crossfire?

[DarkEgo]

I would like to thank everyone in advance for reading my thread!
:toast:
I have a Diamond Viper 3870 right now and i was wondering if it would be better to get another Diamond Viper 3870, or get a card that is now cheaper (i.e. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161218 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719 ) or to just save up and get a 3870x2. By the way i have a x38 motherboard. (Asus P5E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219 ) my CPU is a E7200 and my memory is 2 GB of Mushkin DDR2 800. I am running this on a 1440 by 900 19" monitor.

[farlex85]

I would actually go for an even cheaper 3850, like asus or HIS, which both go for $129 on the egg. Otherwise, the prices are close enough you might as well get another viper.

[acperience7]

Personally I would just get a second card. The performance should comparable to an X2.

[DarkEgo]

Wouldn't a 3850 lower the clock speeds of my 3870 though?

[farlex85]

Yes I think so, I actually don't have much experience w/ cf, someone else could tell you better. I don't think it will matter much in terms of real performance on your monitor though. If you want the best speeds stick w/ the same card.

[Kei]

Have you checked out BestBuy in your area (if you have one)...if not then get online and order the Visiontek HD3870 from them now! I'm certain there aren't going to be many left after long but they're clearing them all out to make room for the new cards coming out...the price is $129 for a 3870!!!!

I just picked up a second one yesterday morning and they gave me a coupon that took my price down to a super low $114 at the register. You can't buy a card anywhere near this performance for that money. If you've got a BestBuy then get to it now!

So far it's more than worth it and I'm still getting everything tweaked and setup.

K

Btw, I also have a Diamon 3870 as my first card (high clocks of 931/2804Mhz no hardware mods).

[J-Man]

Get a second 3870. I plan on having a crossfire configuration with 2 3870 X2's.

[DarkEgo]

would their e any problems with using two 3870's from different manufacturers. (i.e. driver problems, a performance hit)

[spearman914]

would their e any problems with using two 3870's from different manufacturers. (i.e. driver problems, a performance hit)

No, its fine. But in crossfire the clocks will be lowered to the lowest clocked one (or is it only applies to SLI???). For example:

Diamond 3870- 725/1425
Saphire 3870- 700/1500

They both will be reduced to: 700/1425

[DarkEgo]

you guys dont think adding a 3870 X2 is worth it

[JrRacinFan]

No, its fine. But in crossfire the clocks will be lowered to the lowest clocked one (or is it only applies to SLI???). For example:

Diamond 3870- 725/1425
Saphire 3870- 700/1500

They both will be reduced to: 700/1425

That is correct. But you also have the option to use AMD GPU Clock tool to bring those clocks back up.:)

@Darkego

I don't beleive it would be.

[sneekypeet]

Why not just run the HD you have now and wait a couple of weeks tops, and Im sure your mind will change.

I say the money at this point in the game is best saved!

[erocker]

With an X38 motherboard get a 2nd 3870. Unless you want to wait about two weeks for the HD 48XX series.

[DarkEgo]

i don't really want a 48x0 card because that would mean i would have to get rid of my 3870 for a lot less then i payed for it, but i am going to wait until then to buy my 3870 because prices should drop, A LOT hopefully!

[Kei]

That is correct. But you also have the option to use AMD GPU Clock tool to bring those clocks back up.:)

@Darkego

I don't beleive it would be.

Actually that must be very card/board dependant. I have my original Diamond 3870 and just put in a Visiontek 3870 and the clocks on the Visiontek are 796/2340 vs. 772/2252. Both clocks remained completely seperate no matter what drivers I tried (8.2,8.4,8.4 hotfix, and 8.5 so far).

The lowering of clocks must be motherboard dependant or something as I've had no problems at all. All clocks verified by GPU-Z and CCC with no issues.

K

[JrRacinFan]

Confirm it. I flashed one of my pro's for 675/475 before I picked up the second one. It downclocked.

[Kei]

Confirm it. I flashed one of my pro's for 675/475 before I picked up the second one. It downclocked.

If you'd like I can provide screen shots of the clocks when at stock. I think the only reason yours are downclocking is because you're using 2000 series cards on a much older board than I am.

That's the only reason I can think of that your stuff is like it is...

I've attatched a screenshot of just after I put the system together for a quick run to make sure everything worked. Sorry the clocks aren't 100% stock but I raised the clock on the Diamond card so that I could get the clocks to be the same which is why you'll see different clocks. Either way listed just below the fresh overclock is the stock clocks for both cards and you can clearly see that the Visiontek card is the faster card and is not downclocked the automatically to match the Diamonds slower speeds.

Hope that helps, if not I can just make another screenshot with them all at stock clocks again but I think this shot should be sufficient enough. :)

K

[JrRacinFan]

Don't get me wrong I'm just curious that's all. :)

[Kei]

Haha no no, no worries :) I just wanted to make sure you could see it all. I'm not really sure if SLI has that issue as well or if it's only with older cards as I didn't bother to SLI with my old 8800GT OC. Then again the ATi cards lend themselves better to this so maybe it's true on SLI. *shrugs*

K