two AMD RX550 graphics cards or one RX570

[Poor Yorick]

Hi all,

Short version: I'm wondering if I should get two AMD RX550 graphics cards or one RX570. It'd cost about the same either way.

Longer version: I built my very first computer a couple of weeks ago. I'm very proud. Also, it was a fiasco. I've got what seems to be a baller motherboard (X370SLI Plus) and a low-end but good CPU (the new Ryzen 5 1400 processor), 16 gigs of ram, with a reasonably adequate 750 watt Thermaltake power supply. And then I tried to start it up and... no onboard graphics with the CPU. Dude at the computer shop was surprised. We've both since read the warnings on here. Anyway, I got a cheap as dirt GeForce 210 for $35: I wasn't expecting awesome, I just thought the CPU would have graphics, and I wanted to, you know, see.

So after a week of doing work on the machine, I thought it might be time to play. I've noticed some stuttering with online video, and even a DVD, but wasn't sure if it was my internet or my card. I figured I'd buy a game and see how it went. So I signed up for Steam and got Batman, Arkham Knight. Both of my sons have played it and dug it a lot. So I downloaded it over the course of three hours, and as it was winding up I turned down the lights, grabbed a bag of Doritos, and cracked open a Pepsi. I'm a cool dad, and I was ready to game.

Then I got error messages about DirectX, check my specs. Sure enough, the game calls for 2 gigs of graphics card, and mine has 1.

So in keeping with "I like all this new AMD stuff" and their seemingly better price points compared to Nvidia and the fact that my motherboard will work with either SLI or Crossfire, I'm in the market for a new graphics card. Or two.

I'm wondering how this all works. I'm a complete noob (my sons told me so, but they're console kids with no work ethic). The 550s have 2 gigs and clock at 1200. The 570 has 4 gigs and clocks at 1250. Is getting two 550s the same as getting 4 gigs clocking at... actually, I don't know how this works. Is having two 2 gig cards the same as having a 4 gig card? Are there advantages or disadvantages to doing it that way? One advantage to having two cards is that I'll have more HDMI outputs for more monitors (I'm currently using my 43" 1920x1080 TV, but that's another thread).

I'm leaving the "Request solution" button checked, though I'd really hope to understand how this works: I'd appreciate any insight or opinions y'all have. Thanks!

 

[CRO5513Y]

No, running 2 Graphics Cards in CrossFire or SLI doesn't give you a 2x performance scale, example the main GPU might give 50 FPS in a game but a second won't make it 100, maybe 75 if that depending on how well the multi GPU support is in said game. Another thing to point out is (Video RAM) VRAM doesn't stack either, if you run 2x RX 550 it's still only 2GB of shared VRAM (used on the main card) the VRAM on the second card is completely ignored.

Overall it's just better to run 1x RX 570 over 2x RX 550 for stability and 4GB VRAM which you were looking for. Hope this helps

*Edit* How dare your sons call such a cool Father a noob! 😉

 

[Jan_26]

No, running 2 Graphics Cards in CrossFire or SLI doesn't give you a 2x performance scale, example the main GPU might give 50 FPS in a game but a second won't make it 100, maybe 75 if that depending on how well the multi GPU support is in said game. Another thing to point out is (Video RAM) VRAM doesn't stack either, if you run 2x RX 550 it's still only 2GB of shared VRAM (used on the main card) the VRAM on the second card is completely ignored.

Overall it's just better to run 1x RX 570 over 2x RX 550 for stability and 4GB VRAM which you were looking for. Hope this helps

*Edit* How dare your sons call such a cool Father a noob! 😉

Agreed. Plus also, CrossFire/SLI compatibility in various games is everlasting problem and quite a PITA. Especially if you are new in playing with the computers "all the way through" I'd suggest avoiding dual gfx solution.

 

[RCFProd]

2x RX 550 would be suicide. Never use two low-end GPU's together.

Try always sticking to a single stronger GPU. It'll be way more consistent and smoother.

 

[Poor Yorick]

No, running 2 Graphics Cards in CrossFire or SLI doesn't give you a 2x performance scale, example the main GPU might give 50 FPS in a game but a second won't make it 100, maybe 75 if that depending on how well the multi GPU support is in said game. Another thing to point out is (Video RAM) VRAM doesn't stack either, if you run 2x RX 550 it's still only 2GB of shared VRAM (used on the main card) the VRAM on the second card is completely ignored.

Overall it's just better to run 1x RX 570 over 2x RX 550 for stability and 4GB VRAM which you were looking for. Hope this helps

*Edit* How dare your sons call such a cool Father a noob! 😉

Thanks! Is this lack of stacking business something I can find in some sort of publication, or is it based on experience. In any event, I appreciate the input.

 

[dontlistentome]

Part of how this works is purely business. There is only a small niche group of people who are willing to incur the cost of dual(or more) cards. You need the motherboard to support it, you need the extra power to support it, you need to buy two cards...there is a lot of extra cost there. Most people by far will just buy one card. So if you're a game developer, why spend all the labor hours designing multi-card support into your game? To what end? It's not profit, that's for sure.

So yeah, you're better off with one more powerful card rather than two lesser cards. If, and this is a big IF, you were one of the rare people who'd benefit from multiple cards, you'd already know it. You wouldn't be wondering about it, you'd have made all your purchase decisions based on it. By the way, one card can run multiple monitors so that alone is not reason to run multiple videocards.