Talk to me about your Crossfire experiences...

I'm absolutely torn and after a week I can't make up my mind on what is best. I can't afford to get another 8990m for it just yet, maybe in six months, but I hear about the problems with crossfire and the microstuttering and that worries me.

I could get the 170SM with an upgraded CPU (4800mq) with the money I saved and just stick with a single card. As much as an enthusiast gamer as I'd like to be, I can live with lowering AA down if that gets me 60 fps in modern games. Screw you Metro, I'm not spending 3 grand to get your unoptimized game up to 60 fps, code your software better! Do you think I could get buy with a single card solution?

I think the best bang for my buck would be the 370Sm if I added another card. I checked the benchmarkers and it is obviously well ahead of another except for SLI 780m. So if they have fps benchmarks for those games, it is obvious that the games could work for crossfire. And the games that it doesn't crossfire on, probably don't need a dual card solution.

Help me make up my mind please.

 

When you said you couldn't afford another 8990m for "it", what exactly were you referring to (btw I'm assuming you meant 8970m)? A dual-GPU capable machine that you already own or plan to buy? Some clarifications there could certainly help..

In any case, I would comment that the driver-based frame metering technique that has become available in the recent AMD drivers seems to have smoothed out most of the microstuttering previously experienced. The most glaring example would be 3DMark 11 or Firestrike which used to be a veritable stutter-fest (despite decent FPS numbers) but has since become much more fluid from a frame-by-frame perspective.

As for problems with crossfire itself.. The only serious problem I've encountered that could not have been fixed by a driver update was.. the cards dying outright (7970M's)

PS: My 7970M's could easily play Metro LL at max settings and no in-game AA at 60+ FPS. I didn't use v-sync though given the frame metering sweetness and the inevitable dips below 60 on occasion.

 

I mean I can't afford to buy the laptop outfitted with 2 8970ms. I am planning to buy either the Clevo 170sm (single) or the 370sm (dual gpu). Right now resellers seem to be giving a discount on the 370sm because the 8970m comes with it, versus having to add it for $100 in the 170sm model. If the performance was good with just a single 8970m and an upgraded cpu, I could do that instead. I don't need setting maxed, just most of them.

 

I'd go for the dual gpu option over the CPU upgrade first