Crossfire question - ATI 5850 and 5830 pairing??

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G.T

G.T

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Paganisterr
Ak Paganister
Hi all

Interesting question... would you be able to Crossfire these two cards together without any additional problems from pairing two 5850s together? I'm interested because the 5830 is considerably cheaper and I don't think the performance will drop that much compared to two 5850s, unless I'm wrong?

And I'm guessing a 700W power supply would power these cards without a problem (even though I read the 5830 actually consumes more power)?

I currently have a Sapphire 5850 and am interested in this XFX 5830:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/...aphicscards/atihd5800series/HD-583X-ZNFV.html
 
How many amps are available on the 12V rail? What PSU is it?

And, yes, you can run a mismatched Xfire setup, however, in cases such as this the setup will only be as strong as the weakest link, which is the 5830.
 
Terronium-12

And, yes, you can run a mismatched Xfire setup, however, in cases such as this the setup will only be as strong as the weakest link, which is the 5830.
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This, which is what has kept me from getting a cheaper card to Crossfire with.
 
It's a OCZ ModXStream. Not sure on the ampage but I would have to buy extra power connectors for the card - they are not supplied with it but it can handle crossfire:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/powersupplies/OCZ700MXSP-UK.html

I'm just worried about some people saying the quality of it isn't as good as they say and might not last as long as something from Corsair or Coolermaster or other good quality brands. Should I worry about this?
 
Hmm. 25A on two 12V rails. Seems fine to me but I have no experience in any multi-graphics cards setups.
 
G.T
It's a OCZ ModXStream. Not sure on the ampage but I would have to buy extra power connectors for the card - they are not supplied with it but it can handle crossfire:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/powersupplies/OCZ700MXSP-UK.html

I'm just worried about some people saying the quality of it isn't as good as they say and might not last as long as something from Corsair or Coolermaster or other good quality brands. Should I worry about this?
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Why go through the hassle of picking up two additional 6-pin power cables when you can just find a PSU with that scalability already in mind? Try going through Scan's inventory and find something there; ideally, look for a PSU with at least two 12v rails and offers two 8 (typically 6 + 2 pin) PCI-E connectors.

Even better.....

CM GX 750W

More power, more amps on a single rail, and 4 connectors. Cheaper, too.
 
Terronium-12

More power, more amps on a single rail, and 4 connectors. Cheaper, too.[/B][/COLOR]
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Actually that's 15amps per 12V rail. His power supply has 25amps per 12V rail so it does not mean it's better. Personally I would just order an cable because it's more economical to convert two molex cables into the needed power cable for the graphics card(I'm not sure if he owns the 700watt PSU yet).

He could go for this power supply(if he does not own the 700watt PSU). It has one 12V rail that puts out 60amps and it would easily power a crossfire set up.

But if he does own the 700watt PSU and it has 50amps across it's two 12V rails. That can handle a crossfire setup and the rest of the computer parts. It's better to spend the 5 pounds than spending 50-100 pounds for a new power supply just for a few extra cables.
 
nick09
Actually that's 15amps per 12V rail. His power supply has 25amps per 12V rail so it does not mean it's better. Personally I would just order an cable because it's more economical to convert two molex cables into the needed power cable for the graphics card(I'm not sure if he owns the 700watt PSU yet).

He could go for this power supply(if he does not own the 700watt PSU). It has one 12V rail that puts out 60amps and it would easily power a crossfire set up.

But if he does own the 700watt PSU and it has 50amps across it's two 12V rails. That can handle a crossfire setup and the rest of the computer parts. It's better to spend the 5 pounds than spending 50-100 pounds for a new power supply just for a few extra cables.
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What are you on about?

There's a single rail (PSU I suggested) that provides 60A (720W).
 
I was just a bit confused. Instead of ordering a new power supply I would just order a power adapter for the second graphics card. You should be able to power two of them on a 700 watt power supply. Of course it would mean not really any more room for an upgrade but it's better to save money during these times.
 
Terronium-12
You do realize he's already aware that the PSU needs to be upgraded and isn't running two 5830's, right?
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Yeah I get it.:dopey: What I was trying to point out is that instead of buy a new Video card And a new PSU he should look at selling the 5850 and buy a better card like a GTX 480, GTX 570 or even an AMD 5870. After running Crossfire X and using Catalyst software I would be looking at Nvidia options.
 
nick09
I was just a bit confused. Instead of ordering a new power supply I would just order a power adapter for the second graphics card. You should be able to power two of them on a 700 watt power supply. Of course it would mean not really any more room for an upgrade but it's better to save money during these times.
Click to expand...

That's running the risk of overloading the unit, especially if the OP's mainboard uses the EPS standard to power everything....although both rails offer 25A, which of course is a combined effort of 50A. Shouldn't be a problem in the slightest.

If the OP is looking for a new PSU anyway, I'd still recommend the CM unit as it takes scalability into consideration and has a rock-solid single 12v rail. 👍


GT3mich
Yeah I get it. What I was trying to point out is that instead of buy a new Video card And a new PSU he should look at selling the 5850 and buy a better card like a GTX 480, GTX 570 or even an AMD 5870. After running Crossfire X and using Catalyst software I would be looking at Nvidia options.
Click to expand...

Both the 480 nd 570 are more expensive; if that's the case he'd might as well pick up a 6950 and unlock it.
 
Unless I'm missing something, the current PSU I do have can handle crossfire (it does have slots for two extra 6/8 pin connectors) and you're saying I need another one which comes with both sets of cables already? Why can't I just buy the extra cables for my current one? :confused: Unless there's some false advertising going on or it can't handle cards of this power usage?

And I did think about selling this and getting a GTX570... I should really, would be less hassle. But I think having an extra 5850 would be more worth it. :)

I think I'll just cut out the 5830 option now - was just trying to save a few bucks. :P But I would like to know exactly what's up with my current power supply if it's totally capable of doing crossfire. I've had enough hassle with them as it is.


And I run at 1920x1080, have a secondary monitor as well.
 
Okay, another quick silly question - hard drives don't use a lot of power right? I do have a second one in my PC (just two ordinary 7200rpm drives), I just don't want that to draw enough power for the power supply not to cope. :lol:

I have an i7 860 which I THINK is only 95W, so that isn't too bad compared to that AMD.
 
G.T
Unless I'm missing something, the current PSU I do have can handle crossfire (it does have slots for two extra 6/8 pin connectors) and you're saying I need another one which comes with both sets of cables already? Why can't I just buy the extra cables for my current one? :confused: Unless there's some false advertising going on or it can't handle cards of this power usage?

And I did think about selling this and getting a GTX570... I should really, would be less hassle. But I think having an extra 5850 would be more worth it. :)

I think I'll just cut out the 5830 option now - was just trying to save a few bucks. :P But I would like to know exactly what's up with my current power supply if it's totally capable of doing crossfire. I've had enough hassle with them as it is.


And I run at 1920x1080, have a secondary monitor as well.
Click to expand...

So, you had that PSU all along? Why didn't you make mention of that from the get-go instead of just supplying a link giving the impression it's what you wanted to buy? Would have saved a lot of hassle on both ends.

Again, why even consider a GTX 570 when you can pick up an HD6950 for less and unlock it by flashing the BIOS?
 
Terronium-12
So, you had that PSU all along? Why didn't you make mention of that from the get-go instead of just supplying a link giving the impression it's what you wanted to buy? Would have saved a lot of hassle on both ends.

Again, why even consider a GTX 570 when you can pick up an HD6950 for less and unlock it by flashing the BIOS?
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Ah I should have made that clearer - I have posted about my power supply on here so much lately I forgot to say that was what I was using. :P

And I've heard some 6950s don't unlock properly? Or barely even run any faster after the unlock? I'd rather have the GTX570 and overclock that to GTX580 speeds and not bust the warranty by flashing the AMD.

I'm more interested in the extra 5850 now anyways. :)
 
G.T
Ah I should have made that clearer - I have posted about my power supply on here so much lately I forgot to say that was what I was using. :P

And I've heard some 6950s don't unlock properly? Or barely even run any faster after the unlock? I'd rather have the GTX570 and overclock that to GTX580 speeds and not bust the warranty by flashing the AMD.

I'm more interested in the extra 5850 now anyways. :)
Click to expand...

It's no problem, just would have saved me a lot of unnecessary tech babbling. :lol:

Talk to Casio about that as I'm still getting myself up to date with everything, but I haven't heard anything about but I wouldn't doubt it as the same thing happened with the X1800GTO and if I'm not mistaken, the 1950XT as well. A little bit back in the past I know but those are the only two I can recall offhand. :P
 
Anyways, thanks all for your help.

I'm probably not going to buy it now, I was just considering it. I currently don't use this PC a lot for gaming I just thought I'd make sure this is the right move to do before Crysis 2 and other big games come out. The single 5850 does do more than what I want it to do right now but I'm not sure it'll be on par to running Crysis 2 at full specs. :lol:

We'll have to see I guess. :)
 
Rumour is that Crysis 2 won't use any more system requirements than Crysis 1. Consider they're building it for consoles as well.
 
Yeah, I was just worried about the DX11 requirements, since the ATI 5*** cards are a little weak at it anyways. But we'll see. :)

The have improved it though. It's why I'm so glad I moved to ATI at the moment because they release monthly drivers improving things.
 
I haven't found a usable updated driver since 10.4. Anything newer and it messes up other functions with my computer or it causes BFBC2 to not work. In game crash to the desktop was happening way to often. So I rolled back to 10.4 and have stayed there for months now. Computer works fine so I leave it alone.
 
Ah yeah they have all been fine with me until 10.12... where the screen would randomly flicker or occasionally blue screen. 10.11 was fine before that - I reverted back to it and it still did it. Back to 10.10 and it has been fine. :)
 

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