How many users have SLI/Crossfire?

[322Sqn_Bbird]

Single card here. AMD Sapphire 7990

[335th_GRDedalos]

Originally Posted by Stublerone

Each core has 1.5 gb but u will only have 1.5 gb overall and not 1% more, still to few vram to run sufficient.

So it is everything, but not 4 cards running slightly on lowrr performance. They are tunning at very low performance. And the expensive ddr5 vram is just wasted, not having any influence. Expensive way. It is like buying another 100gb ddr3 ram just to look good, but with no benefit. Sorry, but do not say, that sli only has small downgrade effect on the cards. It has a very big one!!!!!

Probably by you are correct if you are looking to the ''cold numbers''. But the truth I think it is somewhere between the words you wrote and the fact that by the time that I bought the cards they cost me a lot less than 4 gtx580 (to be exact lesser than 3) and little less than 4 gtx570 comparing to which they have better perfomance. So I think that always you have to balance between the things you want and the way to have the most of them.

[Stublerone]

Originally Posted by 335th_GRDedalos

Probably by you are correct if you are looking to the ''cold numbers''. But the truth I think it is somewhere between the words you wrote and the fact that by the time that I bought the cards they cost me a lot less than 4 gtx580 (to be exact lesser than 3) and little less than 4 gtx570 comparing to which they have better perfomance. So I think that always you have to balance between the things you want and the way to have the most of them.

Just want to say, that there is a main feature on videocards, which could always destroy your intention: nowadays, it is about vram as texture load and the games itself require this to run extremely fast. So, you can do sli and max out some values and your graphics power, but as soon as you have insufficient 1.5gb cards, you simply cannot compete with the others. You want to play in higher res and with more detail. And if a game like bf3 require at least 1.5gb for sufficient running and you buy quad sli with 1gb vram, you will have this bottleneck. You cab add 100 cards with 1gb and it will be again only 1gb vram, when u sum it up.

So it is not inbetween. Your 4x 580 with 1.5 gig with not have a single bit more thab 1x1.5 gb. That is sli and that needs to be changed. Otherwise ab upgrafe is simply getting by far more expensive than a new single card! Here in clod, you can add 4 more 580 and still have the bottleneck and you will not run a real high resolution or a triple monitor rig sufficiently. And to fire 1 card on 100% and effectively (with the vram issue integrated) 60 - 70 % of all other 3 cards is not very intelligent. It is like buying four cars and directly throw one into trash. Additionally you pay for fuel for 4 cars, although 3 of them are full. You leave this additional fuel untouched forever, except one third which you will burn in your garden for nothing as well.

Sounds weird and funny, but noone with the intention to upgrade an old system with sli additional card should ever think about that. It is simply for enthusiasts, who pimp their goid running rig with an second card for an extra bang (to run for example higher res or triple monitors). These guys know, what they have to do and they know, that sli would only work after having a look over the current card and its abilities. Would it be to slow or of a too low vram for example, they wouldn't use it to built up a sli rig. And I just want to tell these facts to you, before you all think, that it is a good idea to built up an sli with 2x 460, because it is cheap. It is simply a bad idea for most of the innocent guys out there not kbowing the facts of sli and what you have to think about it or how to validate

Sorry, but please do not all buy sli because some bf3 kiddies tell you. It could happen that you are very upset about your invest.

[r0bc]

VRAM isn't the end all be all, a crappy card with a load of VRAM is still a crappy card.

[Stublerone]

Originally Posted by r0bc

VRAM isn't the end all be all, a crappy card with a load of VRAM is still a crappy card.

+1, all I said

[HeavyHemi]

Originally Posted by Stublerone

Just want to say, that there is a main feature on videocards, which could always destroy your intention: nowadays, it is about vram as texture load and the games itself require this to run extremely fast. So, you can do sli and max out some values and your graphics power, but as soon as you have insufficient 1.5gb cards, you simply cannot compete with the others. You want to play in higher res and with more detail. And if a game like bf3 require at least 1.5gb for sufficient running and you buy quad sli with 1gb vram, you will have this bottleneck. You cab add 100 cards with 1gb and it will be again only 1gb vram, when u sum it up.

So it is not inbetween. Your 4x 580 with 1.5 gig with not have a single bit more thab 1x1.5 gb. That is sli and that needs to be changed. Otherwise ab upgrafe is simply getting by far more expensive than a new single card! Here in clod, you can add 4 more 580 and still have the bottleneck and you will not run a real high resolution or a triple monitor rig sufficiently. And to fire 1 card on 100% and effectively (with the vram issue integrated) 60 - 70 % of all other 3 cards is not very intelligent. It is like buying four cars and directly throw one into trash. Additionally you pay for fuel for 4 cars, although 3 of them are full. You leave this additional fuel untouched forever, except one third which you will burn in your garden for nothing as well.

Sounds weird and funny, but noone with the intention to upgrade an old system with sli additional card should ever think about that. It is simply for enthusiasts, who pimp their goid running rig with an second card for an extra bang (to run for example higher res or triple monitors). These guys know, what they have to do and they know, that sli would only work after having a look over the current card and its abilities. Would it be to slow or of a too low vram for example, they wouldn't use it to built up a sli rig. And I just want to tell these facts to you, before you all think, that it is a good idea to built up an sli with 2x 460, because it is cheap. It is simply a bad idea for most of the innocent guys out there not kbowing the facts of sli and what you have to think about it or how to validate

Sorry, but please do not all buy sli because some bf3 kiddies tell you. It could happen that you are very upset about your invest.

Exceeding your frame buffer is equally applicable to single GPU, SLI and Crossfire for that matter. It's essentially an irrelevant point. If you're exceeding your frame buffer you need to reduce your settings. This is independent of single or multi-gpu setups.
Maxing out BF3 at 1920x1080 and maintaining a min FPS of 60 requires a decent i7 and SLI 580's or better. SLI/Crossfire is not a bad idea IF you understand what SLI/Crossfire is and the advantages/disadvantages.

[Stublerone]

Omg, sorry, but you did not understand my intention. All I want to say is: All guys with insufficient vram have to reduce settings!!! Some simply do not get that fact, when buying a sli setup! You can hang up 200 videocards in clod with no real benefit, when vram is 512 mb each. Some guys have sli and saying again and again, that the fact about counting only one vram size seems wrong to them. But it is not wrong. Buy sli, if your first card is still sufficient in most terms! Than you are able to benefit the more graphics power. And that is also, what you said, heavy hemi!

When your initial card is running out of vram for example, this should never lead to the decision to buy sli on that base. Sli just will be sufficient, if your initial card is up to date for your games. So, as I said, the sli is normally not a real solution to upgrade very old cards. It is more an upgrade for those, who wants to max out their fps. Normally, these guys are already having a good card. They know these conditions and their buying decision is okay. But i currently seeing sli user using 2x 285 gtx or 2x460s and are now claiming stutters in clod. I just say, that they simply do not know their own rigs' possibilties.

I also know kids without knowledge buying sli without thinking about the frame conditions to run it. They bought sli, because they saw a kid playing bf3 on youtube with the headline: sli rocks awesome, but they are not aware of some problems and the initial question, that you should ask yourself before buying sli upgrade. And all I can say about claimers here: You are just uninformed, when thinking to max out clod with an insufficient sli. And in case of clod, the recommended card requirements (even for sli) is VERY high. You need the vram, not only raw power.

[Igo kyu]

I read somewhere about 2 GB of DDR3 on a GT 430.

Will that do it? Almost certainly, it will not. The amount of RAM is maybe right, but the card is too weak, and the sort of RAM is too slow.

It's not only the right card, but also the right sort of RAM as well as enough RAM that is needed.

[r0bc]

It's was even silly to put more VRAM on GTX460 and GTX560, they always put faster memory on 1gb card and it preformed better. Maybe even GTX 660 I'm not sure.
If you run out of frame buffer it'll swap textures with the hard drive, a spinning disk will have a slight stutter. You shouldnt notice much with SSD.

[Stublerone]

Originally Posted by Igo kyu

I read somewhere about 2 GB of DDR3 on a GT 430.

Will that do it? Almost certainly, it will not. The amount of RAM is maybe right, but the card is too weak, and the sort of RAM is too slow.

It's not only the right card, but also the right sort of RAM as well as enough RAM that is needed.

Ehm, that is, why I said that you need to think first and not buy sli just to upgrade an insufficient system. And there are simply people out there thinking that to buy an additional card and run sli will free them from performance problems. I call them bf3 kiddies, who do not know what they do. And in my whole experiences, the percentage of dumb users is about 80% and still rising. It is a shame, how often I am confronted with these sort of people. And I am the one, they talk to.

I just always say the same:You didn't hear my advice and now have problems. Stick with it, because there is no solution in solving it except buying again a new card. I cannot help you and do not want to repeat again. You took an advice of a bf3 kid and now you have the problem. Go away and aak him, how to solve, but not me.

Just said, that a youtube comment counts more than the opinions of an honestly explaining gaming friend. I cannot help dumb and ignorant people, who will not listen.

Again: sli = in most cases not to upgrade, only to enhance. If your card is shit and cannot run the game, it would not help to buy a second one.