Planning on Crossfiring two RX 480s, is it worth buying 4GB of VRAM now then 8GB later

For the difference in cost, I would just go 8gb for both if you intend on crossfiring.

Don't get the 4GB version, especially when for $30 more you can get the 8GB version.

I would rather have one RX 480 8GB, then 2 RX 480 4GB cards in crossfire.

Hi guys,

For dx11 yes 2 x 8 gb = 8 GB ram, but games from now on will mostly produced in dx12 format. So that means 2 x 8 GB = 16 GB ram

regards

No it doesn't. There are DX12 games out already which do not work in that way, its specific to the game if it is implemented - it isnt as of yet, so dont bank on it being the standard.

It might be a long long wait before the average game supports Crossfire AND DX12 AND DX12-multi-GPU!

Safer bet is get the 8GB versions.

Robcrezz,

Hi and please readup on the possibilities on DX12 and dont say it like its something bad. I only said dx12 will supports memory stack. If im wrong in that comment on that, but dont look at current games cause, i doubt you could count 10 dx12 games atm. So what i am saying its more futureproof and there nothing wrong with having too much memory. So the tech is there.

Regards

I know exactly about what is possible. Your statement is incorrect though, as currently that is not the case - Its not worth banking on that happening with all DX12 games like your post implys. DX12 doesnt mean all the vram is added together, unless its specifically implemented in the game.

Haha, we could go on for ages. Please ready what i am typing.
1 is its POSSIBLE ?
2 but dont look at current games cause, i doubt you could count 10 dx12 games atm
3 nothing wrong with having too much memory

im i wrong in these ??

No, that statement is correct. Your first statement was totally different:

For dx11 yes 2 x 8 gb = 8 GB ram, but games from now on will mostly produced in dx12 format. So that means 2 x 8 GB = 16 GB ram

Click to expand...

The above is wrong, as dx12 games dont mean doubled vram in SLI/crossfire. ITs possible yes, but its not the case currently, and by no means guaranteed for future games.

Ok i understand what you mean now. True i typed it wrong there. To be honest i see it something like Mantle like in BF4 if its there use it and honestly if they support dual GPU i dont see any reason why they shouldnt add memory stack.

Its quite a difficult thing to implement. The PCI-E bus simply isnt fast enough to transfer data in the vram between cards effectively, so the game must be coded to put the correct information in the vram of each card based on the work its doing - not an easy task to do if you dont want to use both cards vram with the same information.

My experience with AMD with my 270x was a little bit more than frustrating so I switched to nvidia 1070 & I'm very pleased. With that in mind these are my suggestions bellow.

1. Just spend the extra 30-50 and get 8gb on both cards.

2. If your current card is serving you well wait for hbm2 to mature in 2018-2019 after its initial release in 2017.

3. If you need a replacement now may I suggest spending that money on 1070 instead of 2rx 480s.

4. When ever a new directx comes out it takes devs 2years to catch on so the perfect time to buy a card if you can wait will be 2019 for sure along with true native 4K consoles in 2019-2020.

Side note: My 270x was dying after 4years major over heating issues only reason I bought a 1070. In 2019 dx12 will be better supported and rev2-3 of hbm2 cards will be more stabilized. Hope my input was any help at all.

My bench bellow and fps

3770 non-k oc to 4.3 on asrock z77 extreme 4. 16gb of ddr3 1600mhz 8-8-8-24. Gtx 1070 msi gaming x.

All scaling from 1080p on maxed ultra

Bf4: no aa 150% scaling aka passed 1440p 100-160fps varies on map.

World of Warcraft: Legion: 200% scaling maxed viewing distance 8/10 msaa color depth x8 40-160fps+

Bf1-beta 120% scaling aa x2 90-120fps.

Battlefront: fxaa high 122% scaling on ultra 100-120+fps varies on situation.

Tomb raider 2013: with ssaax4 maxed out ultra 90-120+ Hair works maxed.

Rise of Tomb Raider: 60-120+ fxaa maxed hair works maxed.

Overwatch 141% scaling on epic 110-150fps+.

Metro last light 120+ with ssaa maxed everything maxed in high explosions with physics on maxed sometimes drops to 79.

Diablo 3 4K dsr maxed out with 3D vision kit 2 active 120fps 3D vision disabled 160-200fps

If your goal is 1440p 60fps you'll more than achieve that for a steady 120+ across the board it's doable but you'll need to grab a 2nd 1070 for consistency. For 4K on any blizzard game it can do that, but for other titles you might be looking at 2cards, however ssaa x4 is 4K and the games I said I used ssaa above all performed as I said.

As I said ssaa x4 =4K avg fps 78
133% scaling = 1440p avg fps 110
200% scaling = 4K avg fps 78

Crossfire drivers have a history of being hit and miss. I would never plan to go that route, get a single card now and when you need more GPU power sell your card and upgrade to the best single card you can get. Too many games just don't support crossfire or support it badly.