Graphics New to CrossfireX GPU advice needed

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by acrasal.mills, 24 Sep 2012.

  1. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
  2. mm vr

    mm vr The cheesecake is a lie

    Joined:
    18 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    84
    Things to keep in mind:

    - The two cards must be equal (the same model).

    - A single £60 card performs much better than two £30 cards.

    - That card doesn't even support CrossFire.
     
  3. mrMonkeyChunks

    mrMonkeyChunks EVGA Cheesecake

    Joined:
    4 Mar 2012
    Posts:
    1,395
    Likes Received:
    270
    What are you looking to do with this card? If you are looking to play games (particularly recent releases) I would suggest staying away from this card. The 5450 is the budget 5000 series card, designed more for video playback more than anything else.
     
  4. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    It clearly states on the box in top right corner crossfire. That's why I asked.

    I would like to use it for triple screen gaming can you suggest an alternative card that would be suitable.
     
  5. mrMonkeyChunks

    mrMonkeyChunks EVGA Cheesecake

    Joined:
    4 Mar 2012
    Posts:
    1,395
    Likes Received:
    270
    mm vr is wrong in respect to the crossfire, this card does support it.

    I assume you are looking at triple 1920x1080 screens? well, here is a link to bit-techs review of the 5450 at only 1280x800 linky

    to properly support a decent surround set up and high settings you are going to have to spend quite a bit of money than £30 and you are better spending it on a single card rather than 2 less powerful ones.

    this is in the ball park of what you might want to look at.
     
  6. rollo

    rollo Modder

    Joined:
    16 May 2008
    Posts:
    7,887
    Likes Received:
    131
    You can link any 2 cards in the same series for crossfire, however they will Clock down to the slowest card, for example a 5870 and a 5850.

    For triple screen gaming the minimum card your after is the 7970 or a 670 680 if you want anything like playable FPS.
     
  7. jifbo

    jifbo What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    23 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    20
    Likes Received:
    1
    Tom's hardware does a section on the best value graphics cards at various prices. They also suggest crossfire/SLI combinations which work just as well for the price.

    Further thoughts are that you need a motherboard capable of SLI/Crossfire, and a decent enough PSU to run both cards.
     
  8. Xaine

    Xaine Death... destroyer of brain cells

    Joined:
    19 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    371
    Likes Received:
    8
    While i'm just an observer, i've found this thread quite helpful thank you, especially the mention to Tom's hardware to comparison :)
     
  9. mrMonkeyChunks

    mrMonkeyChunks EVGA Cheesecake

    Joined:
    4 Mar 2012
    Posts:
    1,395
    Likes Received:
    270
    if you could give full details of your computer as it is at the moment that would be a great help too
     
  10. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    My computer as stands is phenom II x4 oc to 4.1 GHz an Asus m4a88t-v evo mob 16gb corsair vengeance and an Asus 2gb GPU a few years old forgot model though. I'm looking for a new build though so current hardwares not relevent
     
  11. mm vr

    mm vr The cheesecake is a lie

    Joined:
    18 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    84
    Fair enough, but I still don't see the point in running two such low end cards in CrossFire.

    As far as I know, if you want dual graphics cards for three monitors, you can't run the cards in CrossFire.
     
  12. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    OK then this is all advice I need as I'm unaware or what will do as first the GPU buying
     
  13. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    What's your budget?
     
  14. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    I don't mind how much as long as its a good card that can do the job. As I can always save up.
     
  15. mm vr

    mm vr The cheesecake is a lie

    Joined:
    18 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    2,968
    Likes Received:
    84
    What's your screen resolution? Which games do you play?
     
  16. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    5760x1080: Look at a GeForce GTX 660 Ti or GTX 670 range at least imo. That's HD 7870/7950 range.

    I've only tested our Tytan with GTX 680 in BF3 and a few other games, but I recon you could get away with 1-2 notches lower just fine :) I can't see another significantly GPU hardcore title hitting the market in the next 6 months tbh.
     
  17. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have a 1920 x 1080 at the minute but will invest in a few more once I have GPU. Looking for it to play cod bo2 and similar games and also racing sims too with best graphics possible.
     
  18. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

    Joined:
    16 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    13,031
    Likes Received:
    621
    COD doesn't need much GPU horsepower at all.

    Why are you going SLI? A single powerful card will be a much smoother experience.
     
  19. acrasal.mills

    acrasal.mills What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    13
    Likes Received:
    0
    I was advice by a colleague to go sli but thought I would seek further advice before committing to it as I have always gone solo GPU in the past. I have been looking at the geforce 670 but found about a dozen varieties anyone able to explain the difference to me?
     
  20. Otis1337

    Otis1337 aka - Ripp3r

    Joined:
    28 Nov 2007
    Posts:
    4,714
    Likes Received:
    227
    coming from someone thats been running crossfire for quite a while now.... dont do it.
     
Tags:

Share This Page