Multi GPU Setups what does the future hold

[Outs1d3r81]

So this morning while having a conversation on with my gaming buddies on what GPU one of them should upgrade to the multi card setup came up again. The discussion generally went as they normally do that it is waste of cash and I made the comment based on a video Luke did for LTT the forum topic is linked below that Nvidia will not outright support but rather look to the developers to support it as another reason not to do it simply as multi GPU support has been shoddy of late.

 

So the general consensus was that it was expensive for people who want to show off, are super enthusiast does content or graphic design or have more money than sense. (Apologies if insulted anyone).

 

Fast forward a couple of hours and I posted a topic on more alleged leaked benchmarks. The normal comments happened but 1 comment stood out:

Quote

I've got an AMD HD 7870 right now and have had very few issues in the four years I've owned it. AMD has really been stepping their game on drivers etc these last 18 months. I've been excited for the RX 480 and was sure that I'd be getting one at some point (Sapphire NITRO). If an aftermarket GTX 1060 can beat an RX 480 in price:performance I'll certainly consider it though.

 

Of course I'm dubious as I've only managed to hold onto the HD 7870 for so long due to the way AMD cards seem to improve with age. If I'd bought an equivalent nVidia card back then I'd probably have had to upgrade already due to the way nVidia cards don't seem to age as well. I don't upgrade often so that is a factor for me.

 

People are saying "RIP AMD" but I really don't think it's as clear cut as people think. This is going to be a very difficult decision for me to make in the next few months.

 

This puts an entirely new spin on the multi GPU discussion. It is completely feasible in a theoretical stand point that a user can extend the longevity of their system by acquiring a cheaper second card when new cards releases or by acquiring a 2nd hand card at lower price point than a new card. This now creates a bit of a conundrum with the stance Nvidia is taking and it would be interesting to understand what AMD's thoughts are what does this mean for users like these that are looking for the most cost effective upgrade. Will the overtime loose this due to lack of support for multi GPU setups.

 

I would love to hear the thoughts of the community on this.

[BiscuitMassacre]

I believe that in a few years, like say the GTX 1280, that it probably wont support dual cards because game support and it will be so good that you really wont NEED two of them. 

[AresKrieger]

Game developers are lazy just like all other people, so if they have little reason to support xfire sli or that dx12 thing then they won't since it takes time to implement those things in an industry increasing associated with rushing products out asap.

[Flavortown2k16]

2 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

Game developers are lazy just like all other people, so if they have little reason to support xfire sli or that dx12 thing then they won't since it takes time to implement those things in an industry increasing associated with rushing products out asap.

no reason to put sli/cf to cards that are powerfull enough. Ofc theres some maniacs who wants more and more and there should be option to do sli/cf just for them.

[Dackzy]

there will always be people who wants to sli or cf and a single card will never be enough, only if we get a card that can take the highest res of that gen and max all games out with at least 60 fps all the time.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

3 hours ago, AresKrieger said:

Game developers are lazy

That is false and disrespectful.

[AresKrieger]

3 minutes ago, Hans Christian | Teri said:

That is false and disrespectful.

Game developers are lazy just like all other people

 

Context is key

[Hans Christian | Teri]

1 minute ago, AresKrieger said:

Game developers are lazy just like all other people

That changes nothing.

[AresKrieger]

1 minute ago, Hans Christian | Teri said:

That changes nothing.

Well then your opinion doesn't matter to me, since clearly you missed the point of my post, I will not continue this conversation further since I suspect you are trolling me and this a pointless argument.

[mikey9696]

7 minutes ago, Hans Christian | Teri said:

That changes nothing.

But they are lazy,

[jjohnthedon1]

I think it would be great if amd and nvdia did there own thin to make gpus work together rather than leaving it to game devs 

some way to make 2 gpus act as one big gpu 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

1 hour ago, mikey9696 said:

But they are lazy,

Where are you getting this from? Most of them are hard-working, passionate people with a deadline.

[YongKang]

I'm not sure but when you can dish out enough money for a second card, you can simply buy a better single card option. SLI or crossfire will only worth it if you pair top end GPU together.( The whole RX480 vs 1080 argument is valid because of price to performance.)

Plus, developers need to support it in their games while single gpu options always work.

It all depends on what the user wants.