Tri-GPU CrossFireX Gaming

Our final set of GPU tests are a little more on the esoteric side, using a tri-GPU setup with a HD5970 (dual GPU) and a HD5870 in tandem.  While these cards are not necessarily the newest, they do provide some interesting results – particularly when we have memory accesses being diverted to multiple GPUs (or even to multiple GPUs on the same PCB).  The 5970 GPUs are clocked at 800/1000, with the 5870 at 1000/1250.

Dirt 3

Dirt 3 on HD 5970 + HD 5870 (3x CFX)

Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite on HD 5970 + HD 5870 (3x CFX)

Tomb Raider

 

Tomb Raider on HD 5970 + HD 5870 (3x CFX)

Sleeping Dogs

 

Sleeping Dogs on HD 5970 + HD 5870 (3x CFX)

Our lopsided GPU CFX test is where we've seen the bigger discrepancies between memory kits, and the Patriot 2400 C10 hits the middle-to-high notes across the board.

Single dGPU Gaming CPU Real World
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  • julandorid - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    Thanks for the review, but what exactly "featured review" means?
  • IanCutress - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    That's a little tagline we can attach to the front page articles when they're on the top.
  • Wall Street - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    I think that it is the opposite of capsule review. A featured review is a.k.a. a full review.
  • TemjinGold - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    Whoa... why is the 2X4 by GSkill $520?
  • IanCutress - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    DDR-3000 C12: you have to bin a lot of ICs to get ones with the right voltage/performance characteristics for that kit. Same reason why the more expensive CPUs are also the faster (in MHz numbers or cores) than the cheaper ones.
  • ShieTar - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link

    True. But you can get DDR 2666 with CL10 for about 100€, so a set with an 7% shorter access time (higher "PI" as Ian insists on calling it), and only a 11% lower transfer rate for about a fifth of the price.
    The 500$ kit seems to be exclusively for those who don't have to work for their money, or maybe those who are hunting records as a hobby.
  • DanNeely - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link

    The very top of the line always is extremely expensive, and - when it's the result of extreme binning - has to be in order to limit demand to the miniscule supply available.
  • Gen-An - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link

    Exactly, they have to test the ICs individually with those tester kits and bin them for speed. I just find it amazing that a chip that is designed for say, 1600 C11 at 1.5v has the potential to run 3100 C12 with 1.65v, that's nearly double its rated clock speed with a mere 0.15v bump in voltage.
  • sf101 - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link

    If you want 2400 guaranteed out of the box you pay the premiums.

    most of the 2133 mhz black momba sticks could also do 2666mhz @ 10-13-10-30-2t but your voltages may vary.

    And more than likely some of that is because of individual IMC tolerances per cpu.
  • Franzen4Real - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link

    When it comes to memory, over the years I have tried to read up on different reviews and look at benchmarks in an attempt to understand when it is better to run tighter timings/lower MHz as opposed to looser timings/higher bandwidth. I'm sure it is a case by case basis, but was wondering if the always knowledgeable and helpful Anandtech commenters could give me a quick, dummy terms, explanation of when tight timings or clockspeed is better? Looking at your graph, it shows the C7 1866 through C10 2666 all having the same performance index score, but what situations do those different timings/MHz become better/worse? I hope this isn't too in depth of a question.

    I don't know if this analogy is correct, but I'm seeing it as if RAM was a race car on a track, high bandwidth/loose timings would mean your car travels faster, but has to do more laps around the track to complete. Tight timings/lower bandwidth means the car travels slower but doesn't have to do as many laps to complete. If I am correct on this, at what point does less laps trump traveling faster?

    As a side note, I am looking to build a Haswell desktop in Jan/Feb. It will have one GPU (probably one of the R9's) and more than likely a 2x8gb RAM kit. My usage would very roughly be 70% gaming, 25% rendering in 3DS Max and using some Adobe programs, 5% or less video encoding. I'm looking for help in deciding what to look for in this scenario, but also to finally have a better understanding of how these settings affect different workloads.

    Sorry for the wall of text!!

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