Need Help about the 7870

Hardware GPU
1

Hi fellow Teks

I have been a long time lurker first time poster. So since black friday just happend and I missed most of the deals :(. I still went ahead and build myself a new computer. Since my 6year old AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz and 8800GT cant keep up anymore  Rest in peace you have given me lots of joy.. 
So now that thats over with here is my question (Spec. below) I want to run Crossfire but am not sure if its possible to use different brands from different retailers since the Sapphire I purchased is currently out of stock.
I already bought x1 Sapphire 7870(Core clock - 1050MHz | Memory Cloc 1200MHz (4.8Gbps) |Stream Processors - 1280 Stream Processors) since it came in a bundle and am looking to buy either the 
XFX 7870Core clock - 1000MHz | Memory Cloc 1200MHz (4.8Gbps) |Stream Processors - 1280 Stream Processors
HIS IceQ 7870 Core clock - 1000MHz | Memory Cloc 1200MHz (4.8Gbps) |Stream Processors - 1280 Stream Processors
ASUS 7870Core clock - 1000MHz | Memory Cloc 1200MHz (4.8Gbps) |Stream Processors - 1280 Stream Processors

so in conclusion is it possible to use to different brands? If so are these cards worth getting or should I just wait till the Sapphire 7870 comes back on sell.

Thanks in advance!

side note - sorry for the wall of text and bad english(its not my first language) 


MY RIG(ordered but not build),
Case | Corsair Carbide Series 400R
Mobo | ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0
CPU | AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz
Cooling | Cirsair H100
Ram | G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (1866)
PSU | Rosewill 1000W 80Plus Bronze Certified 
VGA | Sapphire 7870 GHz Edition 2GB
Monitor | Acer 24" 5ms LED

2

That is exactly what I'm building right now!

As far as I know you can't place different graphic cards into SLI/Crossfire, but then again I'm not much of an expert. 

Off topic: Once you assemble it i want to know: How is that water cooling working out for you? Are you satisfied or do you wish you had chosen something else? How are you satisfied with the rig?

3

Hi paleozoik,

as soon as I build it ill post the results her. i went a little overkill with the cooling the h80i(single fan) should be just fine.

i also posted this on Toms Hardware and a couple of posters said that it would work using different brands as long as its a 7870.

here is the link http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1910764/7870-crossfire-questions-answered.html#12084539

4

From what I've read, crossfire is for AMD and you can use different cards but SLI is for Nvidia and needs matching cards.

5

ya from what I can tell and from the post i read u can crossfire different amd brans but no SLI.. kinda sucks :/

6

Yes, you shouldn't have a problem crossfiring two different brands of the same card. IIRC the CrossfireX driver/ software in CCC will simply adjust the clocks so that they are the same. That being said, I've never actually gotten it to work. I tried Crossfiring two 6950's of different manufacturers and couldn't do it, something about an atidag.sys driver or something. Everywhere I looked said it could be a multitude of different things, so I ended up just selling them for cheap and grabbing a single 3gb Sapphire 7950. Good luck with Crossfire, as it was a total pain in the ass for me, but it should work fine for you! :D

7

I want to crossfire my 7870 as well,I have the gigabyte 7870 windforce  and now that the r7 and r9 series are out I suppose 7870 is out of production,thing is,I'll have enough money for another 7870 in about 2months and I want to get the exact 7870 as I currently have since it's so amazing,I never hear it and never see it go above 67Degrees. Any info about the 7000 series being discontinued? It kinda kills me thinking that I won't be able to find a gigabyte 7870 anymore :/