Do I want another 6870?

[Hostile]

Will I see any improvement in gameplay or framerate with a second 6870 in my rig? As of now I have all settings in Black Ops and BC2 maxed out (@1920x1200) and both games play well but my average framerate could definitely be higher in BC2 when I'm in 32-player maps.

Another XFX 6870 is only going to set me back $200 but I have concerns with Crossfire in general when it comes to the driver support from ATi.

The fastest single-card GPUs in my budget are a GTX 570 or a HD 6970- but neither of these are going to be faster than a pair of 6870s are they?

I only upgrade every 2-3 years so whatever I have needs to last me and I feel like a single 6870 is good now, but maybe not so much in the coming year and, by then, 6870s will be hard to come by when I actually need to buy a second one.

 

[spaceman]

Most cost effective upgrade for you yes. Certainly faster than any single card short of a 6990? Dang close anyway. The only limitation might be AA and shaders in a year or so due to the 1gb limit. That and whatever crossfire issues arise. Seems to be much better these days though.

 

[Hostile]

Thanks for the reply spaceman, I just put in an order with Newegg for another 6870. Between the $30 instant rebate and $30 mail in rebate (check not novisacardgarbage) $179 isn't too bad for a second card.