Crossfire or single GPU?

[Tooommo]

Just wondering if it would be more effective to run?

2 x Gigabyte R9 280 3G OC Windforce (6G vRAM in crossfire) or 1 x Gigabyte R9 290x 4G OC (4G vRAM)

thanks
-Tom

 

[lightcloud]

Do you have a budget? If not then it would be the Crossfire 280. However in gaming not many games will need to utilise SLI or Crossfire depending on the settings.

So if you want to spend less then it would be the 290x.

Hope this helps mate. 😀

 

[legend001523]

Your vram doesn't add up you know right? 2 3gb cards still means 3gb. Effectively wise, one single gpu as not all games support crossfire very well and I hear amd crossfire drivers aren't the best

 

[xrhstos7003]

I would prefer Crossfire for these reasons:
1. More VRAM for high settings and big res gaming
2. The power would be near at double of the 290x at almost the same price
3. R9 290X is a HOT HOT monster. If you can cool it then you are a beast.
4. Cls (or something like that) support

I would take the 290X because:
1. Crossfire has no compability with games older than 2009
2. Cls (or something like that) support
3. Future DX12 support

The crossfire has more pros than the single, so it would be better, but is won't haven DX12 support, so you won't be able to play games after 2020.
In 2020, the power of YOUR gpu won't be able to run games, so this will not affect your gaming (the DX12 theme) and is not a con, so go forr the crossfire.

 

[legend001523]

VRAM doesn't add up... and any good r9 290x will not be hot

 

[xrhstos7003]

Your vram doesn't add up you know right? 2 3gb cards still means 3gb. Effectively wise, one single gpu as not all games support crossfire very well and I hear amd crossfire drivers aren't the best

1. 2 3GB cards in crossfire have 6GB in total and Double Procesing power
2. Games that doesn't support crossfire are older than 2009, no care about that
3. Crossfire drivers are in late beta stage. Don't know if there is a gamma stage, but in 6 months from now they will be pretty stable

 

[_Epix_]

Just wondering if it would be more effective to run?

2 x Gigabyte R9 280 3G OC Windforce (6G vRAM in crossfire) or 1 x Gigabyte R9 290x 4G OC (4G vRAM)

thanks
-Tom

I would go for the R9 290X, 1 powerful GPU is better than 2 not-so powerful ones. And, I dont think that 2 R9 280 is better than one R9 290X.

 

[Tooommo]

From what I'm seeing the crossfire setup is the better option, it is also $50 cheaper than the 290x from my dealer

 

[lightcloud]

Do you have a budget? If not then it would be the Crossfire 280. However in gaming not games would need 6GB GPU.

So if you want to spend less then it would be the 290x.

Hope this helps mate. 😀

So the crossfire setup will deliver better performance than the 290x? (The crossfire is $50 cheaper than the single from my dealer )

Is it? That's great. It will be a great benefit for the future. However do keep in ind you don't bottleneck your CPU and the Crossfire GPU can fit the case.

 

[legend001523]

Your vram doesn't add up you know right? 2 3gb cards still means 3gb. Effectively wise, one single gpu as not all games support crossfire very well and I hear amd crossfire drivers aren't the best

1. 2 3GB cards in crossfire have 6GB in total and Double Procesing power
2. Games that doesn't support crossfire are older than 2009, no care about that
3. Crossfire drivers are in late beta stage. Don't know if there is a gamma stage, but in 6 months from now they will be pretty stable

1. OMG... THEY DON'T ADD UP , YOU STILL HAVE 3
2. ESO, WItcher 3, Titanfall , to name a few
3. 6 months from now is a long time, by then the 800 series will have been released, so you're saying the Op will have to wait 6 months for good drivers? Whereas a single gpu now, will be okay
4.Crossfire will need a bigger psu
5.Crossfire will generate more heat as one card blocks the airway of the other, so unless the Op has good airflow, crossfire will not be in consideration

 

[_Epix_]

From what I'm seeing the crossfire setup is the better option, it is also $50 cheaper than the 290x from my dealer

Crossfire will also make things more hot in your PC and quite many games do not support Crossfire.

 

[Tooommo]

just did a little research and as legend001523 said vRAM doesn't stack, but if vRam doesn't stack what is the point of any SLI/Crossfire setup?

 

[legend001523]

just did a little research and as legend001523 said vRAM doesn't stack, but if vRam doesn't stack what is the point of any SLI/Crossfire setup?

They increase performance as ythe gpu brings in more power, they still have 3gb of vram, but cause of some complicated stuff with timings etc. they don't add up, with a 280x you'd be looking at a 30-50% increase over a single 280x and maybe 10-20% increase over a single 290x

 

[lightcloud]

just did a little research and as legend001523 said vRAM doesn't stack, but if vRam doesn't stack what is the point of any SLI/Crossfire setup?

Of course they don't it is not 1+1=2 for dual GPU. It is a mirror. So what the hack is Joeteoh99 talking about?

Well I am saying the "memory doesn't add up, and each GPU use it only for itself. The whole memory is mirrored while running in CF or SLI mode, so each GPU could render the screen independently of the other one."

 

[Tooommo]

just did a little research and as legend001523 said vRAM doesn't stack, but if vRam doesn't stack what is the point of any SLI/Crossfire setup?

They increase performance as ythe gpu brings in more power, they still have 3gb of vram, but cause of some complicated stuff with timings etc. they don't add up, with a 280x you'd be looking at a 30-50% increase over a single 280x and maybe 10-20% increase over a single 290x

thankyou for the help!

 

[legend001523]

np.

 

[Tooommo]

I think I'll get the 290x and if in future I want to, I'll crossfire it! Thanks for the help everyone!!

 

[xrhstos7003]

I think I'll get the 290x and if in future I want to, I'll crossfire it! Thanks for the help everyone!!

You can crossfire the 290X with the 280X because they have the same archtect

 

[legend001523]

yes, that seems like a good choice

 

[Computersloeber]

I love how everyone is complaining that the R9 290X is a hot monster, because unless you are an overclocker/benchmarker it doesn't matter.
In games it doesn't run extremely hot and if you have the budget for an R9 290X case ventilation should not be a problem either.
Now with aftermarket versions the R9 290X is a even more viable option because now it runs quieter and cooler.
IMO the only problem on the R9 290X is that the stock coolers are lowd and the Vram runs hot. Both are fixed using a custom cooler or an aftermarket version.

The R9 290X it will give you a lot less trouble then Crossfire R9 280's.
If you want raw power R9 280 in crossfire, but then you won't be able to use them properly if the game doesn't support it or you are having problems.
If you want stability and still good performance the R9 290X would be the best.