Hey guys - new to PC and PC gaming. Recently purchased an XFX HD6950 2GB graphics card, and looking to either upgrade or maybe use the crossfire technology to buy another one of these cards for double the performance. How do I know if I can use the crossfire with 2 xfx cards with my mobo? My mobo is a IPISB-CU (Carmel2). I bought a stock HP computer (h8-1124) with the i7 processor, and just swapped out the stock gpu for the XFX, as well as added a 650W psu. Keep in mind, I'm not incredibly tech savvy when it comes to PC's, so any help is greatly appreciated!
this is pretty typical for OEM PC's like HP, they will usually skimp on the motherboard because it's not something people know to ask about. You've got a lot of the critical components for a nice build now though. When you feel like an upgrade you can keep the processor (I'm assuming it's a i7 2600 ?) , power supply, gfx card, hard drive, maybe the memory (though that's cheap to upgrade these days). Just add a Z77 motherboard and maybe a nicer aftermarket case and there you go. The only bummer is that if you have the 2600 and not the 2600k you won't be able to overclock it very much.
You wont get 'double' the preformance with crossfire. We all wish that but it doesnt happen. If your limited to one PCIE-slot you could get a 'dual gpu' but seeing as you have the 6950 now... kindof late for that. I cant reccomend the 6870X2 because of its low v-ram. The 6990 is dissappeared. the 7990 is coming will be expensive and hard to get. However one thing is true. if you wait long enough you can get a single GPU that preforms the same as a Dual GPU. (the wait can be a be a little over a year and a half)
You're right but games have been getting a lot closer to hitting that mark lately. The review at HardOCP saw 93% scaling on BF3 with a 6970: http://hardocp.com/article/2011/11/02/battlefield_3_single_player_performance_iq_review/5 It really depends a lot on the game.
I suggest you save up for a GTX590 or a HD6990 or a HD7990 or something when the prices drop. So you have some kind of SLI/Crossfire card. Those cards already have two GPUs built in. How to know you can run crossfire? - Look up in which slot you plug in your video card Answer: PCI Express 2.0/3.0 - How many slots does your motherboard have of that one? Answer: 1 - How many slots do you need for crossfire or SLI? Answer: 2 or more - So the outcoming answer is? Answer: No Personally I think you should go for one of the cards mentioned above because of power usage. I suggest you get a Nvidia GTX 690 when it comes out. They can target framerates and underclock
That's not true. There are motherboards with multiple PCIe 2.0 slots that still are not Crossfire/SLI compatible. It's best to result to the manual or Manufacturers website.
And there are also motherboards that are crossfire compatible but haven't paid to license SLI (crossfire is free for the manufacturer).
Why need to oc a cpu while it can feed any gpu out there. And 2600 is one heck of cpu it can hold 2-3 years easily !!
