Crossfire or SLI for three monitor gaming

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

I am building my first computer and something I can not decide is the correct GPU. I have three 21.5" monitors at 1920x1080, so at 5760x1080 when put together. I want game on all three obviously. A single 7990 will be $100 cheaper roughly but less effective to my understanding. I would love to save the $100 but if I can't game at ultra settings then I will gladly buy the two 7970 GE's. For about the price of the 7990 I can get two GTX 760 4GB in SLI. Power is not an issue either, I have the Corsair AX1200i. Or maybe a single GTX model around $600-$700. Any ideas?

Let's use Battlefield 3 as the standard for ultra setting gaming.

Update after a long talk about what is best I went with the Matrix 280x. This thread turned into a discussion/debate of which is better, AMD or Nvidia if you would like to read on.

Tradesman1 · Sep 30, 2013

The 7990 and the 760 SLI would be roughly the same, so think I'd go the 7990, keep the heat down some

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

Would it work fine?

RussK1 · Sep 30, 2013

Wait, AMD's new cards are coming in two weeks.

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

RussK1 :

Do you have a reference to them releasing in two weeks?

TheBigTroll · Sep 30, 2013

well amd announced their r9 290x GPU and the NDA for the specifics are to be taken down on the 14th soo, its going to be released in 2 weeks no?

either way, thats what id get. the 7990 has issues with heat dissipation and the power limitations due to the 2 8pins and coil while. 2 760s will not have enough vram to drive the extra panels (4gb editions arent of any help when the GPU core itself isnt powerful enough)

RussK1 · Sep 30, 2013

TheBigTroll :

Exactly. And pricing according to research is going to be around $600usd.

TheBigTroll · Sep 30, 2013

its either going to be 549.99 like when the 7970 was originally launched or 599.99. either way, a steal compared to a ttitan

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

TheBigTroll :

Once again, how do we know this?

RussK1 · Sep 30, 2013

Cyler12 :

http://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/191543/radeon-r9-290x-could-strike-the-599-99-price-point.html

Google is a good source.

cookybiscuit · Sep 30, 2013

If you are going multimonitor avoid AMD, the new driver doesn't fix Crossfire issues outside of one monitor and DX11.

TheBigTroll · Sep 30, 2013

amd has better multi-monitor support than nvidia. if you want my real opinion, i wouldnt even bother with multi-monitor

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

TheBigTroll :

I would ask but its too late, having the monitors already. I really don't want to return them.

TheBigTroll · Sep 30, 2013

have you tried out multi-monitor before purchasing even and actually liked it and performed better? if you havent and it turns out you dont like multi-montior, you just wasted 400 bucks.

RussK1 · Sep 30, 2013

I've been there and done that. It's cool but grew tired of game compatibility and having to use widescreenfixer... And how annoyingly bright it is at night. I ditched the eyefinity setup in favor of a single larger format display and higher resolution.

bystander · Sep 30, 2013

TheBigTroll :

Eyefinity allows for more monitor configurations, such as landscape and portrait mixes. However, if you do a traditional Portrait or Landscape setup, Surround is equally good, and has better SLI support. The idea that the 760 can't drive 4Gb is just as much non-sense as a 7970 not being able to drive 3Gb. If a game needs that much vram, and the card is able to handle the settings then it will use the extra vram without issue. The problem is that it is rare for a game to use more than 2Gb at playable FPS.

Anyways, it is extremely rare for a 2-way SLI setup to need more than 2Gb even at 5760x1080. The settings needed to need more vram is beyond the cards ability to deliver good FPS anyways. In the exceptions, you can reduce AA and fix it in all cases I've seen, that or get a 4Gb card. The only thing true about a 760 not being able to drive 4gb, is that the settings needed to need more than 2Gb is higher than most any card can handle in the extremely rare cases that settings even exist to need more than 2Gb, even at 5760x1080.

Given Eyefinity lacking frame pacing, and even Dx9, I'd stick with SLI for now.

Tradesman1 · Sep 30, 2013

bystander :

TheBigTroll :

Eyefinity allows for more monitor configurations, such as landscape and portrait mixes. However, if you do a traditional Portrait or Landscape setup, Surround is equally good, and has better SLI support. The idea that the 760 can't drive 4Gb is just as much non-sense as a 7970 not being able to drive 3Gb. If a game needs that much vram, and the card is able to handle the settings then it will use the extra vram without issue. The problem is that it is rare for a game to use more than 2Gb at playable FPS.

Anyways, it is extremely rare for a 2-way SLI setup to need more than 2Gb even at 5760x1080. The settings needed to need more vram is beyond the cards ability to deliver good FPS anyways. In the exceptions, you can reduce AA and fix it in all cases I've seen, that or get a 4Gb card. The only thing true about a 760 not being able to drive 4gb, is that the settings needed to need more than 2Gb is higher than most any card can handle in the extremely rare cases that settings even exist to need more than 2Gb, even at 5760x1080.

Given Eyefinity lacking frame pacing, and even Dx9, I'd stick with SLI for now.

_________________

+1

bystander · Sep 30, 2013

Btw, the AMD frame pacing weaknesses are being worked on, so in a few months this may all change, but for now, Crossfire has issues with multi-monitor, 4k monitors and Dx9.

Tradesman1 · Sep 30, 2013

XFire has had problems since it came out, and they have promised to fix things for years, yet it just hasn't happened, so when it will be (if ever) is up in the air

TheBigTroll · Sep 30, 2013

if a 680 4gb does not perform noticeably better than the 2gb edition at 5760x1080,what makes the 760 capable of making use of its extended vram?

bystander · Sep 30, 2013

TheBigTroll :

Neither perform better in 99% of the games because games just don't use more than 2Gb except in rare occasion.

Cyler12 · Sep 30, 2013

RussK1 :

since you have been there, what card(s) did you use effectively? That is what kind of answer I'm looking for.

RussK1 · Oct 1, 2013

Cyler12 :

6990's.

Worked well despite a few hicups being quad. Overall th experience was good contrary to what people say or "think".

My last two gen of cards have been nVidia but that's not saying I won't go AMD (and I might).

RussK1 · Oct 1, 2013

Food for thought and further proves that waiting is necessarily a good thing.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-radeon-r9-290x-crossfire,24479.html

RussK1 · Oct 3, 2013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=R9+290X&N=-1&isNodeId=1

Crossfire or SLI for three monitor gaming

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