The Asus HD7970-DC2-3GD5 and MSI R7970 Lightning; the solution for tearing in the 79XX family

[Moose]

Okay, okay, I get it. Tearing isn't an issue for me anymore. There. Now talk about the technical aspects. Let's say I'm playing BF3 on max with AA. A 2GB card will hit the VRAM limit. This means getting a 7970 or a 7950 (since tearing is not an issue, remember?). What would you do? Or am I asking the impossible now?

[BHawthorne]

What would I do? I'd wait for quantity levels of the 7000-series to settle down a bit and for shops to quit price gouging. Really depends upon where the prices settle though and if NVIDIA causes a price war with Kepler later in the year. I fully expect the 7970/7950 to adjust down to 6970/6950 pricing plus $50 or so for the 3GB ram upgrade.

[Wijkert]

Okay, okay, I get it. Tearing isn't an issue for me anymore. There. Now talk about the technical aspects. Let's say I'm playing BF3 on max with AA. A 2GB card will hit the VRAM limit. This means getting a 7970 or a 7950 (since tearing is not an issue, remember?). What would you do? Or am I asking the impossible now?

If you are a guy that is easily annoyed by low fps, no aa, tearing;), stuttering etc. then playing bf3 on ultra (msaa enabled) and on triple 1080p resolution is not going to be possible. You need two 79xx cards for that and then you get horrible microstuttering. Fraps will tell you the game is running at 60 fps for example and it would feel like under 30 fps to you, so the second card would be useless. You might as well just buy one 79xx and play on high-ish. That is what I am going to do and that is also what I would recommend to you.

[Moose]

What would I do? I'd wait for quantity levels of the 7000-series to settle down a bit and for shops to quit price gouging. Really depends upon where the prices settle though and if NVIDIA causes a price war with Kepler later in the year. I fully expect the 7970/7950 to adjust down to 6970/6950 pricing plus $50 or so for the 3GB ram upgrade.

Well, I don't have time to wait. I have a buyer for my MSI R5870 and he's waiting on the damn thing nearly two months now, since I have such a hard time picking a good card. I am obsessed with it really. Look at my post history :p

If you are a guy that is easily annoyed by low fps, no aa, tearing;), stuttering etc. then playing bf3 on ultra (msaa enabled) and on triple 1080p resolution is not going to be possible. You need two 79xx cards for that and then you get horrible microstuttering. Fraps will tell you the game is running at 60 fps for example and it would feel like under 30 fps to you, so the second card would be useless. You might as well just buy one 79xx and play on high-ish. That is what I am going to do and that is also what I would recommend to you.

Low fps, no AA: that's why I'm getting a high end card;
Tearing: That's why I'm thinking about the Asus card;
Stuttering: That's why I ain't getting Crossfire (or SLI for that matter)

I was in doubt whether to add that I ment high and not ultra settings, I should've done that.
Anyways, I think my quest has come to an end. I think the only good choice for me is the Asus HD7970-DC2-3GD5 or the HD7970-DC2T-3GD5.

Unless someone comes with some really good arguments why I should not buy this card before it releases in the Netherlands.

Thank you all so much for your help, and I might write an article about the Asus when I get it.

Moose

PS: Wijkert, I'd like to stay in touch and see what your experiences will be with your new card.

[Wijkert]

PS: Wijkert, I'd like to stay in touch and see what your experiences will be with your new card.

Sure mate, will do.

[Moose]

Oh, nearly forgot! What adapters should I order with it? Link with choices.

Keep in mind that I need DVI to Displayport, not DVI to mini-Displayport. What would you guys recommend?

[sparx1981]

Am I missing something? Every graphics card I've had always comes with adapters? In fact all of my ATI cards come with a selection of Display port adapters. Why do you need to buy more? Sadly the mini display port adapters I already have wont be of any use but wont the card come with the correct adapters?

[sparx1981]

Ah I see what you mean. Sadly my rig is without a graphics card at all at the moment. So although it may be nice to have the new DCII card when it comes out. I dont think I can live

a.) without the PC up and running for another couple of weeks at least
b.) run the risk of these being silly money when they do come out. The XFX Black edition DD is £499 here in the UK... the Asus is better quality and rumours are of good pricing for this, if XFX can charge that much Asus definately can.
c.) need to spend extra cash on top of the card to get adapters
d.) limit myself if I wanted trifire any time in the future because fitting three of these in one machine could be a squeeze
e.).... who am i trying to convince I'd love two of these but I cant wait....

Looks like I'll be getting two standard 7970s again.

[Moose]

Am I missing something? Every graphics card I've had always comes with adapters? In fact all of my ATI cards come with a selection of Display port adapters. Why do you need to buy more? Sadly the mini display port adapters I already have wont be of any use but wont the card come with the correct adapters?

Yes, this graphics card comes with some adapters, but not three DVI to Displayport! It would be nice but totally unrealistic if they did that :p

And about the release date, here in Holland I guess it's around two weeks from now. I think that counts global though, I'll snif around for some more info.

Moose

[Moose]

Looks like I'll be getting two standard 7970s again.

I think that's the right way to go for you.

Oh, nearly forgot! What adapters should I order with it? Link with choices.
Keep in mind that I need DVI to Displayport, not DVI to mini-Displayport. What would you guys recommend?

Bump, for I don't want to start a new thread about this.

Also, for the people interested, I will be writing a very in-depth review about the Asus HD7970-DC2T-3GD5. I'll post the link in this page when I've finished it!

Moose

[Haldi]

Try to ask People who own a Asus HD7970 DC to buy theyr Displayport --> DVI Adapter.

Find somehow out where Asus buy's their Displayport --> DVI adapter. I Bet they're not producing them! maybe the Producer sell's them under another name ?

[Moose]

The problem is that the card isn't released in the market yet. That's why there is so little info on the web. I guess I'll have to google some more about adapters

[BirdOtt]

Hi guys.
I have been reading this thread because I am about to buy and build a new PC using the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO and have been considering getting two ASUS HD7970 graphics cards for triple monitor gaming on 3 Dell Ultrasharp U2410 monitors. However, the discussion about microstutter and tearing has made me reconsider doing this.

I had planned to get two ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 3-slot cards plus an ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card; however, I do not believe it is possible to put all three cards onto the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO without creating overheating issues for one of the graphics cards, and causing one card to run at X.8. Is that true based on your experience? The ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 cards would be my preferred approach as I could connect the three Dell monitors to one of the graphics cards using 3 Displayport cables. :)

So I have been considering getting two of the smaller 2-slot ASUS HD7970-3GD5 graphics cards instead and installing them in slots 1 and 4 on the MOBO, and putting the sound card in slot 3 on the MOBO. I think this would work.

But after reading this thread, it appears that microstutter and tearing could occur because the connections for the monitor would use a mixed connection arrangement: 2 Displayport cables to 2 miniDisplayportsn the graphics card plus 1 DVI-D cable to 1 DVI-D port on the graphics card. Is this a correct understanding?

So perhaps one ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 3-slot card would be preferable. Any comments or advice?

[Wijkert]

So perhaps one ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 3-slot card would be preferable. Any comments or advice?

The microstuttering is far more severe than the tearing is. But yes I would go with one card and not two. If you want to completely het rid of tearing the CUII cards are the way to go. Personally I don't notice much tearing if it is not on my center monitor.

[Moose]

But after reading this thread, it appears that microstutter and tearing could occur because the connections for the monitor would use a mixed connection arrangement: 2 Displayport cables to 2 miniDisplayportsn the graphics card plus 1 DVI-D cable to 1 DVI-D port on the graphics card. Is this a correct understanding?

You haven't got it quite right sir. Microstuttering is a CrossfireX problem. The tearing on the other hand is caused by different outputs. You will need to connect your monitors displayport to displayport. All three of them.


So, with one card you'd have no microstuttering and when correctly set up, no tearing.

Moose

[Haldi]

@BirdOtt
You cant just use any Pci-E Slot of the Mainboard. 1 got 5 (or 4?^^) PCI-E 3.0 16x Slots on my Mainboard! Bit only slot 1 and 4 are capable of using 16x!

[BirdOtt]

Thanks for the advice Wijkert regarding the microstuttering (caused by Crossfire) being far more severe than the tearing (caused by using different connectors). I would rather get the CUII card because I could connect the 3 monitors using Displyport cables without any adapters.

Would using a single CUII card negatively affect the graphics quality in any significant way when using 3 monitors?

And thanks Moose for your comment regarding microstuttering being a CrossfireX problem and the tearing being caused by different outputs. Also for advising that with one card there would not be any microstuttering, and when correctly set up using Displayport to Displayport there would be no tearing.

So I think using a single 3-slot ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 graphics cards installed in slot 1 and an ASUS Xonar Essence STX in slot 4 on the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO would work best.

Or should I put the sound card in slot 5 or 6 on that MOBO?

One last question: In the pic of the CUII graphics card provided by Moose, it appears that there may be sufficient air space in the third slot area with the grating such that sufficient air could be used by the fans in the graphics card to cool its components, and that a sound card might be used in slot 3 of the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO, while allowing a second 3-slot ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 graphics card to be used in slot 4. Microstuttering would occur with this arrangement though, based on your comments. I wonder if this would work. I suppose someone will try crossfiring the 3-slot ASUS HD7970-DC2T-3GD5 graphics cards at some point when they become available.

[Exmortis]

Really good thread, been keeping up with it, and time chime in.

I HAVE seen tearing on my screens. Currently run Sapphire ref 6970 DP/DVI/DP 3x1L ASUS VE248/VE278/VE248 monitors. These babies have DP connectivity so use two miniDP to DP cables for the "wings" and DVI for middle. Until Skyriom io never noticed tearing, but it can really be appearant with Skyrim, especially when looking at wooden walls.

I am too looking at the new ASUS CUII 7970 for the use of three DP screens for eyefinity. This should remove all tearing and give best quality.

However as of this evening it appears one of my DPs has died on my card. I have been for a few weeks getting link error messages in win7 but it didnt cause any grief. Now today I went to boot up and system booted with no video, but it did not fully post, it hung on AA post code which is a legacy error code. The CPU_LED on the board was solid red, bad sign CPU will not engage on post. ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen3.

After much mucking around I realized the LED went out once i disconnected the DP cables. I plugged them back in, system posted fine but i get a flicking screen on one monitor(liek soem 4yr old was hammering the power button for fun). When I shut down LED lights up and system wont post as before. IF i switched cable connection the flicker followed the connection, switching with the different monitor connected. This means it isnt a cable or monitor issue. From this I am led to believe (led get it?) it is a failed DP on my card.

So for now im gonna go single screen, when i buy my new 7970 I will RMA the card then sell it.

kinda disappointing, but what does one do?

New 7970 will also come with new Cosmos II case, I have run out of space in my heavily modded Lian-Li PC8FIR.

[Moose]

Would using a single CUII card negatively affect the graphics quality in any significant way when using 3 monitors?

Well, the 7970 has 3 gigabyte of vram, which is enough to run Battlefield 3 on high with some AA and still get 30+ fps on average. So, I guess the tiny bit less performance would weigh out any trouble regarding a CrossfireX setup.

Also for advising that with one card there would not be any microstuttering, and when correctly set up using Displayport to Displayport there would be no tearing.

This thread covers microstuttering, so I would highly recommend looking around there. There is always the chance that you won't get microstuttering, but the odds are high. However, I believe they found a fix of some sort. I'm not yet fully informed about the stuttering problems, so you should check that thread out before you believe me ;)

Moose

[Wijkert]

[quote]There is always the chance that you won't get microstuttering, but the odds are high. However, I believe they found a fix of some sort.

There isn't a change you get no microstuttering. It might be less depending on the rest of your hardware. There is a change you won't be bothered by it though. The fix isn't all that great. It reduces the microstuttering, but not to a point that I would consider running xfire/sli.