We can even see this on how NV vs. AMD marketed this generation of cards. NV hardly marketed them for 4K gaming (besides Titan Z).
in 2-Way SLI, the GeForce GTX 780 Ti draws on its incredible performance to power the latest and greatest games at 3840x2160 on next-generation “4K” Ultra HD monitors, with max game settings, giving you an unprecedented level of image quality and game detail.
4K is the ‘next big thing’ for enthusiast PC gamers, as the following Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag 4K screenshot exemplifies.
Today we welcome a new innovation, one that will revolutionize the way you view your games. Companies call it Ultra HD, UHD, UHDTV, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K, but all you really need to know is that new "4K" 3840x2160 monitors feature four times as many pixels as the most commonly used 1920x1080 screens, opening your eyes to rich, superbly-detailed worlds at a time when consoles struggle to run at 1280x720. If you have a high-end GeForce GTX PC, you’re ready for the revolution.
Does any of this translate to resolutions most of the world is using? Let's be honest, 4K numbers are mostly meaningless right now, and not indicative of what most gamers will experience.
Next up for [H], 2x and 3x Titan Black vs 3x 290x???? Really for nVidia at 4k I think the Titan Black needs to get into the ring.
It doesn't make sense to compare $2,000 GPU setup against $1,000 or even worse $3,000 vs. $1,500. NV will never win that comparison since even if the 3 Titan manage to win by 10%, ultimately it is an waste if you need to pay thousands more. Secondly, I find it highly unlikely that someone will be interested in spending $2-3k for gaming now when GM204 should not be too far away. As far as 4K gaming is concerned right now, the only reasonable option is indeed 290/Xs or for someone who has $ to burn, 295X2+290X although [H] already noted that 3x after market 290s are just as good.
6GB of VRAM really doesn't make any difference, all the data says its basically a worthless expense. Its either a driver problem, a core hardware issue like the ROPs or the transfer bridge adding too much latency. Hard to know really but its been consistently the case the 290's have been better at 4k since they were released. At lower resolutions the 780's do a lot better, so something isn't scaling all that well.
Admittedly Nvidia is competing with a much older architecture, the 290's are a new updated architecture where Nvidia is still using Gk110's from back 2 years ago in its top end cards. 4k wasn't really a consideration then, and arguably its still not when it really requires dual cards to use it.
Hr also said this:
I think the reason the 780 ti doesn't get 6 gig is because they want you to buy Titans.
Unfortunately you have to choose between either CF (and crossing your fingers the game profile actually works) or using SLI, which may not be as smooth.
CF works extremely well, or it doesn't work at all. SLI will work better and with less bugs (usually) but is definitely showing it's age with 4K resolution.
And that i think is the bigger issue, AMD drivers are still not where they should be in that aspect. If the profile works is awesome, if it doesn't
You might be judging from past, older experience. Crossfire is just a lot better than it used to be. Are there going to be games it doesn't work in... Sure, but SLI doesn't work in everything either.
Driver-wise, I would be equally happy on a single GPU be it AMD or NV. Running 2 cards, I definitely would favor NV (but not by a HUGE margin). When you are talking 3+ cards, NV is much better.
You can look up a lot of threads where multi-GPU support completely broke for a lot of games (including Crysis 3) on 3+ Hawaii cards when you upgraded past 14.4. NV still has a better driver team IMHO, but the whole multi-GPU 'experience' is why I stick to a single GPU now. It's just not worth it for me to spend the time tweaking and restoring older driver versions just to try and use the $$$ equipment I bought. They need to make running multi-GPUs 'transparent' to the user and have the driver manage the available resources vs. relying on game profiles. This should fall on both the GPU maker and game company to make this happen.
At the moment I'd be more inclined to choose Nvidia for 4K, I've been trying to help a friend who is having issues with 4K on a pair of 290x's and a Samsung U28D590D monitor which is still not working while an Nvidia 760 I have works perfectly with each of the cables. People on this forum don't seem to have had these issues but reading around there are quite a few others having exactly the same issues which would put me off buying an AMD card for 4K. I generally favour AMD and have a pair of 6950's at the moment however I've been considering 780's as a replacement due to their high quality blower type cooler which is the reason I chose the 760 over an AMD 270.
John
If that issue occurs with single 290x at 4k as well as 290x in crossfire i'd be tempted to swap out to different DP 1.2 cable even though it's working on the 760.
If your issue remains in 290x single it's not crossfire related which is interesting.
Driver-wise, I would be equally happy on a single GPU be it AMD or NV. Running 2 cards, I definitely would favor NV (but not by a HUGE margin). When you are talking 3+ cards, NV is much better.
You can look up a lot of threads where multi-GPU support completely broke for a lot of games (including Crysis 3) on 3+ Hawaii cards when you upgraded past 14.4. NV still has a better driver team IMHO, but the whole multi-GPU 'experience' is why I stick to a single GPU now. It's just not worth it for me to spend the time tweaking and restoring older driver versions just to try and use the $$$ equipment I bought. They need to make running multi-GPUs 'transparent' to the user and have the driver manage the available resources vs. relying on game profiles. This should fall on both the GPU maker and game company to make this happen.
In all of our gaming we have shown you today, in every single game AMD CrossFire feels smoother to us than NVIDIA SLI. That's right, the tables have turned on this issue. In fact we experienced many situations where there was choppiness or stuttering with the two ASUS STRIX cards in SLI. It was noticeable, and when we switched to AMD R9 290X CrossFire; CrossFire just felt smoother.
It happens with a single 290x (either card) and with crossfire 290x's and it happens with different cables whereas the 760 worked perfectly with each one straight off the bat. The 290x's work fine with the screen over hdmi but at 30Hz. According to one of the cable manufacturers (Lindy), they've seen the same issues from other R9 owners and the Samsung U28D590D (single tile display or whatever the best term for it is) while other cards such as the R7 series are fine. I asked here and the people that replied said they didn't have any issues but there's a few other threads with 290x owners having exactly the same issues with the Samsung monitor as my friend is.
John
It happens with a single 290x (either card) and with crossfire 290x's and it happens with different cables whereas the 760 worked perfectly with each one straight off the bat. The 290x's work fine with the screen over hdmi but at 30Hz. According to one of the cable manufacturers (Lindy), they've seen the same issues from other R9 owners and the Samsung U28D590D (single tile display or whatever the best term for it is) while other cards such as the R7 series are fine. I asked here and the people that replied said they didn't have any issues but there's a few other threads with 290x owners having exactly the same issues with the Samsung monitor as my friend is.
John
It's pretty stupid, but I've had to try 3 different DP cables to try and resolve a sleep issue I was having. Either the DP ports, my monitor, the card, or the cable didn't play nice. Or maybe all 4.
I'm using an Accell cable now, and it's been fine.
It's pretty stupid, but I've had to try 3 different DP cables to try and resolve a sleep issue I was having. Either the DP ports, my monitor, the card, or the cable didn't play nice. Or maybe all 4.
I'm using an Accell cable now, and it's been fine.
I've tried. I show benchmarks data etc.Not a surprise at all. HardOCP, Sweclockers, Toms Hardware reported a while back that AMD's 290Xs provide better gaming experience in 4K than even 780TI SLI. 780 SLI had no chance of winning.
Let's not forget that they are using 780 6GB too. Had they used 780 3GB SLI, it would have gotten real ugly at 4K:
http://m.hardocp.com/article/2014/0...0_oc_6gb_sli_video_card_review/3#.U9Cp4YkazCQ
Of course from all the CF bashing on our forums, which must be true we all know SLI is better for the last 100 years, right ???? ....
That's why I've been recommending after-market 290s over a single 780Ti for a long time now. People keep buying Nv because of the brand. Hopefully those who read reviews like this one become more informed.
Luckily for NV, 4K is just taking off which means by the time many of us are gaming in 4K, not many will remember that a $650 780Ti couldn't outperform a $350 290 or a $470 290X.
That's why people who buy 780Ti SLI for 4K or multimonitor gaming are throwing $700 into the toilet over 2 aftermarket 290s.