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Dual GPU's or just one

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  • 12-05-2014 3:45pm
    #1
    Marsden
    Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭


    I have an R9 270x that I got 6 months ago, I'm considering buying a second one or selling the first and getting a R9 290x over the summer. Would I be better off performance wise with a dual setup? I only run games at 1080 as that's the max output of me monitor.

    Anyone here have a crossfire setup? Would you recommend it?


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    #2
    Skatedude
    Registered Users Posts: 2,674 ✭✭✭Skatedude


    a second 270x would better bang for the buck. the 290x is still a bit pricey. and the second 270 would allow for a good increase in performance. more than enough for 1080p gaming


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    #3
    Marsden
    Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭Marsden


    Skatedude wrote: »
    a second 270x would better bang for the buck. the 290x is still a bit pricey. and the second 270 would allow for a good increase in performance. more than enough for 1080p gaming

    What about micro stutter or compatibility issues with crossfire gpu's, would these cause problems in games or is it more a thing of the past.


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    #4
    The Surround Gamer
    Registered Users Posts: 10 ✭The Surround Gamer


    Marsden wrote: »
    What about micro stutter or compatibility issues with crossfire gpu's, would these cause problems in games or is it more a thing of the past.

    Depends on the game. As long as you're able to run smoothly with high fps, you'll be fine. Keep that AA low!


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    #5
    moshiksss
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1 ✭moshiksss


    “To see what is right and not do it is a lack of courage.”

    – Confucius


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    #6
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,175 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Marsden wrote: »
    I have an R9 270x that I got 6 months ago, I'm considering buying a second one or selling the first and getting a R9 290x over the summer. Would I be better off performance wise with a dual setup? I only run games at 1080 as that's the max output of me monitor.

    Anyone here have a crossfire setup? Would you recommend it?

    Generally you only want to do dual GPU to do stuff at much higher resolutions. A dual GPU setup in your case would be good for driving 4k resolution, or one guy I knew needlessly ran his game at 4k and the video card driver down sampled it to 1920x1080 to fit his monitor.

    With driver support, and yes stuttering, you're better off buying one beast of a card rather than drive 2 semi-beast cards. Not everything works like 00 gundams twin drive, much as I wish it did


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    #7
    Skatedude
    Registered Users Posts: 2,674 ✭✭✭Skatedude


    an amd 290 is a dual chip card so it acts as a crossfire setup anyway. micro stuttering isnt nearly as bad as it used to be, but the main thing is to match cards and bus. ie 2 cards both in pcie ex 16 and 16 not one in an 16 and the other in an 8x slot


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    #8
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 83,175 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Yeah thats the other thing, you start having to buy a more expensive board if you want to optimize performance. I prefer the ASUS sabertooth range and while Maximus and Rampage are great product lines I'm an engy and I like the sabertooth's marketing to my thermodynamic-OCD side


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    #9
    Gumbi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,698 ✭✭✭Gumbi


    Lots of misinformation on this thread.

    Firstly, if you would like a boost in performance at only 1080p, replacing your 270x with a single card is probably your best bet; this avoids the potential trouble involved with running cards in Crossfire (power consumption, micro stutter, driver issues etc - although it is worth noting that crossfire is much more useable these days).

    Also, having 2 270xs at 4k (or even 1440p) is a bad idea considering the 2GB buffer on those cards.

    Honestly though, if the 270x is performing fine for you, stay with it. If you want a bit of extra oomph, a cheap 7950/7970 second hand might give you a bit of extra performance. Or a 280/280x (rebranded 7950/7970).

    290 is not completely overkill at 1080p, but it is damn powerful at that resolution and wouldn't need at upgrade for quite a while.

    A 290x is at an awkward price bracket. The 290 is a whole lot cheaper (fantastic models (Sapphire trix, powercolor pcs + etc) go for~350 euro if you know where to look) and would perform admirably at 1080p (and even at 1440p).

    No need for expensive motherboards at all unless you are engaging in extreme cooling solutions (I'm talking liquid nitrogen cooling, not water cooling). They offer no extra performance benefits over more standard motherboards (aside from perhaps slightly increased stability on overclocks due to a more sophisticated power delivery system in more power phases, and other minor benefits of that nature, nothing of note to most anyone).


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    #10
    prq
    Registered Users Posts: 79 ✭✭prq


    You should also consider what you'll do on further upgrades in the future. When 2x 270 are not enough, you'll have to get rid of both. If you go for a 290 instead, you can further upgrade with another 290.


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    #11
    ZeroThreat
    Registered Users Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭ZeroThreat


    prq wrote: »
    You should also consider what you'll do on further upgrades in the future. When 2x 270 are not enough, you'll have to get rid of both. If you go for a 290 instead, you can further upgrade with another 290.

    I have a gtx670, I wouldn't add a 2nd card since theres not much point doing so with unless it was the 4gb version.


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