When using crossfire, is it benefical to use two graphics cards or three?

[Surveyor]

I didn't say there was.

Then why did you highlight my comment regarding 68xx series cards and than say:

In those cases you pair a single with a dual to get Trifire.

 

[old gamer]

my choice would be get a 6990 first and if needed then get a 6970 to put with it

 

[Final8y]

If you're considering 2 or 3 cards in Crossfire or SLI see this review which will give you an indication of the difference between dual and triple card setups:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865.html

You also need to consider what processor/motherboard combination you're going to be using. For 3 cards you're going to need three 8 lane PCI-E slots and most motherboards don't provide this. On Sandybridge, for example, most motherboards have two 8 lane slots and you have to spend around £300 on a motherboard with Nvidia's NF200 chip to get more.

And despite what is stated above some cards can't be used in a 3 card setup. ATI's 68xx series cards, for example, only have a single Crossfire connector so the most you can use is 2 cards.

In those cases you pair a single with a dual to get Trifire.

Originally posted by Final8y:


What do you mean by a dual? and whats trifire? Is there some sort of new graphics card that I dont know about?

In the case of 6xxx it would be a 6990+ 6970 or 6950.

TriFire is 3 GPUs.

Then why did you highlight my comment regarding 68xx series cards and than say:

If you read through you can see my correction.

 

[Surveyor]

Back on topic.

OP go out and buy a copy of the May 2011 issue of Custom PC.

They have an article on gaming over 3 screens.

Also look at this review:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/triple-monitor-gaming-on-geforce-gtx-590-and-radeon-6990/

If you look at the results for a single R6990 or GTX590 it will give you an idea of the results of a dual card setup.