To crossfire for Skyrim ...?

[Face2Face]

Guys,

I currently own a HD 6870 1GB. Skyrim is the only game I play. I play @ 1080P with 4X AA and 16AF with everything on ultra. The game has been running pretty good, but lately it seems more choppy then It has ever been. I would like to run this game with everything maxed 8X 16X AA and AF on ultra. Would getting another HD 6870 do the trick? or buy a newer card? The least amount of money I have to spend the better. I can't seem to find any benchmarks on HD 6870's in CF for Skyrim.

Thanks!

EDIT* My Mobo only supports 16X/4X crossfire

 

[balane]

Why has the gameplay diminished in quality? Is it because of adding mods? In some games I've found that poorly written addons have had a profound effect on game performance so if you have them, you might want to look into it.

 

[Durvelle27]

i say go for an HD 6950

 

[toyota]

1gb of vram is not enough to let you crank even more AA and or use many mods so adding another 6870 is not going to help you there.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Buy a new card I would say.

 

[Face2Face]

Why has the gameplay diminished in quality? Is it because of adding mods? In some games I've found that poorly written addons have had a profound effect on game performance so if you have them, you might want to look into it.

Nope. Just the High Rez pack and Dawnguard. I have no idea why it's not running like it used to. I didn't change any hardware or drivers.

 

[Face2Face]

1gb of vram is not enough to let you crank even more AA and or use many mods so adding another 6870 is not going to help you there.

So if i wanted to use the High resolution texture pack and the run the game with 8X AA then 1GB would not be enough. Damn....

 

[Face2Face]

i say go for an HD 6950

I found a used one for $150 on Craigslist. I probably could sell my 6870 for $100-$120 bucks or so. Would it be worth the time and money?

 

[parkerlewis]

Maybe try leaving your game at 4X AA and adding http://mrhaandi.blogspot.com/p/injectsmaa.html to the mix? I use InjectSMAA in a lot of games with no other AA and they look great and take almost no performance hit.

 

[Face2Face]

Maybe try leaving your game at 4X AA and adding http://mrhaandi.blogspot.com/p/injectsmaa.html to the mix? I use InjectSMAA in a lot of games with no other AA and they look great and take almost no performance hit.

Hmm.. I will check it out.

 

[Durvelle27]

I found a used one for $150 on Craigslist. I probably could sell my 6870 for $100-$120 bucks or so. Would it be worth the time and money?

yes it would look at the Skyrim bench

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=510

 

[Face2Face]

yes it would look at the Skyrim bench

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=510

Wow.. Huge

 

[OVerLoRDI]

More video memory. Get a 2gb card

 

[cmdrdredd]

16x/4x has actually decreased performance in some cases. I did a search on this a while back because I was thinking of doing it.

 

[VRAMdemon]

More video memory. Get a 2gb card

I agree. No less than 2 gb if you want to crank up the AA with it moded with all the goodies.

 

[Shmee]

I agree. No less than 2 gb if you want to crank up the AA with it moded with all the goodies.

Good advice. Also, if you get lucky, the 6950 might be unlocked/unlockable

 

[RussianSensation]

1GB of VRAM is what's killing you. No point in CFing with another 1GB card. Sell it and get a 2GB card.

 

[lopri]

Just say no to Crossfire.

 

[Cerb]

So if i wanted to use the High resolution texture pack and the run the game with 8X AA then 1GB would not be enough. Damn....

Bingo.

I found a used one for $150 on Craigslist. I probably could sell my 6870 for $100-$120 bucks or so. Would it be worth the time and money?

I would say so, as long as that CL card is 2GB.

For reference and future use, Afterburner's OSD can give you VRAM usage in real time, and works with most games.

 

[Face2Face]

Sucks The 6950 2GB sold. Will have to keep looking. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Dark Shroud]

This 7850 with 2GB of ram comes out to $235 AR.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx785acnfc

If you can get it & sell your 6870. Then do Bitcoin mining to make up the difference.

 

[RussianSensation]

You can get the 7850 cheaper than that.

$207 with free shipping.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Yeah I'm starting to notice PCpartpicker.com doesn't seem to notice superbiz or tigerdirect.

 

[xapo99]

A friend had a 1Gb 560 ti card and was getting about 28-50fps with texture packs and other tweaks. But sometimes the game would stutter and lag down to a few fps. His solution....he got a NONE ti 560 but a 2gb and it ran like, well, erm, butter, never dropped below 40 fps.