▷ Reasons not to ride a sli or crossfire

One of the most interesting new features in Windows 10 and DirectX 12 is the possibility of using AMD and Nvidia cards on the same platform at the same time, so that games run faster. This is something that seems pretty spectacular, but it's basically a bad idea, just like traditional SLI or CrossFire configurations.

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How SLI or CrossFire work and why it is less and less interesting

Our core position is that SLI and CrossFire is something that can come in handy in certain circumstances, but it is not something you should prioritize over a good single graphics card for better gaming performance. In other words, it is not the recommended default option. The basic principle of this technology is simple, use more than one graphics card to make your games run faster. And that's exactly what AMD claims for its multi-GPU Crossfire technology and Nvidia for SLI as well. However, not all that glitters is gold.

As soon as you have more than one graphics card, the problem arises of how to share the graphics rendering load between them. In general, there are two options. Divide the image or have each card display entire images, but alternating between them. For option one, known as split-frame rendering, you can split the image into large blocks, one per GPU, or you can cut the image into many small tiles and share them. But most of the time, that's an academic distinction since alternate frame rendering currently dominates.

The philosophy behind rendering alternate frames makes perfect sense. You have all the cards representing frames at the same time, but with a proper overlay and you get double the performance with two cards. Also, high-end cards can double or more the cost of a decent mid-range card, but offer perhaps 50% more performance. For all this it seems a better idea to combine mid-range cards.

Compatibility, temperature consumption and operation problems in SLI or CrossFire

But what about practice? The problem is that this does not necessarily work. We don't mean that it doesn't work at all, but that it doesn't work well enough or often enough. When everything is working, frame rates with two GPUs can get close enough to what the basic theory suggests. Well, they can do it if we are talking about two GPUs, since the benefits are drastically reduced beyond two cards.

Sometimes multi-GPU technology doesn't work at all, so the computer defaults back to single-card performance. Exactly how often does this happen? Probably not very often if the context is well established. But with something really new, whether it's a game or a GPU, the odds of it happening increase exponentially.

Then there are the image quality issues. Multiple GPUs can generate weird things, like transparent walls that aren't supposed to be transparent, shiny textures, and micro-stuttering. Yes, this is fixed over time, in patches or in drivers. But then new games or new GPU drivers or architectures come out and things break again.

We recommend reading our article about Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 vs RTX 2080 vs RTX 2080Ti vs GTX 1080 Ti

Does not get the most out of the second graphics card

Until now, we have been talking about software glitches. But adding a second graphics card increases the chances of hardware failure. That's true in terms of the simple math of having more components. If you had a billion graphics cards, you would experience constant failure. It is also true in terms of the stress it exerts on the system. Two graphics cards further charge your power supply, which can increase overall operating temperatures. In every way, the configurations of various SLI or CrossFire graphics cards make your equipment a little more complex. Power consumption grows exponentially by adding a second mid-range graphics card or something, so you'll need to have a high-quality power supply to last.

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Generally, using a single higher-range graphics card offers lower power consumption, less heat, and much more stable and reliable operation. You may find it more expensive to buy a top-of-the-range graphics card than two mid-range ones, but in general it will work much better, both in terms of performance and consumption and reliability.

So when is it worth using SLI or CrossFire? If you already have a GeForce RTX 2080Ti and want more performance, you will not be able to buy a more powerful card in many months, so the only option you have left is to add a second card so that both work together. Another possibility is that you have a GeForce GTX 1080, and you can get another for a bargain price. In both cases you will have to deal with the drawbacks of having two cards, but it can be an attractive option.

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This ends our article on the reasons not to ride an SLI or CrossFire. Do you agree with us? You can leave a comment if you want to contribute your experience with SLI or CrossFire.

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