Eyefinity question, to CFX or not?

[MrD1sturbed]

So I am about ready to order my GFX card for my eyefinity setup (which will be 3x2709w). My question is will a single 5870 be able to handle this res on most games (specifically Dragon Age: Origins, Bioshock2, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Starcraft 2, Dawn of War II, Left for Dead 2, Team Fortress 2) on high-very high settings? Or will I need a CFX type setup to accomplish this?

[Paradigm Shifter]

I would suggest CrossFire might be an idea... however, if you can wait until the "5876" with 2GB of VRAM is around, as that might cope with the ultra-high resolutions of EyeFinity better than a 1GB card anyway. I think the 5800 series architecture still has a lot of room to stretch it's legs if potential bottlenecks are removed...

[MrD1sturbed]

So here's another question then. I am inherently an Nvidia guy, specifically eVGA as brand. Are there any brands in the ATi space that provide a "step-up" program like eVGA does? Then I could confidently purchase a 5870 now and "step-up" to the 5876 or possibly a 597x in the future.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Nope. Only eVGA has a 'step up' program. :(

Wish more companies did, but there we are.

[MrD1sturbed]

Ok so then without a step program I am pretty much set on getting a single 5870 for now (a CFX setup would be too cost prohibitive at this point). What would be the best bet as far as single 5870's are concerned? Any manufacturer's i should stay away from? I know XFX has the dbl lifetime warranty gimmick, but is there a better overall brand?

[Paradigm Shifter]

I've had Powercolor cards in the past serve me well, I'm running an XFX 4870X2 at the minute but I have no brand loyalty... I get what is cheapest at the time. ;) Only thing I'd say is steer clear of Sapphire - their RMA service is appallingly slow.

The Asus cards seem to have a better BIOS for overclocking than the others, but they're often are the higher end of the 5870 price bracket. At least in the UK.

[csaris]

DON'T CF dude!!!!

I have 2x5870s and have huge stuttering problem. As far as I know a lot of other users have the same issue.

Just get a single 5870 or wait the 5870 ef edition.

[Downtown1]

5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

[MrD1sturbed]

5970 is out of my price range, and also very difficult to actually find in stock.

[suiken_2mieu]

5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

eh it's more or less a 5850x2.

[BRPunk]

So then if we already use a 1g 5870 for our eyefinity, and consider CFX in the future, do the 1G and 2G models mix?

[dmanna]

I just bought 2 xfx 5870's and 2 more screens. Mixed feelings so far. On one hand crossfire and eyefinity is broken, most games are a stuttering and or screen tearing mess. On the good side crossfire and a single screen you can run every game maxed out to the hills including crysis.

Buyer beware if you thinkk eyefinity and crossfire will be headache free. When eyefintiy is working its fantastic but honestly if anyone on these forums with 2 5870's and 3 screens is gaming at 60 fps with no stuttering and or screen tearing speak up. Forcing v-sync in eyefinity mode is hard to do sometimes.. if you use to d3doverrider or something of that nature to handle your screen corruption you cant use it when in eyefinity mode. Unless of course there are multiple problems causing alot of people on the forums similar issues which is possible.

I havent had alot of problems using eyefintiy and 1 card but sometimes the performance hit sucks.

[Downtown1]

[quote]5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

eh it's more or less a 5850x2.
More or less? I thought it was common knowledge that a 5970 was a 5870 X2?

[DaFox]

[quote][quote]5870 X2 is already here.. it's called 5970, so why not get that? Works great for me :D

eh it's more or less a 5850x2.
More or less? I thought it was common knowledge that a 5970 was a 5870 X2?

Its under clocked to 5850 levels. So it sits in the middle of crossfired 5850's and 5870's.

[magoo25]

I have 5870s in CFX and eyefinity with three 24" monitors.
I'm pleasantly surprised so far.
I'm just getting started with this, so AvP is all I've used so far.

If you try DX11 in EF it's a slide show.
DX9 is very playable and looks outrageous.

So far I'd say there is no way you could NOT afford to use anything but CF for eyefinity. The horsepower demands are too great for 1 card in my early experience.

[BRPunk]

I have 5870s in CFX and eyefinity with three 24" monitors.
I'm pleasantly surprised so far.
I'm just getting started with this, so AvP is all I've used so far.

If you try DX11 in EF it's a slide show.
DX9 is very playable and looks outrageous.

So far I'd say there is no way you could NOT afford to use anything but CF for eyefinity. The horsepower demands are too great for 1 card in my early experience.

Actually I've been using one 5870 quite successfully at 5856x1080 (After bezel comp) on all games. A couple of them I have to kick the settings back just touch (Crysis Warhead, Dirt 2, Arkham Asylum) but for the most part my 1 card has been playing high settings on all games in eyefinity. I'm just considering a second card to max out all the games in a couple months when I can afford it.

[Robobandit]

I've been thinking about doing the same thing.. I may wait until the next ATI refresh for a potential drop on the price of the 5870.. Once they get crossfire and eyefinity sorted out, I'll probably grab a second card.

[dmanna]

[quote]I have 5870s in CFX and eyefinity with three 24" monitors.
I'm pleasantly surprised so far.
I'm just getting started with this, so AvP is all I've used so far.

If you try DX11 in EF it's a slide show.
DX9 is very playable and looks outrageous.

So far I'd say there is no way you could NOT afford to use anything but CF for eyefinity. The horsepower demands are too great for 1 card in my early experience.

Actually I've been using one 5870 quite successfully at 5856x1080 (After bezel comp) on all games. A couple of them I have to kick the settings back just touch (Crysis Warhead, Dirt 2, Arkham Asylum) but for the most part my 1 card has been playing high settings on all games in eyefinity. I'm just considering a second card to max out all the games in a couple months when I can afford it.


Bioshock 2, Borderlands, call of duty mw2 and a few others I have tested with 1 card vs 2 card in eyefintiy and when 2 cards are active I may get higher fps but there is stuttering and screen tearing. 1 card with a resolution of 5040x1050 seems to be fine in eyefintiy mode.. all those games I mentioned ran ok with 1 card, not great but certainly playable.

[MrD1sturbed]

Ok so I was out at the local Microcenter yesterday looking to try and pick up a 5970. They didn't have one, but they did have a ridiculous deal on 2x XFX 5850 Black Editions for $303 each, so I picked those up. Now from what I gather the 5850 in CFX is on par with the 5970, is that correct? Are my 2x 5850 in CFX going to be a good match for my Eyefinity setup?

[MrD1sturbed]

Anybody know if my CFX 5850's are going to be able to push 5760x1200? Or should I be looking for a 5970? Or even CFX 5870's?