290 Crossfire Vs. 780 SLI Vs. 780Ti

[2is]

I say go with a gtx 770 for $350 or 290 custom for $450 and upgrade after another 1.5 years. That would be best for you.

That's essentially what I did. Bought a 680 when they first came out, got a 2nd used one about a year later. My first mGPU setup, was a bit nervous at first with some of the horror stories associated with it, but I haven't had any issues and performance has been stellar.

 

[richiegore]

That's good to hear. I'm leaning towards dual 780s as it seems that non reference cards don't work even with a space in-between them... I thought the would be ok considering temps are so much lower with one non reference card but it seems they starve each other of air. The 290s are a non runner as I found my 7970 too noisy... Water cooling is just so much work plus I think I would need to modify my case to fit a dual 140 radiator in push pull and that would be a tight squeeze... I think I'd order now if it weren't for mantle... The frustration!

 

[2is]

As long as the non-reference coolers are still only 2 slots wide, you should be fine. They typically cool a lot better and are quieter so even if it's not as efficient with a card next to it, it should still cool at least as well as the reference blower style cooler while staying quieter. Heat being dumped in your case will be higher of course, but that's what case fans are for.

 

[3DVagabond]

Any of those are going to drive 1440p but the 2 multi card setups will do it best. Between the 2 of them I'd personally save the 60 odd pounds and get the extra gig of usable vram with the 290's. Overall game play experience is going to be the same with both setups.

You might consider the Sapphire tri-x card if available, it's the best 290 out there. Other than that the MSI Gamer, Gig WF, and Asus DCII are very similar and will be quiet.

 

[richiegore]

That's what I thought but it seems that the top cards really overheat, I'd love to hear from anyone who runs dual non reference cards with a space between them...

 

[3DVagabond]

That's what I thought but it seems that the top cards really overheat, I'd love to hear from anyone who runs dual non reference cards with a space between them...

What case have you got? If you can have a fan blowing directly on the cards, like with the NZXT's, then it should be fine. ~600w of power for 2x high end cards is quite a bit to dissipate if the air is static around them and the air from the bottom card is just allowed to be sucked into the top card.

 

[richiegore]

I have a hp blackbird which has a chamber for the gpus and a 120mm fan blowing on them. It should have good airflow but I've replaced the fan with a 1300rpm akasa apace so its not that fast... Hard to know....

 

[3DVagabond]

I have a hp blackbird which has a chamber for the gpus and a 120mm fan blowing on them. It should have good airflow but I've replaced the fan with a 1300rpm akasa apace so its not that fast... Hard to know....

Just Googled your case. Looks like a really nice case. It looks like there's a fan on the back of the HDD bracket that blows onto the cards. That's the type of thing you need. I don't see where there's an extractor fan though and the compartment is pretty small. If so, that could be an issue with open air designs and a blower might be your best option.

 

[XiandreX]

I know mantle won't eliminate dx but if it makes ports like deus ex human revolution run 20-40% better it'll be a big deal....

What are the requirements at 1440p for Deus Ex HR? Just curious.

 

[XiandreX]

Any of those are going to drive 1440p but the 2 multi card setups will do it best. Between the 2 of them I'd personally save the 60 odd pounds and get the extra gig of usable vram with the 290's. Overall game play experience is going to be the same with both setups.

You might consider the Sapphire tri-x card if available, it's the best 290 out there. Other than that the MSI Gamer, Gig WF, and Asus DCII are very similar and will be quiet.

+1 to the Sapphire Tri-X.

 

[Skurge]

That's what I thought but it seems that the top cards really overheat, I'd love to hear from anyone who runs dual non reference cards with a space between them...

I will be getting 2x gigabyte windforce 290s and stick them into my 750D. But that's only in about a week so I don't know if you will wait that long.

 

[richiegore]

I will definitely be waiting that long, I look forward to hearing how you get on! Thanks a million.

 

[alawadhi3000]

Don't get the reference R9 290 CF if you are sensitive to noise.

My top card throttles to ~700MHz from 947MHz because of temps, thats even with %70 fan (Too noisy).

Bottom card does not throttle but needs ~%65 fan.

Get the GTX780 SLI.

 

[McLovin42]

I wouldn't get anything AMD if there is a choice between them and Nvidia's competing products. Id take a pair of 780's or a single Ti over a pair of any CF AMD cards.......

 

[caswow]

ok its pretty apparent this mclovin42 guy is here only to bash amd...every amd thread got shat on by him.

 

[Elfear]

I had two reference 290's with a single open slot between them (I've since added waterblocks) and during gaming they weren't that bad to be honest. A little on the noisy side when they hit ~50-55% fan speed though (part of that is because they sit three feet from my head). My basement is on the cool side as well so it probably helped keep throttling under control at the default fan settings.

That being said I would go for a pair of Tri-X 290s or aftermarket 780s. Can't go wrong with either solution.

 

[3DVagabond]

I had two reference 290's with a single open slot between them (I've since added waterblocks) and during gaming they weren't that bad to be honest. A little on the noisy side when they hit ~50-55% fan speed though (part of that is because they sit three feet from my head). My basement is on the cool side as well so it probably helped keep throttling under control at the default fan settings.

That being said I would go for a pair of Tri-X 290s or aftermarket 780s. Can't go wrong with either solution.

Sounds like you had a well setup system. AMD does recommend a slot in between the 290's. People just need to understand that we are dealing with ~600w between the 2 of them and they are going to require airflow to keep them cool and quiet (reasonably quiet ).

 

[richiegore]

Thanks for the advice guys. I cant decide if I should risk an open air cooler like the windforce in a dual card configuration. Some people seem to be having disastrous results but some people seem ok... I suppose ots so case dependant... If I can only go for a blower type it will be definitely nvidia, no way in hell I'm getting a card noisier than my 7970.... The question then is dual 780s or a single 780ti with an open air cooler.... The open air cooler would be way quieter than dual 780s... Anyone have dual reference 780s and care to comment on how noisy they are, as as point of reference my pc is in my sitting room close enough to the couch so could annoy someone watching tv....

 

[3DVagabond]

Thanks for the advice guys. I cant decide if I should risk an open air cooler like the windforce in a dual card configuration. Some people seem to be having disastrous results but some people seem ok... I suppose ots so case dependant... If I can only go for a blower type it will be definitely nvidia, no way in hell I'm getting a card noisier than my 7970.... The question then is dual 780s or a single 780ti with an open air cooler.... The open air cooler would be way quieter than dual 780s... Anyone have dual reference 780s and care to comment on how noisy they are, as as point of reference my pc is in my sitting room close enough to the couch so could annoy someone watching tv....

Dual 780's.

 

[Pandamonia]

I have 780 lightning SLI. I have them over clocked to 1200mhz. I have problems with heat on the top card even with the case side off. I don't see how reference would be any better given its the heat from the card below which is sucked into the fan on the card above. only water is a cure. I'm going to try a different case next but I can live with the fans on higher than normal

 

[3DVagabond]

I have 780 lightning SLI. I have them over clocked to 1200mhz. I have problems with heat on the top card even with the case side off. I don't see how reference would be any better given its the heat from the card below which is sucked into the fan on the card above. only water is a cure. I'm going to try a different case next but I can live with the fans on higher than normal

A couple of things. 1) If you can run 1200 then you don't really have too much of a heat problem. 2) If taking the side off of the case helps, your case has a problem.

 

[Majcric]

I have 780 lightning SLI. I have them over clocked to 1200mhz. I have problems with heat on the top card even with the case side off. I don't see how reference would be any better given its the heat from the card below which is sucked into the fan on the card above. only water is a cure. I'm going to try a different case next but I can live with the fans on higher than normal

How are they behaving at stock clocks?

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I have 780 lightning SLI. I have them over clocked to 1200mhz. I have problems with heat on the top card even with the case side off. I don't see how reference would be any better given its the heat from the card below which is sucked into the fan on the card above. only water is a cure. I'm going to try a different case next but I can live with the fans on higher than normal

It's better because 400w+ is dumped outside your case with 780 Reference, whereas with 780 Lightning OC 700w is dumped inside your case and recycled through your cooling solution.


Outside of very well done case airflow 780 Reference is by far the best cooling option available, followed by reference 290. Yeah, I'd rather have two reference 290s than two aftermarket 290s. I had two TF3 7950s in an open bench and without putting a 120 on top to push down and out air from between it was a completely impractical setup.

This is exactly what Reference cards were designed for.

 

[Silverforce11]

Yeah I do agree with that advice, multi card its best to go reference, the heat they dump in your case is crazy once you OC and overvolt.

This is a problem for AMD since their reference cooler is absolutely trash at keeping it cool even when its noisy. Makes it difficult to recommend reference CF R290s.

But CF/SLI open cards can work in cases, just ensure you have very strong positive airflow and a good outlet for all that heat. As with anything, an enthusiast setup requires going the extra mile.

 

[alawadhi3000]

I had two reference 290's with a single open slot between them (I've since added waterblocks) and during gaming they weren't that bad to be honest. A little on the noisy side when they hit ~50-55% fan speed though (part of that is because they sit three feet from my head). My basement is on the cool side as well so it probably helped keep throttling under control at the default fan settings.

That being said I would go for a pair of Tri-X 290s or aftermarket 780s. Can't go wrong with either solution.

Mine also has a free slot between them, yet the top card needs %80 fan speed to stop throttling.

I'm now leaving the side case open, I have a 12inch box fan blowing cold air directly at the cards.

No throttling anymore, top card does 89C@%61, bottom is 87C@%63.
Still noisy, but much better than hearing the +%70 fan whine.