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2 midrange graphics cards in crossfire or 1 high end graphics card

post #1 of 15
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i am on a budget and was wondering if somebody can give me an opinion on whether to get two mid range cards and put in crossfire or just get 1 high end card. has to be radeon cards b/c my motherboard is crossfire not sli. budget is 200-350 dollars for the cards. asus crosshair iv amd 1090t 8gb of corsair ddr3 1600 corsair 750w psu. read plenty of reviews on the cards but still confused of what to buy.
post #2 of 15
1 high end gives better minimum frames, but probalby worse average frames
    
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post #3 of 15
Get 1 high end card such as a GTX 570, GTX580, HD6950, HD6970.

Personally I'd go for 2 HD6950's and unlock them.
    
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post #4 of 15
2 6790's beat a 6970 in crossfire, however I would advise the 6970 because you wont need to deal with cfx issues.
    
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post #5 of 15
Single GTX 570/HD 6950. Use the rest for an upgrade somewhere else. Or, save up for a second.
Pegasus
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Pegasus
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post #6 of 15
One good card.
post #7 of 15
Go for a single high end card, then add a second later. Buying two lower end cards is a bad move, as it gives no upgrade path without replacing both.
    
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post #8 of 15
Single card. In your budget, you can easily find a GTX580 (I've seen them go for very near $350), GTX570's, or a HD6970 2GB. Any of those cards would be great. I ALWAYS go for the strongest single GPU solution. No reason to mess with more heat, driver issues, game compatibilities, etc...with SLI / Crossfire, when you can afford the single strongest GPU on the market.
    
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post #9 of 15
High end single GPU card solution has always been my video card choice. Two mid level cards can equal or slightly surpass however may come with, SLI and/or scaling, microstutter, driver, and heat issues.

For your $250-$300 budget one high end card is better than two $125-$150 mid-level cards.

Hope this helps in answering at least 'one high end or two mid-level cards' question.

You'd be best off with one of these.

MSI Twin Frozr III AMD 6950 $299.99 with $7.87 shipping.

MSI Twin Frozr III GTX 560ti $269.99 with $4.99 shipping.

MSI Lightning GTX 480 $329.99 free shipping

Sapphire AMD 6970 $349.99 with free shipping

Personally the GTX 480 Lightning is the highest performance, best bang for you buck out of these choices. The non-reference cooling is superb and you'll get some really nice over clocks.

Good luck in what ever you choose and let us know what you decided after you pull the trigger.
 
OCN Yin Yang [3D]
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|SAMSUNG 840 Pro 256 |WD VelociRaptor 1TB |CORSAIR H100 |DELL U2713HM 1440p [80 Hz] 
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OCN Yin Yang [3D]
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
|INTEL i7 3770K [4.5] |ASUS Sabertooth Z77 |EVGA GTX 690 [1150 MHz] |G.SKILL 16GB Trident X 2400 
Hard DriveHard DriveCoolingMonitor
|SAMSUNG 840 Pro 256 |WD VelociRaptor 1TB |CORSAIR H100 |DELL U2713HM 1440p [80 Hz] 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
|LOGITECH G710+ |CORSAIR AX850 |NZXT Phantom 410 |ROCCAT Savu 
Mouse PadAudioAudioAudio
|ROCCAT Taito Mid-3mm |SENNHEISER HD650 |SCHIIT Magni Amp |SCHIIT Modi DAC 
AudioOtherOtherOther
|BOSE Companion 3 |MIONIX NAOS 8200 |ASUS BW12B1ST Blu-Ray |Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
|Intel i7 950 [4.0Ghz] |ASUS Sabertooth X58 |EVGA GTX 680 [1222 MHz] |Corsair Vengeance 24GB 1600MHz  
Hard DriveCoolingMonitorKeyboard
|WD Cavair Black 1TB |Cooler Master V6 GT |ASUS 27" VG278H 120Hz |Razer Anasasi 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
|Corsair HX1050 Watt |CoolerMaster HAF 912 - Modded |Roccat Savu Roccat Sota 
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|NETGEAR A6200 802.11ac |Windows 8 Pro 64Bit 
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post #10 of 15
Did hardware prices go up lately ? $300 HD6950 when 3 months ago it was less than $250.
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