Does Crossfire 5870s makes sense for Q9550/P45?

[Delavan]

Howdy,

This is a question for Crossfire users on P45 platform.
My rig in sig is running at 3.8GHz (Q9550 C1 on P45). I never really been able to reach 4.0GHZ, so I assume I'm maxed out (the C1 stepping is known for that).

My mobo supports Crossfire with both PCI-E running at 8x PCI-E 2.0. Techpowerup made a review stating that one HD5870 looses maybe 2%-3% perf. MAX when sitting in a 8X slot.

I seen a few reviews stating that my setup (C2Q OCed) is probably tie with PII X4 965 or so. Therefore, 2 HD5870 might not be able to stretch their legs (so to speak).

I had a second XFX reference design ordered from SOHODIFFUSION, (stating it was in STOCK)...it wasn't in stock..they could make the deadline they promised me, so I canceled the sale.

Crossfire is tempting, but I feel like my platform is probably giving me it's MAX right now...real world performance info is so hard to find on similar setups, as everybody running xfired HD5870 are using the X58 or P55 newer chipsets. The new quads are also faster, that might explain the better framerates.

Would Crossfire give me a nice boost, or more PITA than anything else?
What would be my best upgrade right now?

I'm still using my 1680 x 1050 monitor, because I prefer high FPS/eye candy for longevity of the platform, over a bigger screen and a "oh shoot,this game is resource intensive, let's drop the eye candy" type deal...

I play a lot, always FPS-type games...now BC2 in DX11.

[_dangtx_]

at that resolution, stick with one card. for 1980x1020, get the second one. your psu is fine. your cpu is fine. altough,at lower resolutions, itll be a bigger player. not enormously but still

so if i were you? id sit tight or get a cheap sammy 24 incher and perhaps a second hard if you were to find that one didnt cut it no more.

[tri5cui7]

I'm in a similar situation, however I have a q6600 and crossfire 5850. In games I almost never see my cpu go past 60%. I game in 1080p on a 24" monitor, no games have given me trouble, yet. I'm going to try metro2033 soonish, once I'm done my play through of mass effect 1 and 2.

[Arinoth]

Your cpu will eventually be the bottleneck and i dont know if you'll get the full benefit from running those high end cards xfire with the rest of your system (monitor/resolution included in that

[fishingfanatic]

I had a 9550 system on a 1080p 40" bravia with 2 5970s in xfire and saw no problems. However once I went to i7 the fps did show a good increase. As stated, the cpu may give a bottleneck, but you would have to be really pushing the system to cause this and if I'm not mistaken gaming doesn't reach that stress level.

[Delavan]

I had a 9550 system on a 1080p 40" bravia with 2 5970s in xfire and saw no problems

So I assume that if you didn't have issues with 5970's I should be alright with 5870!
I don't want to upgrade my platform yet, but I know I'll be getting a bigger monitor eventually.

The 5870 is running great and playing BC2 at 1680 x 1050 DX11, HBAO on, 4XMSAA and AF 8X is good and steady, but FPS stays at around 75 average, so at 1920 X 1200, it will eventually dip below the acceptable level (IMHO).
It would be bad to get a 24" and be forced to drop eye-candy in order to keep the FPS at a good level.

I was thinking about getting an ASUS HD5870 V2 to use as primary card for a few reasons:

1-Crossfire card number one runs warmer (that ASUS runs cooler than reference to negate that).
2- pricing is pretty much like reference design price.

Or getting a XFX reference (gonna take a while to find!!!) just to have a matched pair...

Could I expect my gaming platform to be half decent for the next 2 years (includign going thru a monitor upgrade to 24") with Crossfired HD5870s???

Also, some pplz swear that Crossfire is not well implemented and to stay away from that at all cost...any truth to that?

[rjbarker]

Upgrade your CPU / Mobo / RAM then your Monitor to 1920 x 1200.....then you'll be ready for XF or SLi........with that little monitor it would be a waste of $$ to get a 2nd GPU...

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by rjbarker

Upgrade your CPU / Mobo / RAM then your Monitor to 1920 x 1200.....then you'll be ready for XF or SLi........with that little monitor it would be a waste of $$ to get a 2nd GPU...

For once, you actually said something I can agree with.

[tri5cui7]

Originally Posted by rjbarker

Upgrade your CPU / Mobo / RAM then your Monitor to 1920 x 1200.....then you'll be ready for XF or SLi........with that little monitor it would be a waste of $$ to get a 2nd GPU...

That could be easier said that done. It really depends on your financial situation, but that's quite a cost commitment. As for crossfiring, as my understanding goes you won't need to do it unless you're willing to upgrade your monitor. Even my 5850, single, was enough to play all games 1080p on my 24inch monitor. Crysis would eventually dip down, but surprisingly not that often. Have you though about overclocking your 5870?

[Delavan]

I'll just take a chill pill for now. gotta go to Hardware Anonymus .

I'm facing too many upgrades, just for extra FPS that I won't need just yet. Then, down the road, new cards will be out there anyway, probably single cards beating dual 5870's. Hd6*** series or some FERMI II offerings.
Same for CPUs. I'd rather grab a hexacore, but something better for gaming than actual 1055T/1090T CPUs (which is not better than i5 750 for gaming) and also less expensive than 980X...something like a mainstream Hexacore from Intel that's not out there just yet.