r9 380 crossfire ?

[Demokrit]

Hello Guys,

Im thinking about buying a r9 380 nitro sapphire 4GB.

Since ill get dolla bills in january im thinking about running them in crossfire mode and i want to ask you whether that will be a good idea.

I have a SLI Krait Z97S motherboard with a 4690k cpu

 

And what do you guys think about a single 380 nitro ? Will it handle current games on 1080p allright ?

[don_svetlio]

single one is more than enough for 1080p high-ultra
CF is fine but get 650W for that

[Demokrit]

single one is more than enough for 1080p high-ultra

CF is fine but get 650W for that

Yea i may just use the 380 till i get money for a 970 because im planning to run them in SLI.

Good to know that the card packs a good punch for the price thank you

[don_svetlio]

Yea i may just use the 380 till i get money for a 970 because im planning to run them in SLI.

Good to know that the card packs a good punch for the price thank you

390 > 970 - SLIing a 3.5GB card is a worse idea than CF 380s - VRAM will crush it for you

[Demokrit]

390 > 970 - SLIing a 3.5GB card is a worse idea than CF 380s - VRAM will crush it for you

Can i run 2x 390's in crossfire ? Im scared that i will need 1500 watts because of all the shit i've heard about AMD cards.

I know they are not getting as hot but their power consumption is pretty high imo.

What kind of PSU would you reccomend for SLI 390 ? And would you even reccomend it at all in a s340 ? the cpu will be water cooled

[don_svetlio]

Can i run 2x 390's in crossfire ? Im scared that i will need 1500 watts because of all the shit i've heard about AMD cards.

I know they are not getting as hot but their power consumption is pretty high imo.

What kind of PSU would you reccomend for SLI 390 ? And would you even reccomend it at all in a s340 ? the cpu will be water cooled

R9 390 CF is fine on 750W but get 850W for OCing

970 needs 750W - difference between a 970 and 390 is about 60W

[App4that]

Can i run 2x 390's in crossfire ? Im scared that i will need 1500 watts because of all the shit i've heard about AMD cards.

I know they are not getting as hot but their power consumption is pretty high imo.

What kind of PSU would you reccomend for SLI 390 ? And would you even reccomend it at all in a s340 ? the cpu will be water cooled

I had a 290 and 390 in crossfire using a 750w PSU. The scaling is very nice.

[don_svetlio]

I had a 290 and 390 in crossfire using a 750w PSU. The scaling is very nice.

you were pulling 600-660W I believe?

[Demokrit]

I had a 290 and 390 in crossfire using a 750w PSU. The scaling is very nice.

Im planning on overclocking the 4690k with watercooling but not a lot.

Will 750w still be enough ?

[App4that]

you were pulling 600-660W I believe?

yep

 

Im planning on overclocking the 4690k with watercooling but not a lot.

Will 750w still be enough ?

I had 10 case fans(LED), a 4690K overclocked to 4.6GHz, a H105, 2 storage devices, overclocked RAM, a wireless adapter, and both GPUs overclocked to 1100MHz. :lol:

 

Now, if I was to buy a powersupply to do it again I'd get a 850w just to be safe. But the 750w was fine.

[Demokrit]

yep

 

I had 10 case fans(LED), a 4690K overclocked to 4.6GHz, a H105, 2 storage devices, overclocked RAM, a wireless adapter, and both GPUs overclocked to 1100MHz. :lol:

 

Now, if I was to buy a powersupply to do it again I'd get a 850w just to be safe. But the 750w was fine.

Would i be fine with 750  if i only overclock the processor with a h100i and 2 case fans, 2 HDD's and 1 SSD ?

[don_svetlio]

Would i be fine with 750  if i only overclock the processor with a h100i and 2 case fans, 2 HDD's and 1 SSD ?

if cards are at stock yes.

[Demokrit]

if cards are at stock yes.

Yea i wouldnt plan on overclocking them since i think they would be enough for 1440p/1080p for the next few years anyway. If i need the extra fps i can always upgrade my PSU right ?

[App4that]

Yea i wouldnt plan on overclocking them since i think they would be enough for 1440p/1080p for the next few years anyway. If i need the extra fps i can always upgrade my PSU right ?

With crossfire you only have to overclock to balance two different cards. Mine had different clock speeds, so I had to at least overclock the lower card to the higher clock sped of the other. Not so that it would work, but for OCD reasons and what could have been a placebo effect of smoother frame rates.

 

Two cards in the same case at 1080p will crush any game you place in front of it. :lol:  No need to overclock. 

[MEC-777]

@Demokrit - After running crossfire 290's for a while now, I can honestly say you're better off just saving and holding out for a better single card vs 2 less powerful cards. Even if total performance is lower in certain games, IMO it's not worth some of the hassle that comes along with multi-GPU setups. 

 

At first it was great, but now my opinion has changed the on the matter, somewhat. A 380 will be a solid 1080p card for quite a while. I'd say, just keep running the 380, save up your cash and hold out to see what Nvidia/AMD bring out with their new cards in the new year. By then you can sell the 380 and pool that cash with the money you've saved and (hopefully) buy something as fast as two 380's but in a single GPU form which will give you a much nicer user experience.

[Demokrit]

@Demokrit - After running crossfire 290's for a while now, I can honestly say you're better off just saving and holding out for a better single card vs 2 less powerful cards. Even if total performance is lower in certain games, IMO it's not worth some of the hassle that comes along with multi-GPU setups. 

 

At first it was great, but now my opinion has changed the on the matter, somewhat. A 380 will be a solid 1080p card for quite a while. I'd say, just keep running the 380, save up your cash and hold out to see what Nvidia/AMD bring out with their new cards in the new year. By then you can sell the 380 and pool that cash with the money you've saved and (hopefully) buy something as fast as two 380's but in a single GPU form which will give you a much nicer user experience.

Will there be any new AMD/Nvidia cards in 2016 ? Is there a new GPU generation each year ? I just started to get into building PC's and stuff and i havent followed the market for too long

[App4that]

Will there be any new AMD/Nvidia cards in 2016 ? Is there a new GPU generation each year ? I just started to get into building PC's and stuff and i havent followed the market for too long

No matter what you do there will always be the next "thing" in development. You can't let that run your build. What you worry about is the games you want to play right now. Are you spending your money in a way that will give you the best experience possible.

[don_svetlio]

Will there be any new AMD/Nvidia cards in 2016 ? Is there a new GPU generation each year ? I just started to get into building PC's and stuff and i havent followed the market for too long

Yep - usually every other year you have something good. Next year - Pascal and Arctic Islands

[MEC-777]

Will there be any new AMD/Nvidia cards in 2016 ? Is there a new GPU generation each year ? I just started to get into building PC's and stuff and i havent followed the market for too long

 

Pretty much a new generation of GPU's (more or less) released every year. However... 

 

No matter what you do there will always be the next "thing" in development. You can't let that run your build. What you worry about is the games you want to play right now. Are you spending your money in a way that will give you the best experience possible.

 

^This. You can't keep waiting for the "next thing" or you'll be waiting forever. 

 

What I meant by what I said earlier was this: if you go with a 380 in your initial build, say it takes you 4-6 months to save up enough money to buy a 2nd 380. Instead of buying that 2nd 380, first see what new GPUs will be released within a month or two. If something much better is going to be released very soon, take the money you saved, sell your current 380 and buy that more powerful single GPU instead of the 2nd 380. But it all depends on where you're at, what time of the year it is and how much you're willing to spend.