Looking for a crossfire solution

[Trik]

can't afford $700.00+ CARDS
but looking for feature rich most bang for the buck solution
Doesn't have to be cheap
just reasonably priced
Main card and secondary

TIA
Trik

[AMDScooter]

6950's.. unlock shaders... overclock.... profit.

My2c.

[Trik]

6950's.. unlock shaders... overclock.... profit.

My2c.

could you be a bit more specific, the main card and the slave?
Thanks

[AMDScooter]

^^^ Sorry about that. I'd recommend a pair of reference 6950's. No sense pairing up dissimilar cards as crossfire will default to the speeds of the slowest card. Unlock the shaders, topic has been discussed fairly thoroughly in this sub forum. Then overclock them. They are not horribly expensive ATM. I got mine for under $240AR with free shipping. IMHO they are the best bang/buck combo on the market today.

GL

[Trik]

Hi, thanks again can your recommend a mfg?
I was looking at the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-575-_-Product

Thanks again

[AMDScooter]

Hi, thanks again can your recommend a mfg?
I was looking at the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-575-_-Product

Thanks again

Nice cards. If you are planning on running stock or not modifyng them at all those would probably work fine. But I'd recommend looking for a reference board to have unlockable shaders, it's "free" performance. Hard to pass on for the price of admission.

The reference boards are typically still cheaper than the newer models with exotic/aftermarket coolers. Someting like this when they are back in stock:

MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

[3dfxrain]

Coolermaster computer case.

[3dfxrain]

P67A-UD4-B3/UD7-B3 I guess.

[<RuReady>]

I think the MB you have chosen is good but as scooter pointed out your ram is rated for 1.65v. and according to some reviews on newegg that board only does 1.5v. I looked at the gb website and no bios update to change that yet.
It's not a big deal but to be safe you should just get some 1.5v ram instead.
Like these perhaps:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231456

[Trik]

Hey guys I wanted to say thanks for all your help
In the end I went with 2 systems
One based on the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
and one based on the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD5-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

One for gaming and surfing and the other for email, messaging and media

the only real bummer is the 1.5v limitation
I really would have liked to have maxed out memory on the gaming rig

These are my first all new rigs in over 6 years
Can't wait to fire them up

Thanks again

[Trik]

Me again
I went ahead and ordered the 2600k
can you make some suggestions for a 3rd party HSF that will work with that GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD5-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
and COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Thanks again
Trik
(I haven't OC'ed since the Abit BX6r2 days ~)

[Activate: AMD]

Hey guys I wanted to say thanks for all your help
In the end I went with 2 systems
One based on the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
and one based on the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD5-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

One for gaming and surfing and the other for email, messaging and media

the only real bummer is the 1.5v limitation
I really would have liked to have maxed out memory on the gaming rig

These are my first all new rigs in over 6 years
Can't wait to fire them up

Thanks again

the 1.5v thing isn't a big deal. theres lots of decent 1.5v ram out there these days with the switch to SB (Intel recommends 1.5v for SB for mem controller reasons) Plus, with the unlocked multiplier its really not necessary to have crazy ram speeds, just up your multi and leave ram speed stock.

Me again
I went ahead and ordered the 2600k
can you make some suggestions for a 3rd party HSF that will work with that GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD5-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
and COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Thanks again
Trik
(I haven't OC'ed since the Abit BX6r2 days ~)

I've heard the Coolermaster hyper 212 is a great bang for the buck cooler