Is multi-gpu the way to go now?

[njdevilsfan87]

A few years ago, the recommendation (and rightfully so) was to get the fastest single card your budget would allow. These days however, after seeing how well the AMD HD6000s and the NVDA 500s scale, and how they seem to do it consistently (meaning driver issues seem to be a thing of the past), I'm beginning to think that multi-gpu is the way to go.

For example:

$225: GTX 560 versus SLI (768MB) GTX 460? I'd probably go with the 460s.
$330: HD6970 versus Crossfire HD6850? Ignoring 6950s can be flashed, I'd pick the 6850s.
$450: GTX 580 versus SLI GTX 560? I'd pick the 560s.

Any thoughts on this one?

 

[pcm81]

Multi GPU was always the way to go, except in the past the scaling was so poor that it was not worth the money. Now days multiple cards is marginally better due to heat and power density considerations (580s vs 590). In the future the power density factor will still have an impact, because as soon as they invent more efficient hardware, someone will pack more of it on a card...

 

[Wuzup101]

After first trying crossfire with 4850 1gb cards I'm hooked. However, there are plenty of people that will still benifit from a good fast single card (depending on what their usage and budget is). As always, it comes down to usage and budget. The new cards scale very well (as mentioned above)... especially when you are only considering 2 way xfire or sli.

 

[SlowSpyder]

When the GTX580 and then the 6970 launched, while both are faster than my 5870, neither could touch the bang for the buck I would get by simply adding another 5870.

Today if I were buying I would get two 2GB 6850's.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Microstuttering.

 

[yacoub]

I'd say it's finally reaching the stage where it's no longer mostly a marketing gimmick.

But it's still the case today that one can buy a single card and get enough performance to play smoothly all the mainstream games at native res on a 1080p display with all the graphical features set to High/Max, so multi-videocard setups intended for purely entertainment purposes are still located firmly in the domain of the spendthrift.

 

[happy medium]

I'd say it's finally reaching the stage where it's no longer mostly a marketing gimmick.

I agree, there was a time when new games didn't play well with x-fire/sli, now things have changed. Compatibility has much improved.

 

[load81]

Over 1900x1200 resolution is the only reason I would go back to multi-gpu. Under that a single 580/570/6970/6950 is enough to max out most games.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Microstuttering.

Then you're doing it wrong.

 

[Throckmorton]

Is there an "input lag" from SLI? Normally I set my driver to 1 prerendered frame. Can you do that with SLI or does it require more?

 

[nenforcer]

I think alot of the decisions depend on where you are in your purchasing cycle.

My friend had a single Radeon HD 1GB 5770 since Christmas 2009 and just decided to get another a few months ago for Crossfire instead of bumping up to a single 6850 which would have cost more but not provided any new features or a larger frame buffer.

I'm currently running 2 X 512MB 9800GT in SLI since Fall 2008 (I purchased both at the same time) and I am now tempted to get a 768MB GTX 460 single card which should outperform them all by itself. However, I would prefer a 1GB frame buffer and may wait until this fall when both Rage and Battlefield 3 are released before I upgrade. Either way I don't think I will be buying 2 cards at the same time just for SLI.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Depends on your native resolution. You won't go try 2x 560s on 2 1600p monitors or 3x 720p monitors. Then the benches show one thing but 3d cut your fps in half. That's where monster gpus shine

That's what I enjoy with 3

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Depends on your native resolution. You won't go try 2x 560s on 2 1600p monitors or 3x 720p monitors. Then the benches show one thing but 3d cut your fps in half. That's where monster gpus shine

That's what I enjoy with 3

 

[Dark Shroud]

If you're running at a high res right now HD 2gb 6950s in corssfire is the best bang for your buck, unlocked or not.

 

[Sylvanas]

I've owned 3 Crossfire setups since it's inception and the scaling was never an issue for me. If you stuck to high profile games (like I did) there was no issue. When using a Multi-GPU I found I got used to the microstuttering and after a while didn't notice it. It was only until I swapped out my Multi-GPU setup for a powerful single GPU solution that I saw the difference was night and day - since then, I will never go back to Multi-GPU while it still uses AFR. Theres no other way to say it but in retrospect it was a sub par gaming experience on multi.

IMO Fastest single GPU > Multi-GPU

 

[Silverforce11]

In current gen, if you opt to CF/SLI mid-range cards, it will outperform a single highend GPU by a big margin and often for cheaper. So it's a no-brainer.

However, another advantage is if you get 2 highend GPUs, you often can skip 2 generations of GPU.

At the momment, it's hard to beat 2 6950s, with rebates you can get that setup for a lot less than 1 gtx580. They are essentially high end CF since you have the option to go nuts with the unlock and OC.

Multi GPUs are the way to go from now on. Scaling and compatibility is superb.

 

[alcoholbob]

Well usually anyway...you still have to rename Crysis2 to Bioshock or Fear to get CF working...

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Well usually anyway...you still have to rename Crysis2 to Bioshock or Fear to get CF working...

^true lol
I notice people still complaining getting 35fps in cf with a 4yr old game. Which is ridiculous

 

[SZLiao214]

It depends on what resolution you will be playing on and how often you like to upgrade your hardware.

A pair of 560s can be had for 400 while a 580 is around 500. The 560s will outperform the 580 by about 10-15 percent. The down side is if you got a 580 you could wait later and add another 580. However those top end cards tend to stay expensive for a pretty long time.

It really depends on what you are willing to spend and what each card is priced at at the time.

 

[aphelion02]

How bad are the issues usually associated with multi gpu? For example, how often do you have to look for a driver fix / work around to get a certain game to scale? How bad is microstuttering? Is it something that you can always fix with vsync?

 

[alcoholbob]

^true lol
I notice people still complaining getting 35fps in cf with a 4yr old game. Which is ridiculous

I'm getting like 34fps in NWN2 with CF 6970s...in fact the framerate is identical to one 6970 even though there's a "crossfire" icon on the top right of my screen. I tried a GTX 580 SSC and I got 1fps more than a stock 6970...

I don't even think Quad SLI GTX 590 can hit 40fps in NWN2 in the tutorial or MOTB's Mulsantir >_>

What a POS engine...thanks Bioware (luckily Obsidian and CD Projekt have since walked away from Aurora engine...)

 

[Joseph F]

I'd say it's finally reaching the stage where it's no longer mostly a marketing gimmick.

But it's still the case today that one can buy a single card and get enough performance to play smoothly all the mainstream games at native res on a 1080p display with all the graphical features set to High/Max, so multi-videocard setups intended for purely entertainment purposes are still located firmly in the domain of the spendthrift.

Think of it this way, For $350 you could get two 6870s or a single 6970. So if you can use multiple GPUs and you want the most bang for your buck then it really is better than buying a single high-end card. However, There are a couple of caveats to this particular setup;
The 6870s have half of the RAM as the 6970, so if you're playing at 2560x1600 or especially eyefinity 7680x1600 you will run out of VRAM. And if you go with a 6970 then you can always buy another and boost your performance whereas if you go with crossfire from the beginning you pretty much have to ditch your cards to upgrade.

 

[Starcrosser]

Single GPU systems use less power and have, generally, fewer problems. They also have more predictable performance across games.

 

[Dribble]

Microstuttering.

+1

Along with additional driver issues meaning you are more likely to get performance problems where SLi/Xfire isn't working properly or rendering bugs. Equally when a new release comes out it's less likely to work properly with Sli/Xfire. This gets worse when your hardware is no longer current generation and your particular multi card configuration is no longer getting tested like it once was. Ati+xfire is particularly bad for having to play juggle the drivers where one driver plays game 1 perfectly but not game 2, and you need to switch to another driver for game 2 that has performance problems with game 1.

Hence stick to a single gpu unless you want something more powerful then a single gpu could give you.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I don't like adding an extra point of failure. Plus the extra noise.

Not worth it. My 5850 already does everything I want. I'll get a 7870 or 7950 when they are released and I'll be set until the next gen of consoles finally come out.