Hello,
Can someone please explain what are the main differences between:
a) Using a single slot dual GPU like the AMD R9 295X2 and...
b) Using two R9 290X in crossfire mode
Is a single slot dual gpu also considered crossfire? Most benchmarks focus on crossfire-ing cheap cards in order to achieve better or similar performance to a single slot, single GPU card that is more expensive than both of those cards (i.e. the RX480 Crossfire vs GTX1080 benchmarks), but very few people discuss the difference between Crossfire and Single slot dual GPU. Are there any benefits to using a single slot dual GPU? Does it have something to do with saving PCIe lanes etc? Do poorly optimized games run better on them?
Thanks in advance.
P.S.
It is well known that SLI/Crossfire doesn't result in double the amount of VRAM (i.e. 2 GPUs with 2GB VRAM each doesn't result in 4GB VRAM total when combined in SLI/CF), however I read somewhere that single slot dual GPUs have the same thing valid for them which means that when they are advertised as having 8GB VRAM they actually have 2 x 4GB - is that true?
It's still crossfire on those dual GPU cards, the main benefit is you don't need 2 16x slots, or you can have two of them for 4 way crossfire if that's still a thing.
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Dual GPU cards from both AMD and nVidia (295X2, 7990, 690 Titan Z) use Crossfire/SLI just like any regular multi GPU set up. They will yield the same performance as though you had two GPUs. In fact most of the time it will be worse as the dual GPU cards are usually clocked lower to reduce heat. They do split the VRAM. So a dual GPU card with 8GBs of VRAM is really 4+4.
The only advantage is a single slot being used which can ve beneficial to some people.
The only real exception to this is the 295X2. This GPU will probably perform better as well as being quiter and cooler than two 290Xs. That is purely down to the liquid cooling though which meant they didn't need to reduce clock speeds and could keep it cool.
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i'M not an expert on this but as far as I can see they are about the same the only real difference is you dont need to use two pci-e slots, a bit less power draw and possiable a very slight increase as the gpus can communicate dirrectly rather than having to talk to the pci-e protocol then to the cpu and back
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