CrossfireX or SLI?

[trickson69]

I want to get 4 new video cards I can crossfirex or SLI .

I can not find any good price cards for one, Looking for something that a regular human can afford first off.
Something newer than the HD5870.

And also I have seen this thing now called crossfirex (software crossfire) just how are they connecting the cards? I seen a nice $125 dollar card just do not know how the crossfirex would even work I know My MB's are able to handle 2 video cards. each. the FX 8300 is on the MSI 970A-G46 and the Ryzen3 1300X is on a Gigabyte GA-AB350M-gamming 3 MB.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131738

This card looks good/ Maybe? (price is right)
I have no idea what this means, do you ? CrossFireX Support YES (Software CrossfireX). I thought that there was or is a bridge or some ribbon that connects one card to the other.

Thank you for your help.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Buy one big card, not four crap ones.

 

[EarthDog]

I second one big card. mGPU support seems to be waning over the past few years. Youll also want to overclock any cpu (especially that FX) to get the most out of a mGPU setup...even with budget rx 550s.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

To start with....

SLI is for nVidia cards and Crossfire is is AMD.
GPU's do not scale as well as you would think and the more cards you add the worse it gets.
This means that the second card will not give the full performance as if it was on it's own and many times it will give no benefit if the program does not support multiple GPU's. The third will give even less and the forth is useless.
If we are talking mining, it is a different story but then you do not use crossfire/SLI.

Do what the 'Green Men' above recommended, go with one card. You will be happier and have less headaches.

*edit CrossfireX and Crossfire are the same thing. AMD just rebranded it.

 

[Blaylock]

I have 2x HD7970's in Crossfire. The only reason is I bought them used as a set and they were better than my single HD7950. If I were to buy anything new it would be a single 1070 as a 1060 is only a small increase to what I have. Plus as Soul has mentioned many titles don't take advantage of it anyhow.

 

[Bill Dimwit]

How a multi GPU system scales depends on a lot of things, I always had good luck them but not everyone dose.
Your far better off with one fast card vs 2 3 or 4 slower cards. In my book, SLI and Crossfire are for top end cards where you need a faster system and the tech just isn't there yet.

A few things to note abut SLI and Crossfire.
3 and 4 way setups tend to have far more problems then 2 way setups.
Micro stutter can be a pain. Its worse with AFR mode and with 3 or 4 cards.
You do not get double the Vram. Everything in video memory is mirrored on etch card. Two 2gb card dose not equal 4gb.
Newer cards tend to have more bugs that get fixed with driver updates.
Adding a card dose not double performance, adding a 3rd card dose not triple and so on. your doing good if you get 3/4th more performance from etch card.

Also a game dose not need to support multiple GPUs to use more then one GPU, that's what AFR is for. If games needed multi GPU support then the voodoo2 SLI setup wold have never made any sense at all, same with the voodoo5500 and 6000 and other early multi GPU setups.
Of course AFR has its own problems, like micro stutter and less of a performance gain per card.

If you get one faster card today you also could add a second done the road when priced get cheaper. If you get 2,3 or 4 cards today you may end up having to get a whole new GPU setup done the road. for 250$ you could get a much nicer card second hand, like a 980gtx.

 

[trickson69]

Okay wow thank you all.
Lots of great advice and information.
Okay so basically SLI and Crossfire are a waste?
So what happened? There was a time I remember when putting 2 HD5770's in crossfire was a huge improvement in games, So what happened?
Because from what I have read here and seen it seems "THEY" Have killed it they do not even include the bridges and some cards do not even have power hook ups anymore?? WT??
My GTX 1050 is just a plug it into the slot and go no power hook up needed!

Still stuck on what constitutes a good card though what would you advise I get for the FX 8300 and the Ryzen 3?
Also then why is there 2 video card slots on GAMING mother boards? BOTH my MB's are "Gaming" MB's.
Is it just a marketing ploy to get you buy up more crap or does it really make gaming better? I am still confused.

 

[EarthDog]

Okay so basically SLI and Crossfire are a waste?
So what happened? There was a time I remember when putting 2 HD5770's in crossfire was a huge improvement in games, So what happened?

There is a huge improvement... its just not typically close to double. Bill has the idea. Scaling will vary from game to game and res to res, setting to setting, etc. Some games show ZERO scaling.

and some cards do not even have power hook ups anymore?? WT??

Power use has gone down quite a bit. Where we were seeing X performance in a 250W envelope, we now seeing that same performance in a 165W envelope (980Ti to GTX 1070). Those budget cards use less than 75W which the slot can provide.

Still stuck on what constitutes a good card though what would you advise I get for the FX 8300 and the Ryzen 3?

Always get the best you can afford. For me and how I play (High/Ultra with AA), for 1080p resolution, I wouldn't go any lower than a GTX 1060 or Vega 56. I honestly don't consider a 1050 or 1050Ti a viable gamer at my settings and FPS requirements (60+). Note, this was before I recently upgraded to a 144 Hz monitor at 2560x1440 where my requirements increased dramatically.

Also then why is there 2 video card slots on GAMING mother boards? BOTH my MB's are "Gaming" MB's.

SLI/CFx is there, it works, but there is less and less support as time goes on it seems. To me, its simply not worth the hassle of tackling the potential pitfalls when a single card does the same thing with less power and effort all around. To each their own really. But, I'm just at a point where I have tinkered with PCs for almost 30 years and frankly, just want them to work without/with minimal hassle. SLI/CFx can be more of a hassle vs single card easily.

 

[Blaylock]

Crossfire and SLI has fallen into the hands of the software these days. Research MDA and LDA for more info. I'm far from an expert on this.

EDIT:

My best guess as to why boards still have them is the consumer continues to buy them. Numbers sell. Surely 4 slots of PCIe x16 is better than 2.

 

[trickson69]

There is a huge improvement... its just not typically close to double. Bill has the idea. Scaling will vary from game to game and res to res, setting to setting, etc. Some games show ZERO scaling.

Power use has gone down quite a bit. Where we were seeing X performance in a 250W envelope, we now seeing that same performance in a 165W envelope (980Ti to GTX 1070). Those budget cards use less than 75W which the slot can provide.

Always get the best you can afford. For me and how I play (High/Ultra with AA), for 1080p resolution, I wouldn't go any lower than a GTX 1060 or Vega 56. I honestly don't consider a 1050 or 1050Ti a viable gamer at my settings and FPS requirements (60+). Note, this was before I recently upgraded to a 144 Hz monitor at 2560x1440 where my requirements increased dramatically.

SLI/CFx is there, it works, but there is less and less support as time goes on it seems. To me, its simply not worth the hassle of tackling the potential pitfalls when a single card does the same thing with less power and effort all around. To each their own really. But, I'm just at a point where I have tinkered with PCs for almost 30 years and frankly, just want them to work without/with minimal hassle. SLI/CFx can be more of a hassle vs single card easily.

Thank you I will be think this over for some time. You so have a lot of good points both ways. I really want to have 2 cards nothing over the top but 2 cards that when in sli/crossfire they would say be = to or just above that of one top end card. That is what I did with the HD5770's and they were great. I am still however confused as to what is "good" in the eyes of today's standards. Things have changed a great deal over the last 6 years hard to keep up.

 

[||Console||]

Well if going for the green team you need @ least a higer need a higher end card to SLI 1070 is the min . But I would rather get a 1080ti than 1070 sli .

 

[trickson69]

So what do you think about Crossfirex with these cards?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137265

 

[don256us]

I skimmed the responses so if this is covered, my apologies.

The mother board for a 4 way SLI/X-fire. For each card to get full potential, you need four PCIe slots that can handle the bandwidth. For the same reason that mere mortals cannot afford high end GPUs, motherboards that allow for great bandwidth are also hard to come by.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

So what do you think about Crossfirex with these cards?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137265

2 Gigs of vram is not enough in this day and age.

What is the focus of this build?

 

[Alaric]

I got a RX 480 when they were released, a reference model for $250 (8 GB) with the intention of Xfire and killing 1080s. Well, that wasn't going to happen Turns two of them sits between a 1070 and a 1080, performance wise-in games that are optimized for Xfire/SLI. For the same money I got a stormin' 1070 and never looked back. It's almost impossible today to spend SLI money for equivalent performance from one good card. When the current mining craziness dips there should be a flood of cheap cards. I may get another 480 8 GB then just because I can and put it in the rig with the other one, but that's the only way I'd try it now.

If you use ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/VisionTek-...382821?hash=item2857a8f6a5:g:4JcAAOSwKoFa0P0X
That'll kill a pair of 550s.

 

[trickson69]

I play games. 1080p nothing more I get a consistent 60FPS with the HD5870 card on the FX 8300 and a min of 48 FPS. I am not sure about all this Vram stuff. I just want a good sli or crossfire setup that will net me the most for the least amount of cash as you all know the prices of video cards is insane and just plain dumb! They are getting way more than any of them cards are worth! I hope the stock market takes a miner dive!
So keep this in mind sli or crossfire whatever is the best and cheapest lets keep the SLI or Crossfire under $350 bucks preferably.
Is this even possible? I have 2 systems so this will be twice as much for me. so that $350 just became $700 bucks!

 

[Alaric]

If you use ebay, a RX 480 or RX 580 will rock 1080p with your chip. I have a RX 480 in a FX 6350 rig that handles 1080p effortlessly. The vram is only going to be an issue at A) Higher resolutions, or B) if you run two or three 2 GB cards, as you only get access to the vram of one card in Crossfire or SLI. A 4 GB card will work at 1080p, but the 8 GB cards aren't much more and allow for developers to make games a little more demanding without obsoleting your card with Diablo IV or something.

 

[EarthDog]

I'd rather buy 2 $350 cards... or, Spend $300 each and walk away with a 1060 6GB for each system. I'm not entirely sure 2 of whatever card you get for $150 will beat a 1060... if so, not by much. These days, I wouldn't get a GPU without 4GB+ of memory for 1080p gaming either. So there is that to consider as well.

 

[Alaric]

If you have access to our Classifieds http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/790067-2-x-MSI-GTX-1050-Ti

 

[EarthDog]

Thats a great deal... cant SLI...but a good deal. Cheap. Performance....better than a 5870, but MEH, not something id start with for 1080p.