TorganFM

Every test I've seen so far has shown that crossfiring the 4850's and 70's doesn't do any good. Atually 2 4870's and a 4850 all crossfired ran worse than some of the solo 4870 tests. I'm thinking graphics aren't really being programmed in parallel yet. And the quad cores will definitely be better in the long run... if programs ever make use of paralleling 4 threads at once. Until then (if that ever happens) a higher clocked dual core will smoke em.

And what do you guys call decent cooling for going from 2.4ghz to 3.2ghz? Is a water box a 'decent' setup.. or are you talking about a fancy hsf?

supernewb

newegg.com


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20-%20Desktops
q6600 $184 with free 3 day shipping

Jorsher

Dunno what you mean. You of course won't get the 100% gain from adding the second card, but I don't see why it wouldn't be a decent performance boost. The 4870 x 2 cards, which are basically two 4870s in one card, are currently the best mainstream cards.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...2_quad_q6600/1 <- they just used an unpgraded air cooler with success

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24...rclocking-1066 <- also of interest

TorganFM

The crossfire tests I've seen have yielded not much if any performance as opposed to single cards. I can't really explain it.

But I do like how computer hardware has finally slowed down from the 6 month cycles in the early 2000's. Now I can actually afford to build an maintain a decent comp.

the 13th round

NEWEGG!!!!!!

tekno9998

My e6320 went from 1.86 to 3.2 on the stock cooler 3.2 is nothing for the stock cooler and temps are no higher than they were stock. Untill you have to start upping the vcore your temps shouldn't come close to overwhelming a stock cooler.

Jorsher

I wouldn't go as far as water cooling for getting it to 3.2ghz, but I would definitely pay the 20-50 for an aftermarket cooler and some arctic silver grease. If temps truly didn't go up, stock cooler would be fine, but I'd like that extra peace of mind...and running cooler is never a bad thing. The higher the temps, the lower the longevity.

Not sure why, that is kinda strange though. Maybe because the new cards are "top end" and games don't really take advantage of the potential a crossfire setup has (right now)? Core speeds didn't really improve much over previous generations, it's mostly just more streams and shaders, so if the games aren't really utilizing the freedom maybe it won't show a significant change.

Doesn't crossfire allow you to mix/match different cards? Whenever my 4850/4870 gets "old" I'd like to just buy a second mid-range card.

t_cel_t

im not a pro at oc'n but with my 9850 quad black edition i can change the multiplier for each core up the the point at which it was running i think 3.2 per core but it still wasnt any hotter or noticeably faster then before at 2.5 per core. is that all there is to oc. that and i got 2 3870, i had 1 for a while and adding the second one made ---- way way faster in games. it wasnt fast at first but after i put both crossfire bridges on it was noticibly faster in games

Jorsher

It's not too difficult. Read that link above and you'll see it's pretty easy.

Basically you just increase the multiplier and/or fsb and run a stability test. You can increase voltage as well to get even more speed but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're experienced or have some serious cooling. My amd 2400 has an increased fsb, multiplier, and voltage with an upgraded air cooler and has been fine for years, buuuut...I'd be happy with quad core at 3.2-3.4ghz and not have to touch voltage

Jcushing

increasing cpu speed increases heas but a negligible amount, alot of it has to do with the MOBO, most set the vcore to auto, and they will automatically adjust vcore up to a certain amount as required (usually no more than the default cpu VID typically in the 1.35v range). so overclockin without manually raising the vcore can still raise your vcore a bit increasing heat. basically dont even think of increasing your voltage to get a higher OC without a better cooler than stock.

regarding crossfire performance, 2 cards does not = 2x the performance. crossfire/sli is highly dependant on the architecture of the GPU, and the driver support. poor drivers can sometimes = less performance than a single card.

how well a card "scales" in crossfire refers to what kinda boost you get overall with the second (or third) gpu. typically you get a 50% increase in FPS, some are higher (the 9600gt is a great SLIer) and sometimes you get less.

honestly, having owned a single 4850, i can say that unless you happen to use a 32" monitor running 2kx2k+ resolutions, theres very little reason to go SLI/CF. most people on a 19-22" LCD will be at 1680x1050 and a single 4850/4870/9800gtx+/gtx260 will all run every game out there at those resolutions no problem!!!

oh and yes you can mix and match cards BTW but they both need to be running the same speeds