Shovuc
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| Joined: 26 Aug 2013 |
| Total Posts: 5142 |
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| 04 Feb 2014 10:06 AM |
If I were to put two GPUs in my build, would the total amount of GPU bandwidth double, much like dual-channel mode with memory? Additionally, would the compute power be doubled, compared to just using one?
I say this because I'm debating whether to buy one 2 GB GPU for my multi-media machine build, or to buy two 1 GB GPUs for the build, if this doubles the overall GPU bandwidth. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 11:24 AM |
I'm pretty sure that the bandwidth and VRAM available stays the same as it would with only a single card, so only the compute power is doubled and even then we almost never see a doubling of actual performance. Also it's recommended to go for the strongest single card you can instead of getting 2 weaker GPUs, because then you benefit from additional VRAM and bandwidth and performance scales much better. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 11:51 AM |
| only if you SLI or crossfire them, the benefit is a little less than 2x the power |
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fdfxd
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| Joined: 02 Apr 2010 |
| Total Posts: 18382 |
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| 04 Feb 2014 11:53 AM |
| I doubt that, some games run on ONE of your GPUs. Your monitor runs on ONE of your GPUs. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 01:34 PM |
| Hard to determine. If they are the same GPU's in Crossfire or SLI, yes, But if they are different, you might only be able to run one because 2 GPU drivrs can't be installed at the same time. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 03:23 PM |
get a single gpu. games have some compatibility issues with sli, and it generates more heat than one. it is nice to get a sli motherboard for when your gpu gets a bit old, and grab another for extra performance when the price is down. |
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fdfxd
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| Joined: 02 Apr 2010 |
| Total Posts: 18382 |
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| 04 Feb 2014 04:20 PM |
| Oh yeah crossfire.... Totally forgot about that.... Yes you can, as long as you have AMD radeon. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 04:26 PM |
yea, SLI sucks.
its all about that AMD Radeon HD Crossfire
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| 04 Feb 2014 05:39 PM |
@fd Nvidia has SLI m8 @oblivion iirc SLI is more efficient (performance wise) then Cross fire |
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| 04 Feb 2014 06:30 PM |
| it took AMD nearly two years to fix the intolerable amount of frame time variance on Crossifre and even now it still lags behing SLI setups. |
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PoniSpai
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| Joined: 01 Feb 2013 |
| Total Posts: 4908 |
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| 04 Feb 2014 06:43 PM |
Simple answer. two cards =/= double the VRAM. So if you have two 1gb cards, it will still be 1gb of frame buffer total. Two cards in crossfire or SLI will not scale in terms of power. You will quickly find the law of diminishing returns. So like, you maybe get 80% of the performance of your second card, maybe 50 of the third, and like 20-30 on the 4th. |
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| 04 Feb 2014 07:54 PM |
And to answer the OP's question; no. The 7770 GHz has a 128-bit bus, which is quite small. The R9 270 uses a 256 bit bus which is good for middle grade cards like the R9 270 itself. Those 2 128 bit buses wont combine to make 1 256-bit bus because thats not how multi-card technology woirks.
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Shovuc
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| Joined: 26 Aug 2013 |
| Total Posts: 5142 |
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| 05 Feb 2014 09:20 AM |
Dang.
Well thanks for telling me that, guys. I wish GPUs could be combined to run in dual-channel mode much like system memory can. |
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