3x r9 270x vs 2x R9 280x

[Terryammon]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking at doing a new custom pc build in the next month or so ready for ESO, I've been playing beta and I know the graphics aren't to demanding but hopefully they have 3d support ready for release.

I'm looking to run 3 monitors with 3d some times and I'm planning to be running a amd fx 8350 with a Asus sabertooth amd 990FX but when it comes down to gpu, i'm stuck between the 3x R9 270x one graphics card per screen or split the load between 2 x R9 280x as I've been reading up on this subject and it seems people recommend less gpu's.

As anyone got any ideas on what better?

Many thanks Terry.

Edited - put the right motherboard model.

 

[Novuake]

amd fx 8350 with a Asus sabertooth z87

First off ^thats^ not possible. The Z87 is INTEL socket 1150. NOT AMD AM3+. So they don't go together.

Get 2 R9 280x. The work is not split between each graphics card, how it works is the different graphics cards alternate the frames to be generated to produce the frames.

All 3 would still be plugged into ONE graphics card for Eyefinity.

I would suggest you look at GTX770s as they perform the same as R9 280x's but are considerably cheaper at the moment.

Its always better to get a single powerful card and then consider dual GPUs, so yes, 2 R9 280x's are the better option.

 

[RobCrezz]

I would go for 2x 280x, as when running on 3 screen the higher resolution will benefit from the 3Gb of ram, rather than 2gb of the 270x (vRam doesnt stack with SLI/Crossfire)


GTX 770s are a good bet, but go for the 4Gb Versions for a SLI + 3screen setup.

As Novuake said, you cant use the Z87 board with the AMD CPU, you would be wanting a 990FX board for the 8350, make sure it supports SLI or crossfire depending on which you choose.

 

[Terryammon]

Sorry I was meant to put the Sabertooth amd 990 FX not the Z87

 

[Terryammon]

I have been looking at the GTX 770 and I've alwayeds used nvidia, but now amd have released Mantle, it's going to change a lot of things, I know it's still early days but there's soo much potential there

 

[Novuake]

I have been looking at the GTX 770 and I've alwayeds used nvidia, but now amd have released Mantle, it's going to change a lot of things, I know it's still early days but there's soo much potential there

Potential means nothing if you are paying 50$ extra for the POSSIBILITY of Mantle being great.

 

[Terryammon]

The gtx 770 and the R9 280x are the same price where I live

 

[Novuake]

Then by all means get the R9 280x, I prefer it at the same price due to more RAM and also can be overclocked quite a bit more LD