Does crossfire use all the memory from the Graphic cards ???

[jonathan1107]

I have 2x 6950 2gb in CFx...

Does this mean my system can effectively use 4gb of memory for games... Or is it just 2gb? (shared)

other quick question:

Does the ice Q turbo card beat a ref. model card? I mean: I could OC the card to the same specs right?... so what's the pros of buyin that card?
here's the link: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=849339&CatId=7005

 

[HossHuge]

2gb

 

[micropage7]

it would use all the memory, it means 2 gig since its on xfire every gpu has its own memory it would handle huge texture better than single
not coz its 2 gb the rest 2 gb wont get used, xfire would use all

 

[jonathan1107]

so.... is it going to use 4gb? or 2gb? ... there are 2x 6950 2gb... for a total of 4gb memory on the cards...

Also, check my original post, I added another question there

 

[ChristTheGreat]

it's 2gb. Why?

The GPU has to work together, so it's like if they copy the same data into their memory so they can work together. See it like that.

it the same thing in SLI, the memory doesn't add.

 

[jonathan1107]

So they're each using 1gb then right?... and if so... it means that someone who buys 2x 6950 1gb only uses 1gb in CFx correct?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

So they're each using 1gb then right?... and if so... it means that someone who buys 2x 6950 1gb only uses 1gb in CFx correct?

It means that each GPU will use the amount of RAM the card with the least amount of RAM has one it. Two 1gb cards will use 1gb per GPU. If you have something like a 512mb 4870 and a 1gb 4870, each gpu will use 512mb. If you have say a 1.5gb card and a 3gb card, both GPUs will use 1.5gb of RAM. If you have two 3gb cards, the GPUs will use 3gb apeice.

So to answer your question, your 2gb 6950 cards are using 2gb of vRAM per GPU.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

So they're each using 1gb then right?.

No, they each have 2GB and each card can use up to 2GB during gaming.

 

[jonathan1107]

lol... no ones giving me a clear answer here...

You say both my cards can use 2gb of memory in a CFx config... Doesn't this add up to 4gb TOTAL then ???

Meaning... in the future... when games use more than 2gb for textures and whatnot... will my 2x 6950 2gb cards in CFx be able to use more than 2gb TOTAL... or they will be capped @ 2gb even though there's 2gb on each card ?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

no, it does not add up. Read my post, it explains it pretty well in my opinion.

 

[ChristTheGreat]

The, answer has been giving. It use 2GB, That,s it, it will never use 4GB.. multi-GPU is like that.

Each card using 2gb, but the data copied in the memory are the same.. it's mirror memory so they have the same data in memory, but they will synchronise theirself to have different work.

If you run a game, and use 2gb memory, adding the second card, will give more power from GPU, not memory.

Let's try to explain in a easy way, with: 1- Texture details, 2- MSAA, 3- Shadow Details, 4- Water details.
Single GPU:

In Memory:
-Card #1: 1, 2, 3, 4

The card load what it can into memory and the GPU will work to render things.

Multi-GPU:

-Card #1: 1, 2, 3, 4
-Card #2: 1, 2, 3, 4

Both card load all in their memory, and GPU syncronise to render the data, separating the work.

The Texture are loade in each memory, so that is why it's not 4gb instead of 2gb, the memory isn'T shared between GPU.

 

[jonathan1107]

Ok thank you... Sorry for being slow to understand... It all makes sense now thx

 

[ChristTheGreat]

No problem jonathan