AMD CEO says that "CrossFire isn't a significant focus"

[HEXUS]

Remember, the new Radeon RX 5700 series GPUs don't support CrossFire.

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[Saracen999]

I wonder if this just reflects growing power and competence of single card solutions. Maybe what used to demand Crossfire can now be done solo, and the need for Crossfire is so marginal as to be a low priority?

Then again, I was never in the crossfire market, so what do I know.

[spacein_vader]

Because nobody uses it. Think the Steam hardware survey had the combined Crossfire and SLI user base at circa 1%.

It doesn't always work, even when it does the benefits are very situational and it must cost loads in driver support and testing for a tiny user base.

Also I've never seen a situation where 2 £200 GPUs offer more performance in games than 1 £400 GPU.

[afiretruck]

Crossfire and SLI themselves are old technologies, requiring lots of driver support and a fair amount of game developer support to enable them to work, and, more often than not, work surprisingly well.

What I reckon they're getting at is simply not providing the implicit support for DX11 and earlier titles, while still allowing DX12 and Vulkan titles to do whatever they wish with multi-GPU implementations. It's an understandable move, one that could push game developers to look at multi-GPU support properly instead of tacking it on at the end, or push them to not bother at all.

It could be that the crossfire support/development resources are being reallocated to MCM support and development, which would be really awesome. I would be intrigued to see how they handle an MCM-like solution over multiple consumer video cards, if it's supported at all at the driver/hardware level.

[Ttaskmaster]

The only reason to ever use multiple graphics cards is for those unbelievably awesome-looking SLI bridges that EVGA make!!

[AGTDenton]

Because nobody uses it. Think the Steam hardware survey had the combined Crossfire and SLI user base at circa 1%.

It doesn't always work, even when it does the benefits are very situational and it must cost loads in driver support and testing for a tiny user base.

Also I've never seen a situation where 2 £200 GPUs offer more performance in games than 1 £400 GPU.

I remember being suckered into their Spider and Dragon platform nonsense which alluded to multiple cards being better, but all I had was grief & anger I didn't just buy a single nVidia card.

[Dashers]

I'm one of those few disappointed multi-GPU users.

Most bigger games (e.g. the ones that are taxing on the GPU) support SLI/CF, there are a few that don't and fewer that don't ever (i.e. often it's added 6 months after release).

I got hooked on SLI after adding a second 560Ti to my setup and the performance was staggering. I've just sold on my 970 SLI setup which again, was fantastic. It has been a great way to buy GPUs too.

Get a mid-range GPU when they come out, happily play all games for years at ultra. Pick up a second card when the next gen come out and keep going. Unfortunately, nvidia put the nail in that coffin by removing SLI and putting the costs of their cards into eye-watering territory.

AMD are following suit. A reminder that a brand new 970 on the day of release was £280. We're now looking at ~£400 plus for the same tiered product.

I got a 1070Ti to tide me over, and I was going to get another and SLI them, but the cost is the same as a new 5700XT along with similar performance. I did try it with DirectX12 alongside a 970, but that wouldn't work - ah all those promises of mixing and matching GPUs, couldn't even do two nvidia cards.

I am utterly dissatisfied with the entire GPU space currently, and this is yet another example.

[Gentle Viking]

I have always said that 2 GFX cards should not be needed for any kind of PC gaming.
But if 2 GFX cards working together was significant faster than my 12 / 24 core CPU at video editing i might consider a second GFX.

I am also dissatisfied with the entire GPU space, or at least the upper echelons that cost money i would never spend on a GFX card, i mean come on a 2080TI cost more than a decent computer or laptop.
And the developers that make games that can only run good on said high end GFX cards i also dont like.
Though i know you can always turn down the bling - bling, which was also the norm when i gamed "professional" but back then it was to aid in play game play and not just to make the games enjoyable.

I am sure as hell not making the jump to a 4K monitor anytime soon, only a 1080p screen make sense if you factor in the price for a GFX card to drive that screen in gaming at least.

BUT ! all this matter little for me as no one seem to make games that look like something i would like to spend time on.

Still got a 5700 XT ( red devil ) on pre order as i am on a 7 year old mid range GFX card.

[Korrorra]

2X chiplet design GPU's would be great. The less hardware you have to buy the better.

[philehidiot]

I kind of prefer the idea of not bothering supporting crossfire. It requires driver support to work properly which is never as good as it could be and diverts a lot of resources. The number of people who use it is disproportionate to the resources required to keep it working properly with so many generations of cards as well.

Myself I'd rather not have the option and have what options I have work right. I'd hate to invest in a platform and find it doesn't work right. I'd rather spend my money on a single card that works properly with predictable if slightly lower performance, rather than being duped into spending money on something that just never works properly.

For professional use it kind of works differently as those coding their application will be able to optimise things properly.

Crossfire/SLI sounds good in theory. In practice I've found the nipples just never represent the whole booby.

[Iota]

Think the last time I ever bothered was with a pair of Radeon HD 5870s, the driver support was okay, the performance boost was also okay. However considering how quickly the market changes, it just doesn't seem like a sensible investment when you can just upgrade more frequently.

[Percy1983]

Had crossfire with x1950pros and more recently 290xs, support seemed good but I am not one to rush to play games so wouldn't notice late driver support.

What is disapointing is how VR never really used it, 1 GPU per eye would be perfect.

[remont-preobrazovatelya]

And guess what
They have the right to say that of they want.
Guess what else
It's not racist
Guess what else
Your poor trump bashing attempt failed. People telling others "if you don like it, leave" has been being said for 100s of years
Peace

[Saracen999]

Huh?

Wrong thread? Not quite sure what racism and/or trump-bashing have to do with Crissfire graphics cards?

[Ttaskmaster]

Not quite sure what racism and/or trump-bashing have to do with Crissfire graphics cards?

Well 'Nvidia vs AMD' is all Green vs Red, which is discrimination based on colour... and Trump is a rather racist [censored] who always wears a Red tie... and the Crossfire is what we're all getting caught in.

If I had to hazard a guess, that is....

[Dashers]

My guess is bot.