SLI bridge vs powerful GPU?

3

I'm looking into upgrading my Gaming machine with a new GPU configuration. I want to avoid specifics and try to keep things on topic, so in general, am I likely to get better performance by putting 2 mid-range GPUs in an SLI or CrossFire configuration, or spending twice the money on a single high-end GPU?

I don't know a ton about GPU technology, so I'm looking for an answer that explains the pros and cons of each in a way that will help me figure out what's best for me.

ewok

Posted 2014-03-09T20:32:56.217

Reputation: 2 743

buy a single high end GPU. – magicandre1981 – 2014-03-10T04:56:45.190

Answers

1

This is a pretty broad question, but the cons (just as broad) could be like this:

SLI/Crossfire - require some tweaking, set up to work

Two cards require more power

Two cards Add heat

Two cards run two fans = a bit more noise

Most would suggest that one single more powerful card will give you less headache, work with more software, and use less power (along with the other points I listed above).

Carl B

Posted 2014-03-09T20:32:56.217

Reputation: 6 430

Thanks! This is just the kind of answer I'm looking for. I'll leave it unmarked for a while in hopes of getting more answers. – ewok – 2014-03-09T20:53:34.933

There are some good articles if you search> I looked into this myself some time ago. You can get a little more performance with two cards (bench mark noticeable in some instances, visibly noticeable in other instances...all depends on what cards you use)...but what exactly is "Mid level" these days? or days to come for that matter. Todays high performance is tomorrows mid level. – Carl B – 2014-03-09T20:55:12.627

Also SLI/Crossfire only works "well" on full-screen games with rendering engine supporting it. Sometimes you can encounter driver issue too. And sometime mid-range cards lacks some functionnality. Personnally I would recommand going for an high-end GPU since they usually contains much more processing units, a memory bandwith more than 2 times higher than a mid-range GPU in some case, same for memory amount, and their price are sometime not twice as the lower model. Speaking of ATi cards, low-end GPU generally embark old GPU architecture while the high-end is where innovation is. – piernov – 2014-03-09T21:29:49.363

Asked: 2014-03-09T20:32:56.217

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Active: 2014-03-09T20:49:02.527