will 3 6950s create a bottleneck on CPU?

[fall]

I didnt know whether to post here or in CPU forums so could a Mod please move if this is the wrong place Thanks in advance!


OK so currently i have a Intel i7 860 Lynnfield at 4GHZ. And i am about to get 2 6950s and a 3rd later this year or i will get them all together idk yet. But my current P7P55D-E Pro mobo only has 2 pci-e slots so i will need another mobo.

But the initial Question is will 3 6950s create a bottleneck on my CPU? If so Should i just get 2 then update mobos and CPU at Ivy Bridge (or update CPU/Mobo first)? or would it be better to keep this CPU for a few more years get 2 6950s now then another 6950 later and then get a new mobo? (assuming no bottleneck is created. As far as when a cpu is too old and starts createing bottlenecks for other hardware i have no idea. (my CPU will be 3 years old in november)


Mainly looking for the best option even a i7-9xx would be fine aswell. I do not game everyday but when i do i normally play 4-5 hours, and the main games i play are crysis, metro, and NFS at either 5760x1080 or 3240x1920.

Main reason for updating GPUs is 460s arent the greatest surround cards for 3 monitors.

 

[Jmtyra]

It greatly depends on what you're doing with those GPUs. Is this for gaming only?

 

[SMOKEU]

Your i7 has more than enough power to keep you gaming well for the foreseeable future. You may as well buy a pair of 6950s if you have money to burn. There are very few people that will actually need 3 6950s.

 

[fall]

It greatly depends on what you're doing with those GPUs. Is this for gaming only?

Yes mainly games

 

[Jmtyra]

Yes mainly games

I agree with Smoke, the i7 should be sufficient to support 2x 6950 GPUs or more. However, it seems uncertain if more than two would actually increase your perceived gaming performance. Try out two at first, then go from there before you purchase any more.

Enjoy your new gaming hardware.

 

[Mjolnir]

You could always fork out for a HD6990 and be done with it? hahahaha .

Seriously though, I agree just get 2, I highly doubt you'd need 3 to be honest! Especially if you unlock both cards!

 

[fall]

You could always fork out for a HD6990 and be done with it? hahahaha .

Seriously though, I agree just get 2, I highly doubt you'd need 3 to be honest! Especially if you unlock both cards!

Alright ill give 2 a try and yet ulocking is going to happen but idk if i am just going to Unlock Shaders then OC or flash to 6970. Honestly flashing seems like a bad idea for longterm ill mainly just do which ever is better.

my main goal however is 5x1p and currently with 6950s i cant do that but maybe a solution will come out soon

 

[Mjolnir]

Alright ill give 2 a try and yet ulocking is going to happen but idk if i am just going to Unlock Shaders then OC or flash to 6970. Honestly flashing seems like a bad idea for longterm ill mainly just do which ever is better.

my main goal however is 5x1p and currently with 6950s i cant do that but maybe a solution will come out soon

5x1p? So 5xxx by 1080 res? Go the HD6990! Hahaha .

Off-topic, how do you find the NZXT Phantom case. I've never really liked NZXT cases cos they're a bit too out there for me, but the Phantom is quite nice and well thought out, without looking too space age .

 

[Seebs]

my main goal however is 5x1p and currently with 6950s i cant do that but maybe a solution will come out soon

So you mean you want to run 5 monitors? Do you mean you want to run them as an Eyefinity group? The 6950 would have the required number of connectors for you to do this (2 x DVI + 2 x MiniDP + 1 x HDMI)... As far as a single card being able to push that many pixels... I doubt you'd get any playable performance out of one.
There was a review on the 5870 Eyefinity 6 card where they tested two of them in CF on a six display setup and they performed quite well. I would guess the 6950s would outperform the 5870s since they are a bit more efficient.

 

[fall]

5x1p? So 5xxx by 1080 res? Go the HD6990! Hahaha .

Off-topic, how do you find the NZXT Phantom case. I've never really liked NZXT cases cos they're a bit too out there for me, but the Phantom is quite nice and well thought out, without looking too space age .

I got it at my local Fry's for 139$ newegg has them to but after getting it i seen that there pretty hot case and are flying off the shelves everywhere lol. I got the last one frys had and that was the display one haha

So you mean you want to run 5 monitors? Do you mean you want to run them as an Eyefinity group? The 6950 would have the required number of connectors for you to do this (2 x DVI + 2 x MiniDP + 1 x HDMI)... As far as a single card being able to push that many pixels... I doubt you'd get any playable performance out of one.
There was a review on the 5870 Eyefinity 6 card where they tested two of them in CF on a six display setup and they performed quite well. I would guess the 6950s would outperform the 5870s since they are a bit more efficient.

Thats what i thought too but after researching it i saw that the HDMI cannot be used in a 5x1 portrait... which discuraged me frome getting one, so i waited for the 6990 and its 700 Which is not bad i can pay that if it came down to it.

IDK im not getting the other 2 monitors till about the end of the year I currently have 3 dell 2311h's on my 460s and 5870s would be the same price as 6950s so that does not seem like a wise bang for the buck so i will need to think more but i just wanted to make sure that my 1156 outdated i7 was up to snuff for 2 or even 3 top end cards.

 

[Seebs]

I got it at my local Fry's for 139$ newegg has them to but after getting it i seen that there pretty hot case and are flying off the shelves everywhere lol. I got the last one frys had and that was the display one haha



Thats what i thought too but after researching it i saw that the HDMI cannot be used in a 5x1 portrait... which discuraged me frome getting one, so i waited for the 6990 and its 700 Which is not bad i can pay that if it came down to it.

IDK im not getting the other 2 monitors till about the end of the year I currently have 3 dell 2311h's on my 460s and 5870s would be the same price as 6950s so that does not seem like a wise bang for the buck so i will need to think more but i just wanted to make sure that my 1156 outdated i7 was up to snuff for 2 or even 3 top end cards.

You misunderstood what I meant by posting the review on the 5870s... I was not recommending you get those. I was merely saying that if two of those were able to feed six displays; you should be ok with two 6950s. The problem that you're going to run into is the connectivity issues that you mention (not being able to use the HDMI connector on the card)... And since you would have to connect all displays to the primary card for the Eyefinity group to work; you would then have to either choose to be limited to four screens, or use one of these and split the signal from one of the DP outputs to two monitors with it.