Is SLI/Crossfire Overated (Q2 2012)

[s4ndv1p3r]

I googled this, but all I got was a thread from 2007:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/219329-31-overated :lol:

So given that the fact that graphics have progressed A LOT since then

I realize it depends on what Res. you want to run at ect, let's update it for 2012 then aye?

Say I want to run all modern games at 1920X1080
for example:

Arkham City
Witcher 2
BF3

what would I gain from using say 2x 7950 in xFire?
over just one?

as opposed to just one?
my IT Lecturer said that the 2nd Graphics card would only kick in when the first one told it that it needed some help, so if the first one never reaches max load then what would be the point?

sorry, but I see everyone saying SLI/Crossfire is so awesome everywhere, just thought that I would ask people who know more about this sort of thing than me

also in terms of ATI is the 7950 the 2nd best card from them? after the 7970?
or is it worth buying like a 6990, and whay is the 6990 still expensive if other cards are better than it for cheaper?

Please clarify someone!!

Much Appreciated!

 

[purple stain]

Technically speaking as of now the 7950 is the 2nd best card they offer but after the 7990 is released it will be the 3rd.But the 7990 is a dual GPU card so it's in it's own league sort of speak.

Maybe you don't understand the concept of SLI or Crossfire.Perhaps this may help you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_CrossFireX

 

[inzone]

The thing with the second card kicking in when the first card says it needs help is just not correct. I have three GTX 580's in three way SLI , well right now only two but I'm putting the third back in soon. I also have the Evga Precision software program which shows what the cards are doing speed wise and fan speed wise. When in 2D the other cards are at idle and the moment a game is launched the cores of the other cards go right up to speed and kick in so to speak.
The other thing about SLI/Crossfire is that in some cases you need it to get to top fps at the highest settings that you wouldn't normally get there with one card. The top fps is 60 fps because after that you can't really notice any visual performance improvement with your naked eye. The only other benefit that you get with multiple cards is that in certian games with an intense firefight and lots of explosions and a lot of players there is little or no slowdown or freezing of the display.

 

[s4ndv1p3r]

Cheers guys,
just wanted to clear things up before I buy a new card,
so, say I bought a GTX 680 now and then in say 2 years I found that it was not coping to well with current games, could I then buy another one and put into crossfire?

this would boost it's performance to current cards at that time, correct?

thanks!!

 

[inzone]

Well for starters it would be SLI and not Crossfire but yes you could add another later on if you wanted to. You would be increasing the overall performance of you computer with the games you would be playing. It will take a while for the 680 to be in a position to not be coping with games. I have had the 580 for about a year now and there is no game yet it can't handle.

 

[Guest]

Ya if one can be found by then.Some cards are pretty hard to find after 2 years and alot of time even if you do find them they inflate the prices because they are hard to find.I seen a gtx 285 going for like $500 on one site what a ripoff..

 

[purple stain]

Cheers guys,
just wanted to clear things up before I buy a new card,
so, say I bought a GTX 680 now and then in say 2 years I found that it was not coping to well with current games, could I then buy another one and put into crossfire?

this would boost it's performance to current cards at that time, correct?

thanks!!

Yes you can.

 

[s4ndv1p3r]

Best answer selected by S4ndV1p3r.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey