Thinking of Going for a second Radeon GPU. How do I Go About it?

[Brandonriess8]

Hi, guys,

For a few months now now, I've had in my system a single AMD Radeon R9 290X. It's been performing like a beast as promised, but, in light of the next generation of games flying at us faster than you can say "CrossFire", and the fact that I don't exactly have $1500 burning a hole in my pocket (for a dual-GPU card), I have been strongly considering installing a second 290X. Being that my system is accustom to running a single GPU, how would I go about installing a second one as far as hardware and drivers go? For this, I'll need to know how to correctly install the second card on the main board, how to enable CrossFire through Catalyst Control Center, and what other things I'll need to take into account in order to successfully achieve a happy multi-GPU system.

Detailed responses are greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance for taking the time to help me out!

 

[volcanoscout]

Here are a couple of articles and a setup guide that you might find helpful. You'll also want to make sure you're PSU is up to snuff - you'll want at least 800W (preferably 1000W) with two 6pin and two 8pin (or four 6+2 pin) PCIE connectors.

http://rog.asus.com/51612011/gaming-graphics-cards-2/nvidia-sli-and-amd-crossfirex-setup-guide/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/11/01/amd_radeon_r9_290x_crossfire_video_card_review/#.U_GnK_ldVe4
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/13/4_weeks_radeon_r9_290x_crossfire/2#.U_GoWPldVe6

 

[legend001523]

You first have to make sure your motherboard supports crossfire, and at what setting, then, check if you have a good psu, anything over 850W should be okay, after that, all should be fine

 

[Brandonriess8]

Here are a couple of articles and a setup guide that you might find helpful. You'll also want to make sure you're PSU is up to snuff - you'll want at least 800W (preferably 1000W) with two 6pin and two 8pin (or four 6+2 pin) PCIE connectors.

http://rog.asus.com/51612011/gaming-graphics-cards-2/nvidia-sli-and-amd-crossfirex-setup-guide/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/11/01/amd_radeon_r9_290x_crossfire_video_card_review/#.U_GnK_ldVe4
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/13/4_weeks_radeon_r9_290x_crossfire/2#.U_GoWPldVe6

Hi! despite accidentally hitting the "Pick as best solution" button (Whoops) I have read the articles that you linked, and have found them very informative and helpful. I now know what to expect, and how to accommodate for a second GPU, and I hope that things will go smoothly once I have it installed. Thanks!

 

[volcanoscout]

Glad you found them useful! I unselected best solution for you.