Dual radeon GPUs - 4k?

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 00:47

Hi all,

Quick Q.

I have an 8GB RX480 and a 4GB RX570 GPU in my pc. I bought the second card a couple years ago when I was dabbling in mining, never used it much as it coincided with when it all went belly up.

Is there such a thing as running dual cards any more for more performance? There is no physical connection between the two cards other than the motherboard.

If they can be run together, is the combo powerful enough to run games at 4k resolution? I ask as I am planning on buying a new TV and thinking of running my gaming PC on it.

Thanks

pandem0nium · 21 Feb 2020 at 09:37

You would have the equivalent of 2 of the slower card with the lower amount of vram when running them together. (Assuming AFR).

You don't need a physical connector. Each card just needs to be in atleast a x4 lane wired slot. Should use the x8 x8 split lanes from the CPU.

Is the combo any good for 4 gaming? Depends on the game but overall probably not really.

Blue160 · 21 Feb 2020 at 09:53

Multiple GPU setups aren’t very well catered for these days. The amount of games that support crossfire or SLI are very low. I’d expect that, even if you get it to work, in most circumstances the single 480 would be faster.

nashathedog · 21 Feb 2020 at 09:53

Navi doesn't support crossfire so it looks to me like it's game over going forward.

AMD confirms that their Radeon Navi graphics lacks CrossFire Support. ... To answer this, AMD has released the following statement; RX 5700 Series GPU's support CrossFire in 'Explicit' multi-GPU mode when running a DX12 or Vulkan game that supports multiple GPU's

chroniclard · 21 Feb 2020 at 09:55

No, sell both, get faster card.

*It might run a few games ok but not worth the hassle.

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 10:30

Ok thanks. Am i right in thinking that the setup would still work on a tv at a lower resolution and the tv would upscale it?

Would the picture be pretty good if i aimed for 1440p on a new single card and let the tv upscale it to 4k?

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 15:19

danlightbulb said:
Ok thanks. Am i right in thinking that the setup would still work on a tv at a lower resolution and the tv would upscale it?

Would the picture be pretty good if i aimed for 1440p on a new single card and let the tv upscale it to 4k?

get a console tbh.

for 4K you need a lot of power. i'd say 2070 super or 5700xt type of power to do it any justice as a minimum.

1440p you could do that as well but again. you would need a 5700 or 2070 as the other cards below them aren't really worth it.

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 15:23

Im thinking i want to keep my pc and run it off both monitor and tv when required. Lots more game choices. Pc will be at best 8m away in same room, at worst 20m away in different room.

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 16:07

danlightbulb said:
Im thinking i want to keep my pc and run it off both monitor and tv when required. Lots more game choices. Pc will be at best 8m away in same room, at worst 20m away in different room.

and how are you planning on connecting them?

at 4K the max they recommend a HDMI cable is 3m or 6m if you buy a really good one.

so 20m is pretty much a no go for 4k.

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 16:10

Psycho Sonny said:
and how are you planning on connecting them?

at 4K the max they recommend a HDMI cable is 3m or 6m if you buy a really good one.

so 20m is pretty much a no go for 4k.

Initial research suggests hdmi to fibre optic cables.

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 16:35

danlightbulb said:
Initial research suggests hdmi to fibre optic cables.

are the powered converters / extenders? and how much do they cost?

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 16:48

Not allowed to link to the rainforest but if you search for Atzebe 10m fibre optic hdmi cable - its £43 and supposedly supports 4k at 60hz. they do versions up to 100m. seems to get good reviews.

Grim5 · 21 Feb 2020 at 19:00

Psycho Sonny said:
get a console tbh.

for 4K you need a lot of power. i'd say 2070 super or 5700xt type of power to do it any justice as a minimum.

1440p you could do that as well but again. you would need a 5700 or 2070 as the other cards below them aren't really worth it.

true. Get a PlayStation 5 in November tbh, it fits the budget and will more than meets the requirements

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 19:39

Grim5 said:
true. Get a PlayStation 5 in November tbh, it fits the budget and will more than meets the requirements

Already have the PC though, and some games. Plus games more often cheaper and on sale than will be on a brand new next gen console. If a next gen console can have the GPU power for 4k for £500 (including all the rest of the gubbins), then I should be able to spend the same on a single GPU and get the same or better performance surely?

I dunno, its a tough one. PC gives me far more flexibility in theory, but console would be simpler.

Its not just about the hardware, its also about the peripherals. I wanted to get a steering wheel/pedal setup as well. I could also use my PC as a media centre. I want to network it all together by ethernet in my new house as well. At the moment Im not taking advantage of the PC at all - hardly use it really. In new house Im getting excited about integrating everything together with surround sound, big tv etc.

The TV I wanted has dropped £200 today but I can't risk buying it yet as I haven't properly measured the space argggh.

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 21:20

danlightbulb said:
Already have the PC though, and some games. Plus games more often cheaper and on sale than will be on a brand new next gen console. If a next gen console can have the GPU power for 4k for £500 (including all the rest of the gubbins), then I should be able to spend the same on a single GPU and get the same or better performance surely?

I dunno, its a tough one. PC gives me far more flexibility in theory, but console would be simpler.

Its not just about the hardware, its also about the peripherals. I wanted to get a steering wheel/pedal setup as well. I could also use my PC as a media centre. I want to network it all together by ethernet in my new house as well. At the moment Im not taking advantage of the PC at all - hardly use it really. In new house Im getting excited about integrating everything together with surround sound, big tv etc.

The TV I wanted has dropped £200 today but I can't risk buying it yet as I haven't properly measured the space argggh.

You have a crap pc atm.

You will need to buy a new cpu, mobo, ram, then decent mouse add all the other crap you want and your talking thousands.

Just buy a console.

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 21:25

Psycho Sonny said:
You have a crap pc atm.

You will need to buy a new cpu, mobo, ram, then decent mouse add all the other crap you want and your talking thousands.

Just buy a console.

Really? An 8 core cpu, 16 gb of ddr4 and an ssd not good enough for 4k if i put a decent gpu in? if thats really true then ok, but im not sure i believe you.

i want a good keyboard and mouse anyway so those are not really extras.

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 21:43

danlightbulb said:
Really? An 8 core cpu, 16 gb of ddr4 and an ssd not good enough for 4k if i put a decent gpu in? if thats really true then ok, but im not sure i believe you.

i want a good keyboard and mouse anyway so those are not really extras.

Really you have those yet are using a £80 4 year old gpu?

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 21:57

Psycho Sonny said:
Really you have those yet are using a £80 4 year old gpu?

its £80 /old tech now but wasnt when i bought it. I just havent capitalised on having a pc really, now i want to.

rest of system is 1st gen ryzen 1700X, 16gb ddr4 (3200mhz?), x370 mobo (possibly can flash this to run a 3rd gen ryzen?) and its all got good cooling.

Psycho Sonny · 21 Feb 2020 at 22:09

danlightbulb said:
its £80 /old tech now but wasnt when i bought it. I just havent capitalised on having a pc really, now i want to.

rest of system is 1st gen ryzen 1700X, 16gb ddr4 (3200mhz?), x370 mobo (possibly can flash this to run a 3rd gen ryzen?) and its all got good cooling.

1700x is a pretty poor gaming cpu.

You would need to get a 3600 or 3600x

Rest looks fine but again that is an additional £100+ depending on what your old cpu is worth

danlightbulb · 21 Feb 2020 at 22:20

Just checked Asus website and it looks like I can update bios to fit the Ryzen 3xxx series all the way up to ryzen 9 3950X.

Looks like the price of CPUs and RAM has really come down in the last 2 years as well.