2 x 5850 or 1 x GTX 480?

[Sparhawk]

Hi All,

First post here. Hope you can help me with some advice I need.

Currently, I'm running the following:

Asus P5WDG2 WS Pro Motherboard
Core2Duo E6600
4Gb Corsair Dominator DDR2 RAM
EVGA 7950GX2
800w Tagan PSU


I am in the market for a new video card. I have read the review here on Hexus which states 2 x 5850's are blowing away all in their path. GTX480 and HD5970 included.

Here is my problem.

Is my current setup good enough to consider running 2 x 5850's on?

I know that a single PCI-E Slot will run at 16x and utilising the two PCI-E slots will run at 8x however I also know that the performance drop should be negligable having read another forum post here on Hexus (can't post the links as I've not enough posts yet )

Also is the 800w PSU powerful enough? It's certainly not a cheap model as I'd never put a cheap PSU in my machine.

Basically, would I benefit from 2x5850's without overhauling my entire system until such time I can overhaul it?

Thanks in advance.

[circuitmonkey]

I've always recommended a single GPU over a multi card setup (I know my GPU history may read differently!) Far less hassle with drivers games, and patches.

That said it's been shown that the 2x5850 trumps a 480 in performance (and power requirements which I found odd) and 5000 series cards are supposed to be dropping in price shortly.

Either way I'm not sure if your current CPU will prove to be a bottle neck...?

Edit: Just noticed it's a 975x chipset which means PCI-E 1.0a, probably not the best for running to 5850's at x8 each. It may have been ok if you had PCI-E 2.0

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

PCI-E 2.0 4X has the same bandwidth as PCI-E 8X.

I would look at this article:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...Scaling/1.html

A decent 800W PSU should be fine with a pair of HD5970 cards:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/H...ossFire/2.html

Perhaps it maybe worth considering a single HD5870 1GB for under £300:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175996

[Sparhawk]

Thanks for the reply Circuitmonkey.

Darn.. didn't realise the PCI-E was at rev. 1.x

Looks like an overhaul is needed I think. Frustrating because that's gonna be a little pricey.

[Sparhawk]

[QUOTE=CAT-THE-FIFTH;1903185]PCI-E 2.0 4X has the same bandwidth as PCI-E 8X.



Cheers for those... I think it looks like I'm going to need a new motherboard though as the PCI-E revision is too old.. unless there's anyway I can run the card on an older PCI-E rev.

[circuitmonkey]

Cheers for those... I think it looks like I'm going to need a new motherboard though as the PCI-E revision is too old.. unless there's anyway I can run the card on an older PCI-E rev.

It "Should" be ok to run any card on older pci-e bus revision, but at a reduced bandwidth.
I would definitely only want to run a single card though @ x16

[Phage]

Resistance is futile.....Buy the shiny stuff !

[Sparhawk]

Resistance is futile.....Buy the shiny stuff !

LOL, Stop it!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

PCI-E 2.0 4X has the same bandwidth as PCI-E 8X.



Cheers for those... I think it looks like I'm going to need a new motherboard though as the PCI-E revision is too old.. unless there's anyway I can run the card on an older PCI-E rev.

The cards should run fine AFAIK!

I have had an HD3870,HD4830 and a 8800GTS 512MB and I have a 975X motherboard too. My 975X motherboard has both PCI-E slots at 8X permanently and I have yet to see any noticeable impact on performance IMHO.

[Sparhawk]

What CPU and Memory config do you have Cat

(cheers btw)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I had an E4500 at around 2.9GHZ until I replaced it with a Q6600 at around the same clockspeed. I use a pair of Geil Black Dragon 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMMs.

[Pob255]

A single 5870 or 5850 will be a big step up from a 7950GX2

Personally I'd go for a single 5850 you don't really need to go higher if you're on a 1680x1050 22" monitor and the performance will be blinding

If you're not overclocking your e6600 then you should consider it

[Sparhawk]

Cheers again guys... I'll let you know the outcome of my decisions

And further advice on top of the excellent info already provided is most welcome and appreciated

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I assume this is your motherboard:

http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=lD...u8a&templete=2

If so it seems to support a few quad core processors:

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...roduct=1&os=24

A quad core processor and an HD5850 or an HD5870 would mean a nice extension to the life of your system.

Certain games like BFBC2 seem to run better on quad cores. A secondhand Q6000 or Q9000 series quad core for under £100 should do the job.

[Sparhawk]

Yes that's the one.

Hmm, so there would seem to be life in the old dog yet
Thanks again for your help.