HD 5870 CrossFire - Ideas, suggestions, comments please!

[spirit]

Personally i'd rather have one card than two. Less heat, power usage, cables, more games support single cards than crossfired/sli'd ones, etc. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad idea to get a second card though, because you can save the second for when the first one goes out. Just have it ready and waiting on standby in case of emergency.

Yeah usually I prefer to have one card too for the same reasons. Tempted to get another 5870 though.

Anyway, my friend likes my case and I don't really like it any more, so I'll likely sell it to him with the PSU already installed and then I'll most likely end up getting myself a new case and power supply and I'd stick with the 5870 for a bit longer and then consider either getting another 5870 and Crossfiring or just getting something else and putting my 5870 in the C2Q rig and replace the 9800 GT which is in there.

He may not actually end up buying my case though, he may find something else, who knows, it's a little way off yet.

 

[Russ88765]

If you're going to get rid of your case as well as your power supply, you have other major priorities to handle before doubling up on 5870's anyway. You'll need a fairly good psu of high voltage, as well as a rather large case because these are no small cards that you can just throw in any old box on the market. If you hock your stuff that means you'll need a new psu, case, and 5870 as opposed to just getting a new card to replace the current.

 

[SilentRabbit]

I dont have time to read every post on this thread, so im just going to give you my opinion on the case that I own, like you asked

The Phantom is a great case, its expensive but really is worth it and I feel you get what you pay for!

The entire interior is painted as with the exterior and the colour difference between the plastic and metal is almost unnoticeable! The paint hasnt faded and doesnt chip easily. I really like the variety of colours this case comes in and the LED fan looks good too!

It has PLENTY of room and cable management is perfect, however for my needs i think it is too big, leaving the interior looking ugly in my opinion because of all the empty space, having crossfire (it will definatly fit any sized card) and multiple hard drives unlike me could change this however.

As for cooling and noise, its very quiet and the inbuilt fan controller can be used to make things even quiter if needed butit isnt really needed. The dust filters help and it just feels like a good case.

I would reccommend it, and if your power supply for crossfire will be larger than the standard PSU size, one of the two hard drive cages is removable for extra room!

Overall, plenty of expandability and good cooling, noise and cable management. Criticism: Fans are too noise oriented in that they arent the best for cooling but do the job, id suggest getting more or new fans if you can afford it. The windowed side panel is always an option too. Any questions feel free to ask, ive had the case since about when i joined this forum.

 

[spirit]

Thanks for all the advice/info Russ! I had another look at the pictures of your PC which you posted here, looks like the cable management is good - certainly better than that of my current case.

So you say the white paint hasn't faded or chipped at all? Going by your photos too it doesn't look as if it gets all that dirty either. I told Dad that I'd like the white one should I buy one and he said it'd get dirty and somebody in my class told me the paint would fade and eventually go yellow/beige.

I'm not too bothered about LED fans these days, but hey, if it has them, great, if not, doesn't bother me too much. Are the fans blue? Did it come pre-installed with all the fans in the photos?

Does certainly look like a very roomy case and yep, I think it will hold two 5870s without a problem.

Just seen that there is a smaller Phantom called the 410 - would this still hold two 5870s? Or would I need to spend the extra on the Full Tower version? The 410 is like £83 from Novatech and the full tower one about £105, so ideally I'd like to get the 410 if possible for obvious reasons. I may just get the full tower Phantom anyway just because I'd have more room, and then maybe spend less on the power supply, especially if the cable management is good.

So looking at:

October time:
NZXT Phantom white http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/895562002742.html or in black http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/895562002766.html (still gotta decide, I like the white one more at the moment, but a black one may go better with my components).

Power Supply http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/p1-750s-ukb9.html seems like a good PSU at a reasonable price. An 850W variant of this same unit is only £6 more so I may get that. You reckon Russ that with the Phantom I wouldn't need a modular power supply and I could simply hide all my cables behind the board tray?

EDIT: Just seen that this is a modular power supply - will definitely get it then!

Christmas or Next Year:
Sapphire Radeon HD 5870, would like another Sapphire branded card to go with my current card. They're pretty common on eBay.