Crossfire HD 7870's vs Card Upgrade

[Hazzyftw]

Hello, i was wondering if im better off running 2 compatible HD 7870's or upgrade to a more powerful card (I.e. 7970/7990/R9 series)

Attached is picture of build; size constraints also limit what i can do since im working w/ a midtower

 

[Luke1978]

I'd just get a better card. 270x/280x

side note: Thing looks like its sprouting wires from nowhere ><

 

[Hazzyftw]

Running 8 fans so its hard to keep all the wiring under control, was much worse earlier.
And alright, thank you , would you recommend reference or a company version?

 

[Luke1978]

Running 8 fans so its hard to keep all the wiring under control, was much worse earlier.
And alright, thank you , would you recommend reference or a company version?

Personally? MSI, HIS, or ASUS in no particular order. This is all of course assuming you want to stay with AMD.

Best bet is to look around for a decent roundup review and find the one that fits your needs.

 

[Khan]

I'm actually having this delima myself but the asus DC CUII's are out of stock to match my other 7870 right now. I personally want an R280x but the problem is that all the coin miners bought them all up and the price jumped by over a $100, not paying $100+ extra because the etailers decide to price gouge.

Either going to get another 7870, get a Nvidia 770 since its cheaper right now than a 280x or wait till things go south for the bitcoin miners and buy a cheap used R280x from the classifieds.

 

[Hazzyftw]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161439
msi and asus are sold out apparently, XFX has ****ty reviews for overheating (sigh), gigabyte and pny seem to have some offerings

 

[S_I_N]

sorry shouldnt type when I was this tired I messed up the lineage

On the topic of xfire while it'll be better for now looking at your cramped case I cant help but wonder if you'll run into heat issues.

 

[Khan]

280x=7870 270x=7850 so no big change there. If your looking for better card it'll have to be a 290 or 290x 290=7970 while the 290x is latest.

On the topic of xfire while it'll be better for now looking at your cramped case I cant help but wonder if you'll run into heat issues.

From every review I've read, the 280x is a 7970, AMD did one of those weird numbers think again like they did with the 6 series.

 

[Mjolnir]

The 280X is a 7970... Not sure where you got your info. The 270x is a rebranded 7870 ghz.

Either way I always suggest a single card upgrade. Grab a 290 with one of the new custom coolers and be done with it IMO. Solid upgrade. Just make sure it's not a reference design lol

 

[peanutbudder]

I might be selling my 7970 in the next few weeks.. That is if I pick up at least one overtime to buy a 780ti and use the money from the 7970 to cover the cost of a custom loop. If I do sell it I will not let it go to mining because they have screwed the market big time. Also if I do sell it I am looking for about $250'ish. So, if in the next two weeks I do decide to sell it I will send you a PM if you are interested.

 

[tcar]

I have 7870 ghz edition's in crossfire and they will generally beat a 290x in benchmarks but are proving to be a bit of a pain with driver issues and some games do not support crossfire so when playing those titles you will have to disable one of the cards. I plan on going with a single 290x when the market stabilizes from all the mining craze.

 

[Nebulous]

If it was me I'd go for single card solution. I wouldn't bother with xfire with my current 7870. Driver issues for xfire along with games not scaling well convinced me to just stick with the single card.

 

[caddi daddi]

I have found a better card beats crossfire.

 

[Hazzyftw]

Thanks for all the advice gents, im actually within a month period of having purchased my card so lets see if i can work any magic

 

[anthonyg45157]

If you can afford a single card in the 350-400 dollar range upgrade to single card. I upgraded from a 7870 to a 7970(280x) and I am astounded at how much more powerful this card is than my old 7870. That being said a 7870 crossfired with a 270x would give you more performance than a single 280x.

Xfire does have it's problems, more so in the past than currently. I recently Crossfire's my girlfriends 280x with my 7970 and had minor issues. I'm still planning on crossfire in the future. I feel some claims are exaggerated...

 

[S_I_N]

sorry edited my reply lol man I must of been more tired than I thought lol I mess it up big time lol

 

[manu2b]

The 280X is a 7970... Not sure where you got your info. The 270x is a rebranded 7870 ghz.

Either way I always suggest a single card upgrade. Grab a 290 with one of the new custom coolers and be done with it IMO. Solid upgrade. Just make sure it's not a reference design lol

Don't know what's all the fuzz around the ref design: one of my 290's is unlocked to a 290x. It runs perfectly@1175/1500/+150mV, and temp never goes above 85°C/80% fan, with a 24°C ambient.

@90°C, the fan runs@around 70%.
@stock clocks, it sqtays around 30/40% on load with 80°C max.

 

[GatorChamp]

I'll leave this here.

http://www.reviewstudio.net/868-amd-radeon-r9-270x-crossfirex-and-r9-280x-4-way-crossfirex-review

Only thing you have going against you with xfiring is that it's a 2gb card. If you can afford to grab a 290 do it. But I would not upgrade to anything below a 780/290.

 

[Mjolnir]

Don't know what's all the fuzz around the ref design: one of my 290's is unlocked to a 290x. It runs perfectly@1175/1500/+150mV, and temp never goes above 85°C/80% fan, with a 24°C ambient.

@90°C, the fan runs@around 70%.
@stock clocks, it sqtays around 30/40% on load with 80°C max.

The noise

 

[Hazzyftw]

So much input cant handles :'( lol. So ill head to my nearby store and check if I can trade my card for anything in the gtx 700 series/ATI 7970/R9 280+

edit: agree about the noise, kinda unhappy with xfx because the damb double D cooler sounds like a tiny buzz saw past 2400 rpm (50%)