3 X ATI Radeon HD 7950 versus 2 X ATI Radeon HD 7970

I am a hardcore gamer and I play most of the latest games. Till now I was using Nvidia graphic cards in my system. Now I think I am planning to change the graphic cards of my system. I am thinking that I will try AT graphic cards for a change. I visited the official website of ATI and was looking for high end graphic cards. During this browsing, ATI Radeon HD 7950 and ATI Radeon HD 7970 caught my attention. I think that these are the graphic cards that will fulfill my needs. Before I buy them, I needed some opinion and views from experienced users. How good are they when compared among themselves? If I need to buy ATI Radeon HD 7950, I will be buying 3 of them and if I need to buy ATI Radeon HD 7970, then I’ll buy 2 of them. Does anyone else use these graphic cards?

First thing, these graphic cards won’t support PhysX that is supported by Nvidia Graphic Cards. So the games that need PhysX will be optimized to perform well on these graphic cards. Games like Battlefield 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mafia 2 have many effects that use PhysX support. Assuming you are playing Battlefield 3 on this graphic card, then the crashing of buildings won’t be same as it was seen in system with Nvidia graphic cards. In short, you won’t find the dynamicity in the effects that need PhysX support. ATI graphic cards will just play the pre-animated effects instead of them.
Also you will need monitor with frequency that of 120 Hz. Without his, the graphic cards will be of no use as the graphic card will restrict itself to optimize for low frequency monitor.

According to my experience with ATI graphic cards, I suggest you to buy 2 X ATI Radeon HD 7970. In ATI graphic cards, if you have a single monitor or multiple monitor, you need to connect them to a single graphic card. This graphic card will act as primary graphic card and other as the secondary. The graphic cards have to be internally linked to each other to combine their power to fullest extent. The CrossfireX technology of ATI works properly only with combination of only 2 graphic cards. If you are using, 3 graphic cards together, then the CrossfireX technology won’t be supported. You will get the other options as high as that in 2 X ATI Radeon HD 7970. But it will be without CrossfireX effects.

You can create he CrossfireX effect using 3 graphic cards in your system. The 3 graphic cards will Crossfire each other in 3 way formation. Many people have tried his, but it hasn’t given successful results that 2 graphic cards can give when Crossfire is used. Many times, compatibility issues occur due to loss of support from some other peripheral. In my case, the RAM wasn’t able to cope up with the cache memory required for generating the CrossfireX effect in Modern Warfare 3. This lead to periodical crashing of my system. Crossfire with 3 graphic cards, out of which one might be different from other 2 hasn’t been successful most of the times.

CrossfireX effect using 3 graphic cards causes inconsistency in framerate. Also you will need to provide high end cooling system to keep the graphic cards in proper condition.

I have been using AT graphic cards since last many years. I suggest you that you use 3 of ATI Radeon HD 7950. They are way better than 2 pieces of ATI Radeon HD 7970. If you are getting ATI Radeon HD 7950 for your system, then let me tell you that they require a good power supply. Their consumption of power supply is very high as compared to other graphic cards of their series. Also take care that he power is supplied in consistent manner. According to my observations, one ATI Radeon HD 7950 consumes around 300 watts. So when you use 3 of them, it will cost you 90 watts. Also the other peripherals will need their quota of power supply. So I suggest you to get a good PSU which can supply minimum of 1200 watts of power.

I suggest you that you get ATI Radeon HD 7970. Hey are less costly than the ATI Radeon HD 7950. Also the maintenance cost is less. Also the warranty period of ATI Radeon HD 7970 is better than ATI Radeon HD 7950. Plus if you put 3 graphic cards in your system, then only one slot will remain empty for sound card.