6870 Crossfire vs GTX 970

[Magma]

My current GPU seteup is 6870 Crossfire. It's starting to feel weak (6870 came out 2010) these days and it is time for an upgrade.

Chances are I need to ask this question on a proper hardware forum to get the best answer...but do you think I will see much improvement going from this to a single 970?

My system:

i5 2500k OC to 4.5Ghz
6870 XF
8GB RAM

[rotNdude]

Big improvement.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1336?vs=1355

[Magma]

Thanks for the link, that's the sort of thing I have been looking for.

Well the 6870 in that comparison is the single card...but if we assume that 6870 XF is almost double (it usually is) the performance of a single 6870 then yes the GTX 970 will still beat a 6870 XF by a decent margin.

Good

[Azza ☠]

An ideal upgrade - uses half the wattages as one of those cards, yet delivers more performance and stability. You will get cooler, quieter, and faster performance.

Best performance to cost ratio graphics card of 2014!

Ideal for 1080p or 1440p resolutions at high/ultra game settings.

I highly recommend the duel fan models:
EVGA GTX 970 with ACX 2.0 Cooler
or
ASUS GTX 970 DirectCUII Strix

These are factory overclocked, higher quality components, custom cooler and fans, prolonged lifespan, which run even faster, cooler and quieter than the standard GTX 970! Did I just repeat myself? Well, you won't go wrong, they are beasts...

[upcoast]

Originally posted by Magma:

Thanks for the link, that's the sort of thing I have been looking for.

Well the 6870 in that comparison is the single card...but if we assume that 6870 XF is almost double (it usually is) the performance of a single 6870 then yes the GTX 970 will still beat a 6870 XF by a decent margin.

Good :NC:

I defunked my 6870s xfire a couple months ago and went with a single 280x which is a lesser card than the gtx970, you'll find it quite a bit better than the xfire 6870s1GB limit when you start loading up quality settings.

[Jamebonds1]

simply answer is yes, it will be bigger improve. Video card like GTX 970 is pretty strong card. It is good for triple or 4K monitor.

[Magma]

Originally posted by pike:

crossfire doesnt double the performance ,

That's what I said. Almost.

[Big Pete]

970 end of story

[upcoast]

Originally posted by Magma:

Originally posted by pike:

crossfire doesnt double the performance ,

That's what I said. Almost.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/asus-radeon-hd-7970-crossfire-review,12.html

FC2 6870 x2 139fps

6870 x1 69fps , 2 x 69 = 138

Xfire does double but not ALL the time. My point is ,@ pike, don't be so emphatic or rigid for a better word.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

6870 is old card and 6000 series does not support Mantle. Not to mention potential problems with Crossfire in quite a few games.
Also quite a few latest games need 3-4 Gb VRAM and Crossfire wont give you more VRAM.

[upcoast]

Originally posted by Rumpelcrutchskin:

6870 is old card and 6000 series does not support Mantle. Not to mention potential problems with Crossfire in quite a few games.
Also quite a few latest games need 3-4 Gb VRAM and Crossfire wont give you more VRAM.

Exactly ^.

http://hardocp.com/article/2015/01/07/far_cry_4_video_card_performance_review/7#.VLAbWmctGpp

Apples to apples ^ near the bottom 280x vs 285 vs 780 non ti the min fps shows it.

[Magma]

I ended up saying ♥♥♥♥ it and got a GTX 980.

Yes, it's way more powerful than 6870CF.

[mika]

Can I pitch-in on this?>.....I also had the 6870 Crossfire a while back, for the time they were really fast but not by todays standards. The Gtx 970 is almost the Ideal card I would say.The 980 on the other hand I cannot justify spending $550 on a card that only beats the 290x by a few frames and costs less then Half! The 970 would be a great card for you I think.

If the 980 would cost around $300-$350 that would make things alot easier I think. Also the 780ti is a Beast if you can find one.

[upcoast]

Originally posted by Magma:

I ended up saying ♥♥♥♥ it and got a GTX 980.

Yes, it's way more powerful than 6870CF.

I'm jealous now, congrats you're set up for quite a while.

[Magma]

Originally posted by upcoast:

Originally posted by Magma:

I ended up saying ♥♥♥♥ it and got a GTX 980.

Yes, it's way more powerful than 6870CF.

I'm jealous now, congrats you're set up for quite a while.

Yup my 2500k isn't going anywhere soon because there is no reason to upgrade for gaming and 8GB RAM is probably plenty for the next 5 years of gaming.

Originally posted by MiddleFinger77:

The 980 on the other hand I cannot justify spending $550 on a card that only beats the 290x by a few frames and costs less then Half! The 970 would be a great card for you I think.

If the 980 would cost around $300-$350 that would make things alot easier I think. Also the 780ti is a Beast if you can find one.

That's the essence of it really. You can only justify spending all that money if you know you're going to get a lot of enjoyment out of it for a long time. I definitely will be getting a lot of use out of my GTX 980 and the extra 10FPS does seem worth it to me. To me, there is a world of difference between 50 FPS and 60 FPS.