagex Premium Member #13 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: newkirk, oklahoma	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? __________________ rig-NZXT source 210 elite --serv-- generic rack mount---------------htpc-apex htpc case 2500k 4.5ghz 1.3v------------------ 2x e5345 xeon quad--------------------e6600 @ 3.0ghz p67-ud4 ------------------------------ s5000pslsata --------------------------- gigabyte g41 8gb gskill 2x4 1600 --------2x2gb samsung ddr2 667 fbdimms-----------2x2b ddr3 1600 6950 dirt 3 edition ----------------- onboard -----------------------------------HD 5450 corsair hx850-------------------------ocz 700w----------------------------------275w came with case custom loop --------------------------771 stock heatsinks---------------------xigmatek durin win 7x64------------------------------server 2008 r2 enterprise--------------win 7 64 bit steam user name : Wagex (you happy bro?) HEAT "You can't get magical Harry Potter temps with big overclocks, PHYSICS has a lot to do with it." -conumdrum
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09-16-11, 02:29 PM	#6
prime81 Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Odessa, Texas	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. __________________ i7 2700K@4.8ghz w 1.36v(offset +.045) Corsair XMS 3 2 x 4gb 2000mhz CAS 9 Corsair H100 Sapphire HD7970 3gb OCZ Agility 3 240gb Antec 1200 Case SB recon3D/Sennheiser HD595s Zalman 850HP Powa! -Folding for Team32-
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09-16-11, 10:06 PM	#8
grumperfish Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: South Florida	^^^ I hadn't heard that but that's pretty cool. A second 6950 or 6970 is now in my (probably distant) future. __________________ Desktop: i7 2600K @ 4.6ghz w/ TR HR-02 + SD 120x38mm // Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P // XFX 6950 2GB 16GB G-Skill RipjawsX 1600mhz // Samsung 830 128GB // 6TB // Thermaltake Armor // Corsair TX750 Server: Q6600 G0 // Gigabyte EP35-DS3R // 4GB G-Skill DDR2 // 4850 512MB // 4.25TB // Corsair TX650 Laptop: Latitude D630 // C2M T7300 // 4GB DDR2 // X3100 // 160GB Smoothwall: P4 2.4C // 1GB DDR // AOpen MX4GVR // 80GB // Corsair CX430 I like HEAT
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