• 5760x1080 Eyefinity questions
    42 replies, posted
I have now got two Radeon HD 5770 1GB with crossfire. I realize that those are not enough when it comes to higher end games than GMod if I would want to use the ridiculous resolution that is 5760x1080. Would a Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 alone handle that on games like Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3 with 5760x1080 triple monitor Eyefinity in higher settings? Or do I need to have two Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 crossfired to manage that? Do you have any other graphics card suggestions for what I am trying to achieve? It has to be within [B]$400[/B]
What about a Sapphire 5970?
[QUOTE=darkgodmaste;30802147]What about a Sapphire 5970?[/QUOTE] That one appears to be $597 which is not under $400 that is what I can afford so far. But two 6950 would be about $700 so I guess what you suggested seems like a better option if one 6950 doesn't do the work I am asking for.
If you're after 2 crossfire cards to handle that resolution, with both together being under $400, i'd recommend 2 of these - [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506[/URL]
Two 6870's are your best bet for instant performance, or get a single card and upgrade later.
I'd get a single 6950, then wait alittle for some extra money then buy another. You're looking at 240-250 for a single one, then another one down the line. So maybe 500-520 total. I think the difference is enough to warrant the price. But again, you don't need to buy both at the same time.
I'd go straight for a HD6990 for this resolution. Otherwise you'll just regret cranking the settings down.
2x 6970 > 6990
[QUOTE=Romka;30804811]I'd go straight for a HD6990 for this resolution. Otherwise you'll just regret cranking the settings down.[/QUOTE] 6990's to be frank are amazingly niche for anyone except benchmarking. Extremely hot and extremely loud. Only for people with cases with like inch thick steel and sound proofing could live with one.
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30804848]2x 6970 > 6990[/QUOTE] As long as you don't have a problem with having 2 cards in your system, using 4 PCI-E power connectors and dealing with 2 of the noisy fans... yes then I say 2x 6970's are better. (I know the performance of 2x 6970 is slightly better than a single 6990, but I care for the other circumstances)
2x 6970 are cheaper than a 6990 aswell, in the states at least.
[QUOTE=Romka;30809054]As long as you don't have a problem with having 2 cards in your system, using 4 PCI-E power connectors and dealing with 2 of the noisy fans... yes then I say 2x 6970's are better. (I know the performance of 2x 6970 is slightly better than a single 6990, but I care for the other circumstances)[/QUOTE] Two 6970's are cheaper, are less noisy (per card) and have more performance, don't see why you'd go for a 6990 honestly, maybe for an upgrade path?
[QUOTE=Romka;30809054]As long as you don't have a problem with having 2 cards in your system, using 4 PCI-E power connectors and dealing with 2 of the noisy fans... yes then I say 2x 6970's are better. (I know the performance of 2x 6970 is slightly better than a single 6990, but I care for the other circumstances)[/QUOTE] The 6990 is one of the loudest cards ever produced. Two separate cards won't need to ramp up so high. Also if you're building a system that can power a 6990, it can power two 6970's and will have the connections for it. As well the 6990 is massively long, two 6970's would fit in smaller cases, unless OP has a big case.
[QUOTE=David Tennant;30809336]Two 6970's are cheaper, are less noisy (per card) and have more performance, don't see why you'd go for a 6990 honestly, maybe for an upgrade path?[/QUOTE]Cheaper or not, depends on where you live. Here in Germany a single HD6970 costs around 300€, a HD6990 starts at 530 and goes up to 600. Also how is it less noisy when they both use the same kind of burn in fan? (I haven't tested it, it's just a prediction) [QUOTE=Brt5470;30809710]The 6990 is one of the loudest cards ever produced. Two separate cards won't need to ramp up so high.[/QUOTE] That depends on what you're running. If both GPUs on the HD6990 go on full power, so will the 2 HD6970's. So there's no difference, only that 2 of the burn in fans will produce the noise.
6990 cooling is terribly inefficient.
[QUOTE=Romka;30810550]Cheaper or not, depends on where you live. Here in Germany a single HD6970 costs around 300€, a HD6990 starts at 530 and goes up to 600. Also how is it less noisy when they both use the same kind of burn in fan? (I haven't tested it, it's just a prediction) Except you're talking about a standard size fan cooling two 6970 cores, versus each 6970 cooling itself. You cannot avoid thermals of it. A single fan doing the job of 2/4 can't be quiet.. That depends on what you're running. If both GPUs on the HD6990 go on full power, so will the 2 HD6970's. So there's no difference, only that 2 of the burn in fans will produce the noise.[/QUOTE]
I got the power supply for 2 Radeon HD 6990. Because a Corsair 1000 watt is enough for that right? I have decided to get two 6950.
[QUOTE=Romka;30810550]Also how is it less noisy when they both use the same kind of burn in fan?[/QUOTE] The HD6970 has one blower for one GPU, one set of RAM chips and one set of VRMs. The HD6990 has the same blower for two GPUs, two sets of RAM chips and two sets of VRMs. The blower on the HD6990 has to work twice as hard to cool the card than on the former, which produces more noise.
I use one 6970 for three screens, runs bad company 2 on medium settings.
[QUOTE=Civil;30821819]I got the power supply for 2 Radeon HD 6990. Because a Corsair 1000 watt is enough for that right? I have decided to get two 6950.[/QUOTE] Good choice, as two 6870's would simply laugh at 6.2mp since they only have 1gb of vram.
[QUOTE=bohb;30822047]The HD6970 has one blower for one GPU, one set of RAM chips and one set of VRMs. The HD6990 has the same blower for two GPUs, two sets of RAM chips and two sets of VRMs. The blower on the HD6990 has to work twice as hard to cool the card than on the former, which produces more noise.[/QUOTE] RAM on graphics cards has passiv cooling (the bigass metallic plate on the other side of card). Also the dual GPU card coolers regulate their speed related only to the temperature measurement of the first GPU. So it works like the cooler is cooling only one GPU.
But it has to do twice the damn work..Do you not understand what he's saying?
2 6970's should be able to power some games at 5760x1080, right? Mainly looking to play stuff like WoW, BFBC2, and some older games at that resolution. Obviously I won't be able to power through stuff like crysis at max (maybe I will, i've always been far too poor to play games at triple-monitor resolutions so i wouldn't know). if not it's really not a big problem, i've always played on single monitor anyway, just though it would be cool as fuck if i could play on all 3 monitors.
3x 6970 gets 68FPS AVG in BC2 @ 5760x1080 (Crysis Warhead only gets 45). So, you might have some trouble at absolute maximum
ah well, i suppose i can just play on one monitor. Save myself $250 on those extra 2 then.
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30851236]But it has to do twice the damn work..Do you not understand what he's saying?[/QUOTE] But that's not true. As I stated before, the cooler works only for the first GPU. It moves air from the centre in both directions (front and to the back, bscly where each GPU heatsink grill is located), so it automatically cools down both GPUs the same way. But ugh whatever, it's no use to argue here, so I just give up. Believe what you want.
[QUOTE=Romka;30852714]But that's not true. As I stated before, the cooler works only for the first GPU. It moves air from the centre in both directions (front and to the back, bscly where each GPU heatsink grill is located), so it automatically cools down both GPUs the same way. But ugh whatever, it's no use to argue here, so I just give up. Believe what you want.[/QUOTE] it's still one fan designed for one heatsink sending the same air over two heatsinks the fan on a 6990 has to work at 80-90%+ to keep them at 80-90C [editline]2nd July 2011[/editline] [quote][url=http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph4209/35821.png][img_thumb]http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph4209/35821.png[/img_thumb][/url][/quote]
[QUOTE=Romka;30852714]But that's not true. As I stated before, the cooler works only for the first GPU. It moves air from the centre in both directions (front and to the back, bscly where each GPU heatsink grill is located), so it automatically cools down both GPUs the same way. But ugh whatever, it's no use to argue here, so I just give up. Believe what you want.[/QUOTE] Except normally 100% of the air a blower moves goes over one GPU, in the 6990, you're splitting the air flow, half of the blower air goes over GPU0 and one over GPU1, therefore... it has to spin twice as fast to keep each GPU under the same temps. [editline]2nd July 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Derpmeifter;30851429]2 6970's should be able to power some games at 5760x1080, right? Mainly looking to play stuff like WoW, BFBC2, and some older games at that resolution. Obviously I won't be able to power through stuff like crysis at max (maybe I will, i've always been far too poor to play games at triple-monitor resolutions so i wouldn't know). if not it's really not a big problem, i've always played on single monitor anyway, just though it would be cool as fuck if i could play on all 3 monitors.[/QUOTE] I'd say yes. As long as you don't crank up AA, you should be fine with two 6970's.
[QUOTE=Armotekma;30810886]6990 cooling is terribly inefficient.[/QUOTE] I noticed, I got one for 280 and god it's freaking loud.
I'm not sure if the OP is still considering an Eyefinity setup, but I can say from personal experience that it isn't worth the investment. I bought an HD5870 and three Dell P2310H's and had an eyefinity setup running for a few months. It was an interesting experience at first, but in the end I felt it wasn't the hassle nor the expense. You end up spending $1000+ on monitors, GPUs, and possibly a stand, and what do you end up with? A setup that may or may not work with your games. Many games require hacks or console commands to work, and you will take a performance hit for running at three times the resolution. You'll experience lots of nice stretching and camera clipping even in the best of situations. If I had a monitor stand and space on my desk for it I might revive my setup, but I really don't recommend it for people. A nice 30" monitor, a better GPU, and perhaps a good surround-sound system will get you a great sense of immersion with less hassle and perhaps loss cost.
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