SLI/crossfire or single GPU? (NOT about which one is better)

[pegas]

I'm not asking what's better, I'm asking is everybody gona have to buy two or three GPUs in the future to have a good gaming comp? Cuz I don't think they gona make GPUs that will have more than 2Gb memory on it and etc. Like with RAM, there's no RAM with more than 2Gb, so is it gona be the same with GPUs? How do you guys think? Cuz I'm a realy one GPU person.

 

[darkguset]

Short answer would probably be no. They will probably have 2 GPUs on one die some time in the future, then they will scale out like with the CPUs. Less heat, less productions costs, more space inside case.

 

[jeteryankees22]

Well the cards are probably going to get better and the technology will advance allowing more memory and faster gpus, with more cores. Just as computers used to be slow as hell, then they got faster, used 2 processors, then took it back to one with more cores...see where I'm going with this? Same will happen with video cards and there's obviously going to be a cutoff somewhere...but we'll see how far they go

 

[randomizer]

Cuz I don't think they gona make GPUs that will have more than 2Gb memory on it and etc. Like with RAM, there's no RAM with more than 2Gb, so is it gona be the same with GPUs?

You're comparing GPU memory to system memory. GPU memory doesn't come on sticks, so it's just a matter of making higher density chips or fitting more on a PCB that is stopping GPUs from having more (that and the fact that 2GB is currently overkill). System memory will soon go beyond 2GB sticks too, it just has too.

 

[HVDynamo]

no I don't think you will have to have 2 or three GPUs to have a good gaming comp in the future, they will eventually make GPU's with more than 2 GB of RAM on them, they just don't know because they don't need that much for a single GPU, it would be overkill. Currently, there is no RAM with more than 2GB on a single stick, but it used to be 1GB before that and in the future it will be more than 2GB per stick. Memory Technology didn't just stop getting better all of the sudden, and neither will single GPU solutions. Multi-GPU setups are for enthusiasts for the most part and are not necessary to play games. Personally I am a single GPU person as well, I don't like all the compatibility issues that can arise with SLI or Crossfire, granted they are becoming fewer and fewer as time goes on, but there are some games that just won't run with it that I like to play. I will always buy a faster single card solution to an SLI setup any day, unless I have extra money to through away. Thats my 2 cents anyhow.

 

[randomizer]

Multi-GPU isn't just for enthusiats. Look at the 4850X2, it's multi-GPU but not top-end. Multi-GPU (on a single PCB) is a good money-saver for the manufacturers, and gives you one more thing to add to your list of marketing garbage on the box. AMD makes two small, cheap GPUs and puts them on one PCB. NVIDIA makes a massive (and expensive) GPU and fits one on a PCB.

 

[darkguset]

strangesstranger you are right, the maximum memory on a single stick that i know of is 8GB. It could be 16GB per module, but i can't recall anything like that at the moment. Hence a 2GB RAM for a VGA in the future is not far fetched at all. Not even for a single GPU, maybe for a single todays GPU yes, but if a single GPU is 50 times faster in the future why not use 2GB for it?