I already have a 290x, and I want to really beef up my rig. I looked at some benchmarks for this set up, but they were old and a lot of them said that the game just crashed. Does anyone know if this has been fixed? I figured the 295x2 will only be a better deal once the 300 series comes out.
That is an interesting question. The 295X2 is just two R9 290Xs on one GPU. So I suppose it would act like 3 way Crossfire. I'm not sure though if you can do it or if it would even be worth it.
Either sell your 290X and buy one R9 295X2 or just buy another 290X. The scaling past two GPUs is crap anyway.
In theory it should work. because i have seen videos of people Crossfiring, Old 7990s with a 7970. but for these Hawaii GPU's i probably wouldn't recommend it, cause scaling for MOST games aren't ideal. and the power-draw will be MASSIVE. and after around 2 cards crossfiring and SLI becomes a hit and a miss. some games will use the third card, some won't, but for the most part it's just a waste. in my opinion if you want to beef up your rig, grab another 290x instead of a 295x2. besides, the 295x2 with watercooling is pretty complex, and you have to some degree of knowledge with power supplies because it breaks PCI-E specifications i believe.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/6265/amd-radeon-r9-295x2-8gb-and-r9-290x-4gb-video-cards-in-crossfirex/index.html
I know its possible, but I'm wondering if these sorts of driver issues have been smoothed out more than anything.
I can figure that sort of stuff out. If anything, I enjoy learning more about my rig and about PCs in general. Im not too worried about the power draw, its covered. I have a decent power supply and Ill pay up for the power bill. Its not that expensive.
Worst case scenario I decide its not worth it and I just get rid of the 290x, and have the 295x2. Would still be a decent upgrade.
OR if you want to feel like a god,
Powercolor has a 295x2 that is Air-cooled and actually keeps the card cool. this card doesn't break PCI-E specifications though, they give you four 8-pin power connectors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131584&cm_re=290x-_-14-131-584-_-Product
I like the idea of it being water cooled actually. It can be the top card since the water will do most of the work keeping it cool, and it would keep the fans on the lower card open for air circulation.
The air cooled card is also a 3 slot card, whereas the reference R9-295x2 is a 2 slot card with a remote mount radiator that takes up less space if mounted in the top PCI-e x16 slot.
That radiator is pretty massive as well don't forget that. for the average ATX case, that doesn't have an inverted layout or a 90 degree layout, you are going to mount that radiator at back of the case where the CPU will most likely push air to, to exhaust heat out the case. there is nothing wrong with getting a 295x2, the issue i'm sort of trying to stress is, a 3-Way Crossfire setup, is at most pretty useless if scaling with games aren't perfect. the only game that is known to have next to perfect scaling is "Tomb-Raider". and honestly the power-draw isn't really worth it. To be pulling 1000w on a 3-way setup just to game, that is almost the same amount of power-draw that air-conditioners tend to pull out. and if you get the water-cooled 295x2 instead of the air-cooled you need to have at least some modicum of power-supply knowledge, cause you need to know which Port is giving you which power and how much power and which power supplies will work, cause not any power-supply will just work with the 295x2.
I have a full tower case, and the processor is cooled by a H110 already, going out the top. Ill figure out the specifics with the power supply, I just really am trying to figure out if someone knows if half the games still crash on launch.
For the most part i would probably say games prior to 2006/2005 is debate-able when it comes to games crashing on launch and it's not cause of the card but maybe cause the game doesn't support crossfire or SLI, unless you play games constantly from 2006 and below i really wouldn't worry all that much. modern titles all have support for SLI and Crossfire.
but overall games crashing, that is a game issue not really a graphics issue. it's only a graphics issue if you are doing overclocks, and you see artifacting, most of the time games will crash if overclock isn't stable.
I understand that as well, 3-way isn't a bad option if you want 4K gaming at 60 FPS with most settings turned up a little. As far as the usefulness of 3-way crossfire for anything under 2560x1440, it would be absolutely pointless unless you plan on gaming with a monitor that supports 144 Hz and you want all the settings turned up at the same time.
I already play at 1440p, and am considering doing surround 1440p. So yeah.