Single 970 G1 vs Two 280X?

[Gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

Saw this:

 

 

Two of these cards cost the same as a single 970 G1.

 

From what I see, a 280X is about 30-30% slower than the 970.

But how about two 280X's in Crossfire?

 

What do you think of this?

 

Cheers!

[Thought]

You'll have a better time gaming running a single 970 instead of two 280Xs. Crossfire, drivers, bad game implementation, all that jazz.

[pomaranc]

Multi GPU is only worth it with high end GPUs IMO.

[Laputacake]

I'd go for the 970 as in some games the 280xs will be faster but the single 970 would be the better choice across the board and allow room for another if you choose to do so.

[Vexzarium]

I agree with pomaranc. Not a lot of games implement Xfire or Sli very well... that and GPU driver support for Xfire and Sli is limited.

 

Personally, I'd go with a 970 or 290x.

 

Here's the best, in my opinion, of each:

G1-GTX970

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($350.82 @ Amazon) 

Total: $350.82

-290x Lightning

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB LIGHTNING Video Card  ($388.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $388.99

 

The 290x Lightning will outperform the G1-970 but as you can see, the price is higher on the 290x Lightning. I can attest to the Lighting and it's quality.

 

I'd only run Xfire or Sli with 970's, 290's, 290x's, 980's, Titan X's, And if I was feeling crazy... 295x2's for 4 290x's... But I'm a one-card kind of guy anyway.

[grayblizzard]

970 all the way

[Ethn]

GTX 970 SLI would be worth it if you really want to SLI for the laughs and giggles 

[Sauron]

The 280Xs would be faster. However crossfire, as much as it has improved, is still not quite as seamless as a single card solution. What resolution would you be gaming at? For 1080p I'd lean towards the 970, since it will run all games perfectly with less hassles. If it's 1440p, and you're on a budget, the 280Xs are a better option imo. Or get a 290x, they're cheaper than 970s usually (if you don't go too crazy with the cooler).

[Samsterstorm]

280x would kick ass in a game where Xfire is well optimised but in every other game where that isnt the case! 970 all the way mate!

[Tripnator]

Single 970, better for power consumption better card, less heat and no issues with crossfire not working. 

[Schlager]

Single 970 everyday imo. better heat output, power usage, and performance

[Gdourado]

280X is old tech in regard to crossfire right?

Still requires crossfire bridge?

Does it already have the hardware frame pacing control?

Cheers!

[guyf2010]

I don't know why people think there are so many issues with Crossfire...

 

As a user of Crossfire 280Xs, I would recommend them. I am yet to run into any issues and I am almost sure there is a massive performance difference between two 280Xs and a 970.

 

Just make sure you can cool them. It isn't the best for silence on a mATX board.

 

 

EDIT: Battlefield 3 Benchmarks show 97 FPS @ 1080p for the 970, and 123 FPS at 1200p on the crossfire setup. That's a very significant amount to discount for the benefits of a single card.

[bossdre]

I previously own 2x HIS R9 280x Turbo boost before getting a GTX 970 G1 Gaming.

 

I really don't get about the constant complaints about AMD's GPU drivers because I didn't experience any problems with those GPUs. I live in a tropical country, but the temps were reasonable at full load. It is definitely loud compared to a GTX 970 because it has multiple GPUs, but it is not that loud.

 

When crossfirex is supported, it is definitely faster than a single GTX 970 and I didn't experience any stutters at all. I only game on a 1080p display though I don't know about higher resolutions. I only opted to go multi GPU on a 1080p display to achieve minimum 60 FPS at Ultra settings on very much every game.

 

I switched to a single GTX 970 for ease of use, so that I can play smoothly on day one releases. More often than not, on day one releases, games doesn't support multi GPU configuration. And I want a GPU that is more faster than a single R9 280x, but close to the performance of 2x R9 280x.

 

As of late, I'm reevaluating my decision on replacing my beloved R9 280xs.

[Gdourado]

Saw this:

http://www.techspot....290x/page4.html

The 7970 ghz crossfire is way faster than the 290X and the 290X is usually on par with the 970.

If there are no frame pacing issues and stuttering in games that have crossfire support, the 280X crossfire seems like an excellent option.

Is the 280X crossfire the same in performance as a 7990?

Cheers!

[TechnoBacon]

Saw this:

http://www.techspot....290x/page4.html

The 7970 ghz crossfire is way faster than the 290X and the 290X is usually on par with the 970.

If there are no frame pacing issues and stuttering in games that have crossfire support, the 280X crossfire seems like an excellent option.

Is the 280X crossfire the same in performance as a 7990?

Cheers!

280x is a rebadge of the 7970 ghz, so a crossfire setup consisting 2x 280x would give you the same performance as a 7990, mabye a little faster with those aftermarket coolers. You will run into optimization issues on games that dont have cfx profiles already, but since you are only doing double cfx, stuttering and major graphical errors shouldn't be an issue you need to worry about. The real worry is as mentioned the cfx support, so in newer games you might be left utilizing one card instead of 2. R9 280x is a Powerful card by itself, but In the future you might be more cfx reliant and you migt regret that you didnt buy a single more powerful card. I would personally go with an aftermarket 290x or 970 and add one later if needed. This is your decision and a multi gpu setup is always badass in my eyes even though the cards aren't the highest end. That was my two cents I guess

[bossdre]

 

280x is a rebadge of the 7970 ghz, so a crossfire setup consisting 2x 280x would give you the same performance as a 7990, mabye a little faster with those aftermarket coolers. You will run into optimization issues on games that dont have cfx profiles already, but since you are only doing double cfx, stuttering and major graphical errors shouldn't be an issue you need to worry about. The real worry is as mentioned the cfx support, so in newer games you might be left utilizing one card instead of 2. R9 280x is a Powerful card by itself, but In the future you might be more cfx reliant and you migt regret that you didnt buy a single more powerful card. I would personally go with an aftermarket 290x or 970 and add one later if needed. This is your decision and a multi gpu setup is always badass in my eyes even though the cards aren't the highest end. That was my two cents I guess

 

And then by the time you want to SLI/CFx your R9 290x or GTX 970, you'll better off into upgrading to the next best single GPU solution.

 

I guess the thread starter just need to CHOOSE, RAW performance TODAY with 2x R9 280x knowing that you'll need to upgrade within a year or get a GTX 970 today to avoid POTENTIAL multi GPU ISSUES especially on day one game releases and other non-AAA games that doesn't support multi GPU technology.