5850 and 6850 crossfire?

[GoDMiN]

So I own a 5850 that I think is dying due to artifacts. The card has caused me problems since day 1 and SAPPHIRE's amazing RMA service hasn't been a help. I was looking to replace it because of this however the thought did cross my mind about getting a 6850 (which actually seems to be a slower card according to the benchmarks) and crossfiring them together.

Do you guys think this would be a good idea or should I stop being such a cheap ♥♥♥ and just buy a 6870 like everyone else? My PSU could more than handle the two cards.

[dOnUt!?]

Or, y'know... There's nVidia

[Doc_Gonzo]

You can't crossfire a 5850 and a 6850. What kind of budget do you have?

[GoDMiN]

Originally Posted by Doc_Gonzo

You can't crossfire a 5850 and a 6850. What kind of budget do you have?

I thought you could crossfire any ati card together? As far as budget I really don't have one, though I'm trying to spend as little as possible while keeping the performance I already have

Also I don't want nVidia I run 3 monitors and I'm not buying two new cards to do that when I could get a single AMD card.

[Slipknot3711]

These are 2 different chips from 2 different series you can't x-fire them.

[Derp-Master]

Originally Posted by GoDMiN

I thought you could crossfire any ati card together? As far as budget I really don't have one, though I'm trying to spend as little as possible while keeping the performance I already have

Also I don't want nVidia I run 3 monitors and I'm not buying two new cards to do that when I could get a single AMD card.

You know the 6XX series cards can run tri monitor setup on one card right?

And considering you said you were gonna get a 6850/6870, have fun actually getting a tri monitor setup to run smoothly.

[GoDMiN]

Originally Posted by Derp-Master

You know the 6XX series cards can run tri monitor setup on one card right?

And considering you said you were gonna get a 6850/6870, have fun actually getting a tri monitor setup to run smoothly.

Two things. My single 5850 has no problem running eyefinity, and I don't actually use that anymore. I use 3 monitors mainly for multitasking. I also know the 6xx cards run 3 monitors by themselves.

[NotYourHero]

Originally Posted by Derp-Master

You know the 6XX series cards can run tri monitor setup on one card right?

And considering you said you were gonna get a 6850/6870, have fun actually getting a tri monitor setup to run smoothly.

6870 has no issue with trimonitor. Nvidia is the one who fails to high resolutions. Its funny though, nvidia still uses 256-bit memory while amd has started using 384-bit memory. Its this right here that makes 7900 series better for high res.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3232-8.html

As you can see here the 680 and the 7970 go punch for punch until 2560 x 1600 and then the 680 falls behind. I don't get why nvidia did not use faster memory.

[-RASCAL-]

As people has stated, you can Crossfire a Radoen HD 5850 with a 6850 / 6870.

Crossfire Compatibilty Chart directly from AMD.
http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/im...ombo_chart.jpg

The newer updated chart (includes the Radeon HD 5000, 6000, and 7000 series and all the new motherboard chipsets).
http://sites.amd.com/PublishingImage...hart_1618W.jpg

The 6870 uses a different chip design than the 5000 series.

The only exception was the Radeon HD 5770 / 5750 with the HD 6770 / 6750. Why? the HD 6700 series are the 5700 series but with a simply BIOS update and changes to the output ports.

" Based on the same hardware as the ATI Radeon™ HD 5700 Series..."
- AMD.com

By the way, they changed the naming scheme starting the HD 6000 series, that's why the 6850 is slower than the 5850. This is also why the 5770 is pretty much the 6770.
So it goes...
5850 > 6950 > 7950
5770 > 6870 > 7870
5670 > 6770 > 7770


Now if that out of the way....

If your HD 5850 is dying (and they are showing it's age), would be better to just upgrade to a new card.

The performance of the HD 5850 is RIGHT in between the HD 6850 and 6870.
So if you just want to replace your 5850, and 6870 would be...it.

For a worthwhile AND noticeable upgrade, you are looking at:
- HD 7850 / 7870
- HD 6950 or 6970
- or better.


I'm personally still running two HD 5850's in my system, and I won't lie, they are showing their age / limitations (BF3 being one). I'm looking to swap them out for a 7970, but some say the HD 8000 series is just right around the corner...

[GoDMiN]

Tbh the only games I play atm are GW2 and TF2, and don't really have any plans anything else atm. Especially BF3 due to origin *Pukes in his mouth a little*

I went to get something to eat today and remembered a local computer store that was in the area and picked up a 6870. They had them for about $20 more than newegg and I didn't want to wait til Monday to fix my computer so said to hell with it and got it.

[Tittles]

Originally Posted by GoDMiN

I thought you could crossfire any ati card together? As far as budget I really don't have one, though I'm trying to spend as little as possible while keeping the performance I already have

Also I don't want nVidia I run 3 monitors and I'm not buying two new cards to do that when I could get a single AMD card.

Hi, i have a gtx560 ti and i run two monitors (and one is 2560x1600). The new 600 series are much more powerful than my card and they will definitely be fine with 3 monitors.