GPU options for A 7 series AMD crossfire

[Domovoi0ng]

Sooo.....was planning to completely buy a new rig in 2015....but seeing as the new products have been delayed..(FU apple).....im planning on buying a second hand gpu to last me out 2015. 

Right now i have an amd 955be and a radeon 7850 1gig.   Mobo is a gigabyte 880gm usb3 rev 3.1  , PSU 550 watts and 8gb ram 

I was only able to hit 30-35 fps on this in the evolve alpha with mid-low settings.

What i wanted to know was, are R7 series cards compatible for crossfire? ; such as the R7 265 2gb or would i be better off with  a 7950 3gb.   

Also, what should i look out for when buying a second hand gpu? Besides checking that it posts. 
   
PS, how much can i overclock my cpu with a good air cooler?

 

thanks.

[WoodenMarker]

The 265 is a rebrand of the 7850 and would be compatible for crossfire. Saving up to upgrade to a 285/280x, etc would be better though.

How far your cpu can oc will depend on your individual chip and what you mean by 'good air cooler'.

[Archangel1994]

They can crossfire but it's not recommended. The 7950 (Get sapphire) is an R9 280 which is a very capable card and great value especially if you can get even a small deal on it

[Domovoi0ng]

I would prefer to crossfire with a second hand card. seeing as my current system is over 4 years old at this point and not at all powerful enough for my needs, which include content creation, im saving up for  a whole new rig when the new cpus/gpus release, which will be an intel/nvidea rig.  

So id like to know which cards i can/should crossfire with, just to get me through 2015!

 

 

 

How far your cpu can oc will depend on your individual chip and what you mean by 'good air cooler'.

A possible air cooler would be a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO or a Deepcool Frostwin.......how would cheaper coolers like Antec A40 do though? 

[WoodenMarker]

I would prefer to crossfire with a second hand card. seeing as my current system is over 4 years old at this point and not at all powerful enough for my needs, which include content creation, im saving up for  a whole new rig when the new cpus/gpus release, which will be an intel/nvidea rig.  

So id like to know which cards i can/should crossfire with, just to get me through 2015!

A possible air cooler would be a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO or a Deepcool Frostwin.......how would cheaper coolers like Antec A40 do though? 

Thee's no point cf'ing the 7850 with any card other than the 265. You should probably save up and try to get a better card instead.

That's a pretty darn wide range of coolers. The A40 and Tx3 can probably push ~3.6ghz+ depending on the chip.

[Domovoi0ng]

There's no point cf'ing the 7850 with any card other than the 265. 

 

the prices for me : 

 

sapphire / MSI R7265 2gig ddr5  -  240 $   

 

msi R9 270 2 gig - 275$ 

 

sapphire 7950 3gig ddr5 - also 240$ 

 

msi twin frozr 7850 2 gig ddr5 - 166$  

 

sapphire 7850 1 gig ddr5 - 116$   

 

 

Since the 7950 and r7265 are the same price for me, is the 265 still the best option? A  few details would be nice.    

You said i should save up for a 285/280x, would that crossfire with my current card or be standalone? That would be 325/400$ for me respectively. A bit over my budget   

  Thanks for your time WM

[WoodenMarker]

the prices for me : 

sapphire / MSI R7265 2gig ddr5  -  240 $   

msi R9 270 2 gig - 275$ =

sapphire 7950 3gig ddr5 - also 240$ 

msi twin frozr 7850 2 gig ddr5 - 166$  

sapphire 7850 1 gig ddr5 - 116$   

Since the 7950 and r7265 are the same price for me, is the 265 still the best option? A  few details would be nice.    

You said i should save up for a 285 or 280x, would that crossfire with my current card or be standalone?  

  Thanks for your time WM

The 7950 is much better than the 265. The 280 is a rebranded 7950.

I'd suggest saving up a bit more for an upgrade to a 7970/280x/285 though.

[Domovoi0ng]

I'd suggest saving up a bit more for an upgrade to a 7970/280x/285 though.

Just found a gigabyte 7970 3gig (the one with 3 fans)    and  sapphire 7970 3gig OC (flashed to GHz edition BIOS apparently) both  for 260$  

So ill run that in crossfire.   550 watt psu will be sufficient yes?    sorry if im being a little dense.  :rolleyes:

[WoodenMarker]

Just found a gigabyte 7970 3gig (the one with 3 fans)    and  sapphire 7970 3gig OC (flashed to GHz edition BIOS apparently) both  for 260$  

So ill run that in crossfire.   550 watt psu will be sufficient yes?    sorry if im being a little dense.  :rolleyes:

The 7970 and 7850 cannot be run in cf. There's no point in doing so though as a 7970 will outperform a 7850 cf. 

[Domovoi0ng]

Alright thats everything i needed to know. Thanks!