1/7/2024 0 Comments Sli crossfirex ready![]() Crossfire support has not stopped though, continuing to provide profiles for DX11 applications while mGPU is focused on DX12. An even more interesting development was the fact that Crossfire could also use APUs ( integrated GPUs) through Hybrid Crossfire.īecause of the overall freedom in the setup process of Crossfire, it was a lot simpler and cheaper to get a Crossfire setup ready compared to an SLI/NVLink setup.Īt the same time just like with SLI, the term Crossfire has been retired in 2017 and replaced with mGPU. This was done through special hardware technology called XDMA that created a direct channel between the two AMD GPUs. The cards also did not need a special connection as they would communicate through the PCIe slots on the motherboard. On the AMD side, Crossfire was a pretty interesting multi-GPU technology that was a lot laxer with its requirements and could use different GPUs that used the same architecture. The only exception to this is the RTX 3090, which is a Titan equivalent and should not even be considered a gaming GPU. The reason we are using the past tense for somewhat new technology is that NVIDIA has already dropped support for multi-GPU usage for the RTX 3000 series cards. NVLink worked with RTX 2070 Super cards or better. SLI was superseded by NVLink, the new inter-GPU communication protocol that was developed for the RTX cards and offered higher bandwidth and was overall a better multi-GPU technology. An SLI setup was only feasible in a situation when you were not concerned about cost-effective parts and just wanted the best of the best. The overall process was costly and very limited due to the requirements implemented by NVIDIA. SLI required for the user to put together identical cards with the use of an SLI bridge connector and use special SLI certified motherboards that would be compatible with the technology. SLI was the term used by NVIDIA to describe their multi-GPU technology until the release of the RTX cards. But I can't think of anything else.The first main reason you should not invest or even research the Crossfire vs SLI topic further is that both terms and technologies associated with them are obsolete and no longer supported. Trying to run Crysis on 2560x1600 with 32xMSAA with graphics mods installed and on multiple monitors might need four GPU's. A third card might add 40% more performance, while a fourth will give only about 25%. Also, the performance scaling after two GPU's isn't very good. Two or three is more than enough for 99% of applications. Off-topic, but why is it that no single graphics card is allowed to exceed 400W? The cards are downclocked for heat/power reasons. It's hard to overclock the dual-core GPU's to match the clock speeds of their single core counterparts. While sacrificing a small amount of performance due to the cards being downclocked. Who would actually need four graphics cards in SLI/CF? It's much better to have two dual-core GPU's like two HD 6990's or two GTX 590's instead of having four individual graphics cards. This can cause some of the cards to exceed 90 *C in some cases. And since they are right next to each other, they share the heat. Requiring an electrician to repair.ĭon't forget the chip-melting heat four graphics cards can produce. Also, your typical power socket cannot handle the load and circuit breakers can blow. The only PSU that I know of capable of powering four GPU's at full-bore (tested) is the Silverstone 1,500W. Four-way HD 6970 or GTX 580's can use 1,400W+ of total system power at full load. With heat and staggering power consumption being the most prominent. There are many inherent problems with having four graphics cards. I can run just about any game maxed out with playable framerates, even Crysis. I have two enthusiast-level ATI Radeon cards in crossfire and I don't understand the necessity of having more than two graphics cards in a system.
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