Dual GPU question

[asim1999]

Why do manufacturers give GPUs RAM numbers that are double that of a single card when they only use half of it? Do they make double-density RAM for the card so it is its actual marketed value?

[Archangel1994]

No, they say that "Well it's on the same card so LETS ADD IT UP!"

 

That's not how it works though...

[asim1999]

No, they say that "Well it's on the same card so LETS ADD IT UP!"

 

That's not how it works though...

If Nvidia and AMD say that VRAM does not increase in SLU/Xfire, why do they put twice the value on a dual card?

[Archangel1994]

If Nvidia and AMD say that VRAM does not increase in SLU/Xfire, why do they put twice the value on a dual card?

Because marketing really

 

People that know how CF/SLI work know that the R9 295x2 does not have 8GB, it has 4GB

[007agentHP]

better for marketing 

 

 

EDIT: dang, ninja'ed

[Guest]

If Nvidia and AMD say that VRAM does not increase in SLU/Xfire, why do they put twice the value on a dual card?

 

Because that card physically has double the memory on the board. The memory is there, so it has to be listed in the specs. The fact that memory has to be mirrored for one of the GPUs is irrelevant here.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Why do manufacturers give GPUs RAM numbers that are double that of a single card when they only use half of it? Do they make double-density RAM for the card so it is its actual marketed value?

they prefer to neglect that it's marketing

for example: my AMD Athlon 64 X2, AMD's first consumer dual core, had a "clock speed of 5.3 Ghz" when it was actually the "4800+" which was really 2.4 ghz

inflation of numbers

[asim1999]

they prefer to neglect that it's marketing

for example: my AMD Athlon 64 X2, AMD's first consumer dual core, had a "clock speed of 5.3 Ghz" when it was actually the "4800+" which was really 2.4 ghz

inflation of numbers

Oh ,so its just for the money: like how people would pay $3000 for a "12GB" Titan Z

[nj4ck]

thats how marketing works, use all the tools you can possibly use to make your product look awesome.

[Guest]

Oh ,so its just for the money: like how people would pay $3000 for a "12GB" Titan Z

 

No, it has to be in the specs sheet because the memory is physically there. These cards HAVE double the memory, period. Whether you want to put it on the box and market it as such is a different question, but think about this: Who buys dual-GPU cards? Enthusiasts. And enthusiasts know that dual GPU configurations do not effectively double the VRAM in an application. Yes, they could say "8GB VRAM, 4 per GPU" or "4GB usable" but that would probably be more confusing than simply saying "8GB VRAM". Not to mention that you simply don't have to worry about VRAM in 99+% of scenarios for a consumer GPU.