Help choosing a Multiple GPU MBoard for maximum FPS, what is this 16x8x8 thing....?

JoelonGC

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Jul 6, 2014
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I just purchased an R9 280X and love the card but now want to upgrade my motherboard and CPU. I don't mind spending a decent bit of coin if it proofs me for my future upgrades, namely adding a GPU or 2.

My only goal for this PC in the end is to get maximum frame rate in games to get the most out of my 144hz monitor and later on for VR like the Rift etc requiring 2 x 1080p (at this stage at least)

The problem I have is in understanding the PCe3 16 vs 8 vs 4 thing... I figure so far i need to get a board that offers 3xPCe3 (16x16x16). This is hard to find and also expensive. Thats fine, but only if its worth it.

I want to get a second R9 280x or perhaps jump onto a 780x when the prices fall a little, or maybe 2 more R9 280Xs.

Can anyone shed light on the worth of a high end board offering 16x16 minimum vs say 16x8x8 etc? And more idealy, recommend a specific board that suits what i want to achieve with GPUs and maximum frame rate?

Thank you all in advance.

Joel
 
Solution
There's currently no real benefit for gaming at x16 and x8. They are about the same performance because GPU's don't need that high of bandwidth. Here's an article explaining. It's only very slight like 2 Frames even at 4K. Here http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/

Memhorder

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There's currently no real benefit for gaming at x16 and x8. They are about the same performance because GPU's don't need that high of bandwidth. Here's an article explaining. It's only very slight like 2 Frames even at 4K. Here http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/
 
Solution

JoelonGC

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Jul 6, 2014
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Thank you Memhorder, great article. I guess that answers my question for the foreseeable future and when I finally upgrade to 4k I can revaluate.

Curious, because everyone seems to have differing opinion here, Crossfire vs. 1xMonster GPU? I seem to see many reviews showing huge FPS with 2xGPUs and from what I gather, this will be cheaper. Especially because I just dropped $300 on my current GPU and figure once they drop by half I will pick-up a second and (hopefully) have FPS lingering in the 80-100 range for sub $500 worth of GPUs.

Maybe I am being naive here though and barking up the wrong... PC Setup..
 

Memhorder

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Yeah. Well the thing is if your just going out out buy a GPU then the best thing would be to get the single most powerful one. But since you already have the 280x which is a very capable card. I'm just showing that you don't have to worry about PCI-e bandwidth. Crossfire has been improved so the 280x's will run great.