Which would perform better?

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I'm wondering is 2 ATI 6950's flashed to 6970s in SLI would or would not outperform a single GTX 680? Or would two 7950's in SLI be better than the other two options? Please make suggestions if I've missed anything. I'm looking to keep my price under $400

I play World of Warcraft, and on some fights in 25 man raids my FPS drops to 1-2 FPS with a single 6950 (flashed to 6970)....mainly the Elegon fight. But even on other fights I see my FPS drop to around 10, which was never a problem until MOP came out.

I was considering buying 2 7950's and running them in SL

 

[EarthDog]

I highly doubt its a gpu issue. A 6950 is plenty in wow. I can't see your sig as im mobile but is you cpu overclocked? If you raise it more does it help?

 

[azanimefan]

can't be the GPU... WOW is heavily CPU reliant... and if it's maxing a 4.8ghz oc i7-2600, i don't know what to tell you except there must be something seriously wrong with WOW's coding... or you must be doing something taxing like streaming video of the raid without a proper capture card... or your internet access sucks... not sure what's going on there... but it aint the hardware.

might be the drivers... for your card... not sure.

 

[EarthDog]

Something is up there it shouldn't max out a 2600k at that speed. You hitting 100% cpu when you see those fps drops?

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I wasnt looking at the CPU usage...but I was using the 32 bit version instead of the 64 bit version. I've since changed to the 64 bit version. I'll ave to see how it goes on Elegon next week using the 64 bit version.

Still, I'm looking to upgrade my video card also, so what would you guys suggest based on my OP? Or, let me know if you think of anything else.

 

[azanimefan]

well... two 6970 will be better then one 7970... not a huge fan of xfire... but in this case you might as well not waste what you've got.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Alright!

How would a GTX 680 perform versus 2 6970s? I ask because I may purchase a 680 and ad another one later in the year.

 

[azanimefan]

the 680 and 7970 are basically identical cards (within 1 or 2 fps of each other depending on the benchmark and game) ... so 2 6970s will beat it too.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

ok, thanks

 

[ivanlabrie]

Two 6970 vs 7970 is NOT better...but it's not a bad setup, unless you're getting pissed off by the micro stuttering in games.

Looky here: 2x6970 WR for 3dm11
regular air cooled 7970

Notice I compared a regular 7970 oc vs the 6970 xfire world record...Micro stuttering and power consumption are the cons basically. And resale value, which lowers with time.

 

[azanimefan]

Two 6970 vs 7970 is NOT better...but it's not a bad setup, unless you're getting pissed off by the micro stuttering in games.

Looky here: 2x6970 WR for 3dm11
regular air cooled 7970

Notice I compared a regular 7970 oc vs the 6970 xfire world record...Micro stuttering and power consumption are the cons basically. And resale value, which lowers with time.

benchmarks are not real world performance.

From what I've seen the x2 6970 will beat a 7970 or 680 by about 10%-35% in FPS; considering that x2 6950 will beat a 680 or 7970.

 

[wingman99]

2x 6970 will beet GTX 680 and HD7970 in most games that scale well. However it will use more power.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Im mostly concerned with gaming since I dont have the money to put together a rig that would rank in benchmarking

 

[ivanlabrie]

A single 7950 would be better, it's cheap and you can sell your current gpu to get it. If you overclock it to 1100mhz or so and use the 12.11b drivers or newer you'll get better performance. Those charts posted are from march 2012, before the release of the 12.11 drivers which boosted performance greatly. Plus, not all games scale well with xfire, and many people would rather use a single gpu setup when possible cause of micro stuttering which is pretty common and makes rigs that display even higher frame rates seem choppier than less fps on a single card setup.

 

[Ajay57]

Maybe this would be a help to the OP and members a like! Take a look Ivan!

1, http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/3.html

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

Ok..here is my dilemma: There is a 6950 on eBay thats unlockable to a 6970...it comes with the same EK waterblock that I have on my current 6950. I'm trying to figure out if $170+ is worth it to buy the second 6950, or if I should just shell out the $300 for a 7950?

Ajay...I appreciate the link, but I did not see performance with 2 6950s in SLI that I could compare to a single 7950...do you know of a post that will compare this?

Edit: OK...I'm just going to go with a 7950 or a 7970. Anyone know what is the best bang for my buck right now? And can you link it please? I found this at Tigerdirect: XFX 7970

Is this overkill for just World of Warcraft? I'm on short term disability due to a car accident, so money is a big factor. Should I go with a 7950? Can you link the best deals you've found?

 

[ivanlabrie]

I'd say 7870 LE...It's a cut down tahiti gpu, cheaper but great! (a laser cut 7970 die with less stuffs in it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131484&Tpk=7870 le
You say money is tight, that beast right there is only 219 AR.

 

[HeatM1ser2k4]

I'd say 7870 LE...It's a cut down tahiti gpu, cheaper but great! (a laser cut 7970 die with less stuffs in it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131484&Tpk=7870 le
You say money is tight, that beast right there is only 219 AR.

Money is only tight for the time being until I get back to work. I'd prefer a 7950 or 7970 if I'm upgrading. I plan on adding a 2nd card in SLI in 2-3 months. Anyone know of a great deal on either a 7950 or 7970 other than the one I posted?

Heck, I just bought the 7970 that I posted for $349 after MIR....I hope that I got a good card and the best deal!