dual Radeon HD 7770's in crossfire or single 7870?

[TheCanadianGamer16]

hi, right now my system is as follows, an AMD FX-6100 @3.9Ghz, and a Power Color Radeon HD 7770 OC'ed, im looking to get an upgrade for graphics, ive looked into and it seems that dual R7770's is about the same performance as a single 7870, but that would mean finding someone to buy the card i have and having to wait even longer for the upgrade, or should i get the second 7770 since it is about equal performance?

[gamer tom]

Single 7870 is better. Always choose single card solutions

[dchen12]

Well, the best thing to do would be to find someone to buy the card. Even if adding a second 7770 is about equal the performance, you might run into issues with Crossfire and I've heard that's a pretty big hassle to deal with. Also adding a second card would increase heat, and power consumption.

[TechFan@ic]

Crossfire & SLI should be generally avoided especially @ the lower end .

[TheCanadianGamer16]

Well, the best thing to do would be to find someone to buy the card. Even if adding a second 7770 is about equal the performance, you might run into issues with Crossfire and I've heard that's a pretty big hassle to deal with. Also adding a second card would increase heat, and power consumption.

power consumption isn't an issue, i have a 600W 80+ PSU, and also good ventilation so heat is fine

[TheCanadianGamer16]

Single 7870 is better. Always choose single card solutions

why would i always choose a single card over dual, especially since selling the card i won't get as much as i paid, so i wouldn't be able to buy the card, also, wouldn't the 6100 bottleneck a 7870?

[dchen12]

Well, the best thing to do would be to find someone to buy the card. Even if adding a second 7770 is about equal the performance, you might run into issues with Crossfire and I've heard that's a pretty big hassle to deal with. Also adding a second card would increase heat, and power consumption.

Ok, that's fine then. I still disagree on dual card setup solely on the fact that you might run into issues and it's probably not worth the trouble. And also what TechFanaic said.

[TheCanadianGamer16]

Crossfire & SLI should be generally avoided especially @ the lower end .

why does it matter if its the lower end, and actually its on the the up side of the midranged cards

[gamer tom]

Single 7870 is better. Always choose single card solutions

Two cards don't scale as well as one and the 6100 won't bottleneck a 7870.

[Milo Pod]

Just tuck away some some cash for a bit. The 7770 is a decent card at it's price range but I wouldn't waste money on a crossfire setup with that card. The 7870 will be a lot better in the long run. And maybe later on you could get another 7870 for crossfire.

[William4037]

The 7870 will be better. As not all games support crossfire.

[TechFan@ic]

Crossfire & SLI should be generally avoided especially @ the lower end .

Good question.

It matters because if you face any compatibility issues with corssfire (and you most definitely will) you will need to disable one of the multiple GPUs you have installed .

Now if you are using two lower end GPUs (two 7750s for example) & you disable one, the performance hit will be massive, and the FPS will probably dip below the 30FPs mark.

But if you you have two high end GPUs (2 7950s for example) even if you disable one, you will still have very playable FPS and the game will most likely not dip below 30 FPS .

I actually posted this answer before but the server went down for 10 minutes and it was deleted for some reason .

[msi_mpower_z77]

I would stick with. 1 gpu u be better off just saveing up for a 7970 or higher its always better to go with 1 high end gpu then doin crossfire cuz havein 2 will end up haveing driver problems

[cafe]

7870

I would recommend you save for a 7950 or a 7970 though

[XiaoPigs]

Get the 7870. Scaling for dual low end GPUs is not good. But if you can save up I would like those guys above me recommend you to save more for a 7950 or 7970 if you can. The 7870 is still an excellent mid end GPU though ~

[Dim]

It really does depend. Since you've realized the 7770 is not enough, you can get another 7770. However, I would recommend against it if you can get a 7870 by selling your 7770. There are too many complexities with crossfiring low-end cards that make the price : performance ratio not very good.

It's up to you, really. Personally I would sell the 7770 and get a 7870, which is a mid-high end card. However, if you're happy to deal with any optimization issues, microstuttering, etc. then sure, go for another 7770. My recommendation is against it, as it's more of a hassle than a help.

Here's the thing: every user above me has warned against crossfiring 7770's. There is a reason for this. It would be wise to take what we've stated under consideration. In the end, it's your choice, but you will find issues with crossfire, I can almost guarantee it. As TechFan@ic stated, there's a reason why crossfiring entry level cards is a bad idea and it's primarily due to crossfire optimization and scaling level.

My advice is take this opportunity to get a non-reference 7870, which will give more than double performance over a reference 7770, without looking awkward in your case (as mix-matched cards do).

[Dim]

It really does depend. Since you've realized the 7770 is not enough, you can get another 7770. However, I would recommend against it if you can get a 7870 by selling your 7770. There are too many complexities with crossfiring low-end cards that make the price : performance ratio not very good.

It's up to you, really. Personally I would sell the 7770 and get a 7870, which is a mid-high end card. However, if you're happy to deal with any optimization issues, microstuttering, etc. then sure, go for another 7770. My recommendation is against it, as it's more of a hassle than a help.

Here's the thing: every user above me has warned against crossfiring 7770's. There is a reason for this. It would be wise to take what we've stated under consideration. In the end, it's your choice, but you will find issues with crossfire, I can almost guarantee it. As TechFan@ic stated, there's a reason why crossfiring entry level cards is a bad idea and it's primarily due to crossfire optimization and scaling level.

My advice is take this opportunity to get a non-reference 7870, which will give more than double performance over a reference 7770, without looking awkward in your case (as mix-matched cards do).

If you're reaally struggling to make the money for the 7870, you could even just upgrade to a 7850. Trust me, the performance difference between a 7850 and a 7770 might not seem like a lot, but it certainly is.