Opinions on Crossfire

[GoodZE]

Hi guys, I was wondering how much of a performance boost crossfire/SLI would increase, ive never tried any and am abit curious

Do you think for example; I would get better performance 2x HD7850 which would probably be about £200-£250 worth of gfx or a single card at the same value? e.g. r9 280x

Am just abit curious and thinking about when I upgrade my GFX later on (probably early next year.

Many thanks

-GoodZE <3

[scaryjim]

If you hunt around you should be able to find some reviews for crossfire setups, I'd expect. General wisdom is to always get the single fastest card you can afford. However, both nvidia and AMD have been working on improving framepacing and the overall experience of multi-gpu setups recently, which may be swinging the balance.

The obvious caveat to me is that crossfire setups duplicate data across the memory, so even if your 7850s have 4GB of RAM between them, they'll perform like a 2GB card in terms of memory usage (i think anyway, no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong). So if you want high res with lots of AA and other IQ processing, a single more powerful card is likely to be better.

All that said, crossfire very much does work, even at the very low end (I've got an HD3470/HD4200 hybrid crossfire setup that proves it ), and if you already had a 7850 and were considering adding a second it might be worth it. If you 're buying from scratch, though, I would bothered: I'd just get the best single card you can afford. After all, if it lasts long enough you could always buy a second one down the line...

[GoodZE]

If you hunt around you should be able to find some reviews for crossfire setups, I'd expect. General wisdom is to always get the single fastest card you can afford. However, both nvidia and AMD have been working on improving framepacing and the overall experience of multi-gpu setups recently, which may be swinging the balance.

The obvious caveat to me is that crossfire setups duplicate data across the memory, so even if your 7850s have 4GB of RAM between them, they'll perform like a 2GB card in terms of memory usage (i think anyway, no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong). So if you want high res with lots of AA and other IQ processing, a single more powerful card is likely to be better.

All that said, crossfire very much does work, even at the very low end (I've got an HD3470/HD4200 hybrid crossfire setup that proves it ), and if you already had a 7850 and were considering adding a second it might be worth it. If you 're buying from scratch, though, I would bothered: I'd just get the best single card you can afford. After all, if it lasts long enough you could always buy a second one down the line...

Thanks, that's helped me out a lot, im going to be running a 7850 in a couple days and was just thinking whether or not it would be worth adding a 2nd card in a few months or just waiting until jan/feb time and see how the prices of the newer gfxs are, im really like the R9 280x toxic and hopefully will drop price by next year )

thank you very much <3

[cheesyboy]

Well, for Nvidia 2 650Ti Boost cards in SLI will outperform a single GTX680;
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...st_SLI/21.html

Since 7850 is pretty much the equal of a 650Ti Boost, I would imagine (assuming similar scaling) that xfire 7850s would generally beat a single 7970 or 280x. Of course, you get more VRAM on a 7970/280x, which will benefit at higher resolutions.

[GoodZE]

Well, for Nvidia 2 650Ti Boost cards in SLI will outperform a single GTX680;
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...st_SLI/21.html

Since 7850 is pretty much the equal of a 650Ti Boost, I would imagine (assuming similar scaling) that xfire 7850s would generally beat a single 7970 or 280x. Of course, you get more VRAM on a 7970/280x, which will benefit at higher resolutions.

Yes, infact the 7850 is slightly better than a single 650Ti Boost (not by much) im just thinking whether is would probably benefit me more and paying that extra cash on a new card (like a 280x or 290) and then In future I could xfire another one to go on that, that would be sometime next year though as im only on an apprentice wage and I've got higher priority stuff atm


Thanks for the input

-GoodZE <3

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You would need to get a 990X based motherboard as a minimum,otherwise the second card will have to use a much slower PCI-E slot.

Something like this would do the trick:

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-m5...rds&origin=pla

There is also this Gigabyte,although the Asus is better regarded:

http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyt...?q=990x&src=16

[speaker5]

There are still a lot of issues with crossfire in terms of drivers. Also the extra power, heat and noise from crossfire is a disadvantage.

[Dooms]

I had the same idea recently. Should I go for a 290X or a 2nd 7950 and use the spare cash to upgrade my CPU. Went with the Xfire option with the following results:

3DMark Demo:
CPU - Stock
GPU - Stock (Single GPU)
Score: 5897

CPU - Stock
GPUs - Stock (xFire)
Score: 8828

CPU - 4.4Ghz @ Stock Voltage
GPUs - 1050 Core / 1250 Memory / Stock Voltage (xFire)
Score: 9906

[GoodZE]

I had the same idea recently. Should I go for a 290X or a 2nd 7950 and use the spare cash to upgrade my CPU. Went with the Xfire option with the following results:

3DMark Demo:
CPU - Stock
GPU - Stock (Single GPU)
Score: 5897

CPU - Stock
GPUs - Stock (xFire)
Score: 8828

CPU - 4.4Ghz @ Stock Voltage
GPUs - 1050 Core / 1250 Memory / Stock Voltage (xFire)
Score: 9906

I think you've just made my mind up for me ;-) I would need a new mobo and psu if im going to start using xfire, however my mobo and psu is already planned and on my agenda for upgrades.

Got some major upgrades planned this crimbo ;-]

[Dooms]

Ah I noticed you are talking about a 7850 not the 7950 which I am using. I'm not sure how yours would compare

[GoodZE]

Ah I noticed you are talking about a 7850 not the 7950 which I am using. I'm not sure how yours would compare

Tehe:3 not as powerful but i still think 2x7850 could put out a performance and you can pick them up for a pretty decent price, i picked my one up for £80 and i was thinking if i could get another for £80-£100 that could be pretty high performence for >£200 however i did see the disadvantages on xfire but will probably benefit me more in the long run.

[MrRockliffe]

Better spending the money on higher end cards rather than 2 low end ones for future. Memory bus is greater on a 280x and it has 3gb rather than 2. You'll therefore get better performance as you increase resolution - and you can then crossfire in the future

[GoodZE]

Better spending the money on higher end cards rather than 2 low end ones for future. Memory bus is greater on a 280x and it has 3gb rather than 2. You'll therefore get better performance as you increase resolution - and you can then crossfire in the future

Yes that would be the better option, however atm i can't even afford a single 280x :-( apprentice wage sucks.

I'm trying to make the most powerful build i possibly can on a really low budget.

[koolbhoy]

SLI > XFIRE *Just my 2 cents*

[MrRockliffe]

SLI > XFIRE *Just my 2 cents*

Sli has limitations, with memory and speed of the card. You can only run it as quick as the slowest card.

[koolbhoy]

Sli has limitations, with memory and speed of the card. You can only run it as quick as the slowest card.

But XFIRE just has horrible frame stutter and frame drops. XFIRE has massive driver issues atm...