Classic technology with modern performance.
Classic technology with modern performance.
I'm not in a position to compete with most of what I see online. I’m more interested in enjoying games as a hobbyist rather than chasing the absolute best. My aim was to play Star Citizen, the latest title funded by fans. My old Dell with 32-bit XP didn’t stand a chance. I’m aware. So here’s what I did: I discovered an old server board on eBay for $100. That was a lucky find. The hardware was decent, though the board itself wasn’t great. The processors were solid, came with cooling components, and even the RAM had built-in fans. It was a solid purchase overall. Later, I found a better motherboard that matched the same specs. It could run Duel GPUs smoothly. Right now, my setup includes a Rosewill case big enough for the board, a Rosewill 1300 with cooling, an ASUS DSEB-DG motherboard, a dual Xeon 5450 processor, 24GB DDR-2 at 667MHz (split into 4x4GB and 4x2GB), an ASUS HD6870 GPU, a Renesas USB 3.0 PCIe adapter, a 1TB Western Digital HDD, and a sound card—though it seems the card doesn’t support audio. All of this was under $500 so far. I’m not keen on spending more just to upgrade. My goal is to play Star Citizen at a basic level. So far, I can manage that, though only with low graphics settings. That’s about it. I plan to get another HD6870 GPU eventually. I could buy a used one for around $100. My main concern is how to boost my gaming performance. What upgrades would really help? I’m thinking R9 290 cards could be great, but the cost of just the GPU might exceed what I can afford. I’m curious about overclocking with the server board—what’s the best way to improve it? How much speed should I expect from a second HD6870? What would happen if I swapped to DDR-2 at 800MHz RAM? Could that motherboard handle it? Would an SSD speed of 2.5Gb/s or USB 3.0 make a difference? Since I’m running the server board, is there still room for clock speed improvements? Overall, my build looks stable and performing well. I have a decent case and PSU that should last a long time regardless of the components. For now, I want to get this system running as efficiently as possible—playing Star Citizen at least at medium settings with around 30 frames per second is doable. If the second GPU pushes me past 30 FPS on medium, I’ll need to think about upgrading RAM. The current setup already includes modern features like USB 3.0 and SSD support. Eventually, I might find a newer board or upgrade path, but for now, I’m content with what I have.
I’d skip the upgrade to the motherboard and RAM. For improved graphics, consider the R9 270, which performs adequately. Ski and crossfire aren’t functioning properly right now.
Yeah, I was considering the R9-270. It’s a 256-bit card similar to the HD6870, with about a 20% faster clock speed. I’ve been thinking about getting a set of R9-280 or even a 290, which are 386 and 512-bit cards respectively. But it’s not really keeping prices low.
If you're planning a card upgrade, why not get one soon and another later? The perk of having a newer AMD card would be better performance, though the game doesn't support it yet. The most useful option might be to install MSI Afterburner and configure the on-screen display to monitor your GPU and CPU usage, helping you identify any bottlenecks. The next challenge is whether you wait for AMD to release the next set of cards. We're nearing that time, and SC is currently running smoothly at low settings.
SC appears to be performing well at low settings for gaming, especially after adjusting my HD6870. I’m managing around 20 FPS on medium and aim for about 60 on medium now. It’s helpful to know that new card generations are coming soon, so eBay will likely have a lot of older cards available. I’m planning to get an R9 290 for a reason—would love a 512-bit interface with two cards for some performance boost. Thanks for getting back on the R9s!
I made a few mistakes using SC with my 6870, so I can't really compare it well to my GTX770. In my opinion, crossfire has been inconsistent—sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. You get better performance, but results vary across games. If you have a set of 290s, 280s, or even just one card, you’ll be in a better position. Even if SC is running smoothly now, try holding off on upgrading until you’re sure the game will need more power or optimization; it’s all uncertain at the moment.