Crossfire 5850 vs 6970

[LiveFreeOrLagHard]

Alright, here's the deal

 

There are probably ten thousand topics on the internet on this, and I've read about all of them, but my case is a bit different. Well, not really different, but it has to do with different pricing and stuff.

 

I currently have a single 5850, it bottlenecks the system quite a bit, full specs:

 

3770k @ 4.4Ghz (H100i)

2x4GB Corsair RAM @ 1600Mhz

Crucial M4 256GB (And some other drives, they don't matter)

GA-Z77x-UD3H Mobo (yeah, I cheaped out on it a bit, the power delivery isn't all that great :()

650W 80+ gold PSU (Antec TruePower I believe)

 

I play at 1080p

 

So the question is the old "single newer card vs crossfire older cards"; get another 5850 (used) at about 100 euros, or a 6970 2GB (also used) for 160, then sell my old 5850 for 90-100 euros.

It seems to me that either the 5850 is overpriced or I can just get a really good deal on the 6970. I do know that I shouldn't buy used and all that, but I will anyway.

What would you guys do if you could get these deals? Expanding with a 2nd 6970 later doesn't seem an option without swapping my PSU out.

 

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

~LiveFreeOrLagHard

[xAcid9]

Get a HD7850 and overclock the hell out of it. Beat the HD6970(Stock of course), cooler, less power consumption, better driver support and free games.

[G.Freeman]

Honestly the HD 5850 was a great card and you will not see much performance gain going from one of those to an HD 6970. I recommend HD 5850 CF over a 6970.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/36269-amd-radeon-hd-7850-vs-6850-vs-5850-clocks/

[G.Freeman]

Get a HD7850 and overclock the hell out of it. Beat the HD6970(Stock of course), cooler, less power consumption, better driver support and free games.

The HD 7850 is on par at best with the HD 6970.

[iAsuno]

CF has some issues lately. And 5850 to a 6970 wont be much of a difference? I doubt that.

[G.Freeman]

CF has some issues lately. And 5850 to a 6970 wont be much of a difference? I doubt that.

CF always had the same issues but you never heard anyone complaining about them until nvidia brought it up LOL. I agree that a single 5850 to a single 6970 won't be much of a difference.

[xAcid9]

What if the moment AMD release Volcanic Island, 5000 series drop into legacy support. When that happened, waiting for proper crossfire support for newer game could be a PITA. D:

[LiveFreeOrLagHard]

Thanks for all of your quick responses!

 

I think I'll go with the second 5850 and buy a 9xxx or something when that comes out. (8xxx are just rebrands, right?)

Then the seocnd part: What would you guys pay (in euros) for a used XFX 5850 black edition? I feel like 100-110 euros is a bit overpriced there?

 

EDIT: And also, will I run into issues only having 1GB of Vram on the 5850's?