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What are best graphics cards for 2-WaySLi/Crossfire under 650$ (in total)?

Hyper_Droid
Level 8
Well, most of you would have already seen my post asking about my build.

But now, I'm more keen of finding the best Graphics Cards to buy, keeping in mind that I want to do Crossfire/Sli.

Iwas thinking about the GTX 770 & the R9 280x.

I have an Corsair Obsidian 800D case.


I want the best graphics cards, so please bare in mind:

1. The Least Noise Possible ( I HATE Noisy Computers).

2. I want the best performance.

4. I want, if possible, to find graphics cards that are Overclocked.

5. Lowest Temperatures & thatit allows the best Airflow for my 800D, therefore allowing higher overclock speeds for my i7 4770K that will be using the Corsair H100i).

6. I want good answers like I recommend "ASUS R9 280x Matrix", not "GTX 770"
Thank You!

Yours Dearly,

Hyper.
Maximus VI Formula I Intel I7 4770K I Corsair Vengeance 16Gb @1600Mhz I 240 GB Corsair Force GS Series SSD I WD Caviar Black 2TB I Corsair H100i I Seasonic 1250w I Corsair Obsidian 800D I 2x Sapphire R9 290s (2x4GB) in Crossfire I 3x BenQ 2450hm 24" in Eyefinity I Razer Chimaera Headset I Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. Mouse I Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard



Youtube: HyperDroids // Instagram: @latesttech4all
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Pros: Epic Price!
Cons: Horrible look, and blue PCB makes this out of sync with my build.

But, if the performance is better than the other R9 280's... Then in that case I might consider it, so...

Thanks Chino! 😉

Would still love to see many more opinions though! 🙂

Also... I was thinking about the ASUS R9 280X D-CUII and the MSI R9 280x.

Both look epic, both have a fair price... But, I'm not so sure if they are the best, and which is better overall, that's why I'd like to see what you guys think, which one of these too are better, and what is the best out of all R9 280x in your opinion! 🙂

Thanks Once Again Chino!

Yours Dearly,

Hyper.

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UPDATE: Oops, sorry Zeruel, thanks for your opinion.I'll keep that option in mind 🙂

OK, as for the mars vs. Crossfire:
Crossfire:
Pros: Higher overall performance performance/money (GPU wise. Excluding PSU prices...)
Cons: I need a way more powerful PSU, meaning higher price...

Single Mars 760:
Pros: Less Wattage.
Cons: Less Performance/money (Excluding PSU prices...)

Although, I love the fact you offered something very different, soI do thank you for that. I will dedicate some time to decide over your opinion.

Thanks Zeruel.
Maximus VI Formula I Intel I7 4770K I Corsair Vengeance 16Gb @1600Mhz I 240 GB Corsair Force GS Series SSD I WD Caviar Black 2TB I Corsair H100i I Seasonic 1250w I Corsair Obsidian 800D I 2x Sapphire R9 290s (2x4GB) in Crossfire I 3x BenQ 2450hm 24" in Eyefinity I Razer Chimaera Headset I Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. Mouse I Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard



Youtube: HyperDroids // Instagram: @latesttech4all

Zeruel
Level 7
I think the MARS 760 would be a good fit for you!

I think it costs $650. No sure on micro stutter but I think it does well!
Cruel Angel
------------------------------

CPU: i7 4770k 4.7Ghz 1.425v
MB: Maximus VI Formula
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro (2400Mhz OC) 16GB
GPU: Reference GTX 560Ti ( GTX 880 Coming Soon!)
PSU: Corsair AX 1200i
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 512GB
HDD: WD Black 2TB
Case: Corsair Obsidian 900D
Mouse: MLG Sensei
KeyBoard: Corsair K70 RED
Monitor: BENQ XL2420T

Custom Water Cooling

Nodens
Level 16
GTX770. Why? Nvidia has no frame latency issues and has vastly superior drivers. Cons: Bad OpenCL performance if you use GPU accelerated software that uses only OpenCL and no CUDA.

2x reference cards would be around 650. But will have loud fans. 2x760 overclocked with better, silent cooling would probably reach the same price.

At this point I would only get the R9 280 if I used OpenCL software or if I wanted to use VT-d to passthrough the video card to a Windows VM under Linux.

And that's my professional opinion as someone who works with game engines.:) But I won't recommend any specific models.
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There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.

Thanks Nodens... Good point about the 760's... But I hope to find alternatives to reference editions. I live in Spain, so, what would be 380$ in America, can sometimes be 300 euro here, so... I do have more money to spend on non-reference cards.

So, your argument has certainly brought Nvidia back into the game.

According to other friends, Nvidia have been having problems with SLi configurating. Now, the fact you mentioned doing SLi with 2x GTX770's makes me wonder, are there really any problems, or is he just wrong?

Thanks once again Nodens.

I look forward to more answers! 🙂
Maximus VI Formula I Intel I7 4770K I Corsair Vengeance 16Gb @1600Mhz I 240 GB Corsair Force GS Series SSD I WD Caviar Black 2TB I Corsair H100i I Seasonic 1250w I Corsair Obsidian 800D I 2x Sapphire R9 290s (2x4GB) in Crossfire I 3x BenQ 2450hm 24" in Eyefinity I Razer Chimaera Headset I Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. Mouse I Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard



Youtube: HyperDroids // Instagram: @latesttech4all

Arne_Saknussemm
Level 40
For that resolution whatever you get, get 4GB cards if you can...like 2 4GB 760s.... you will want more than the 2GB a lot of Nvidia cards come with. Though, twin 760s and a single 780Ti might be pretty close performance wise....and a single top of the line card would be better, I reckon, than two mid range ones. Whatever problems SLI can bring a single card will obviously have none of them.

Though I have avoided any problems running SLI for my entire history with it simply by playing games a couple of months after they are released when drivers and games are matured. If you want to play games on day 1 with fresh drivers then single card definitely better than SLI. If you can wait a bit until SLI profiles are refined and games are patched and drivers mature then SLI is problem free...

Yeah... I don't think I'm that kind of guy...

But, I did forget to mention I am going to use a 3x 24" Monitor set-up.... So... the more memory, the better.

That's why I would prefer an SLi Configuration, or Crossfire... But, as you mentioned, there are many patches that need to be made, so I think I will stick with Crossfire! 🙂

Thanks Arne!

More Recommendations please.

I'm hoping for AMD Graphics Cards, specific cards would be nice!
Maximus VI Formula I Intel I7 4770K I Corsair Vengeance 16Gb @1600Mhz I 240 GB Corsair Force GS Series SSD I WD Caviar Black 2TB I Corsair H100i I Seasonic 1250w I Corsair Obsidian 800D I 2x Sapphire R9 290s (2x4GB) in Crossfire I 3x BenQ 2450hm 24" in Eyefinity I Razer Chimaera Headset I Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. Mouse I Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard



Youtube: HyperDroids // Instagram: @latesttech4all

Nodens
Level 16
Apart from a couple of late driver versions you will find no problems with SLI. Any problems can be attributed to faulty hardware or user error. On the other hand, the AMD drivers are always very buggy. I personally develop on Nvidia and then test on my AMD rig for this very reason.
Also frame latency is a current AMD issue. Read this to understand what frame latency is and why FPS measurements are not really important: http://techreport.com/review/21516/inside-the-second-a-new-look-at-game-benchmarking

Also I would agree with both points made by Arne. High resolutions (Eyefinity/Surround) need lots of VRAM (of course this also depends on size of textures, meshes, etc used by the game). When you run out of VRAM, shared system RAM is used which is inherently slower. At this point, performance benefits from the card itself go down the drain.
RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide - Patched OROM for TRIM in RAID - Patched UEFI GOP Updater Tool - ASUS OEM License Restorer
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.

Alright then, in that case, I'm back to square one... (2 weeks ago) So, are the GTX 770s a Winner?

If so, then please recommend brands. If not, then again, recommend brands of other types of graphics cards!

Thank You!
Maximus VI Formula I Intel I7 4770K I Corsair Vengeance 16Gb @1600Mhz I 240 GB Corsair Force GS Series SSD I WD Caviar Black 2TB I Corsair H100i I Seasonic 1250w I Corsair Obsidian 800D I 2x Sapphire R9 290s (2x4GB) in Crossfire I 3x BenQ 2450hm 24" in Eyefinity I Razer Chimaera Headset I Mad Catz Cyborg R.A.T. Mouse I Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard



Youtube: HyperDroids // Instagram: @latesttech4all