Final Thoughts
So today I had in two R9 380 graphics cards to put through CrossFireX punishment and I can only say I am extremely impressed. In the past, AMD has lost face compared to NVIDIA with the lack of driver update; they always seemed to be a step behind when it came to graphics card performance and many people jumped ship to join the green team. However, things have started to change recently, the R9 300 series is more than a match for the NVIDIA GTX 900 range (excluding GTX 980Ti) and for the first time in a while; they have released a single GPU card that can comparatively match what NVIDIA has to offer.
I can only say good things about what I have experienced today. Firstly the cost; an R9 380 2GB graphics card would set you back around £160, so this set-up would cost in the region of £320; that is incredible considering you are getting so much performance for so little money. Secondly the performance, so near to toppling the mighty NVIDIA Titan X on multiple occasions during our testing. That is around £800 worth of technology being put through its paces by a set-up that costs well under half of the price. What I particularly like about this is that the R9 380 on its own produces some great performance figures; so if you chose to purchase that and then waited for prices to reduce, you could have a very cheap gaming bundle.
One bad point which many of you would likely have guessed already is the poor drivers. In my testing today; the drivers I had (15.15.1004) failed to provide consistent CrossFire support. Thankfully I had already run my full testing procedure, but this doesn’t fill me with confidence if I had needed to re-run a test or implement a new game.
With the progression of graphics cards, performance on the lower end is perfectly matched to the amount of VRAM provided. However, when combined in a CrossFire set-up, the VRAM than becomes an issue. In the near future, we aim to bring you an AMD R9 380 4GB CrossFire review to analyse if the extra VRAM makes a difference at 4K.
Pros
- Outstanding performance
- Silent operation at low load levels
- A cheap option to high FPS 1080p gaming
Cons
- Drivers proved problematic
- 2GB limited potential performance
“The perfect solution for the budget conscious gamer in need of high FPS at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.”
Thank you to ASUS and MSI for providing these review samples.
So a crossfire of 380 eats only 10W extra than a single 380?
I was confused by this also, but after multiple re-tests, this was the average figure at the point of recording.
That is clearly wrong. You need to figure out what’s happening with that part of the review.
Looks like amazing scaling… Just bought 2 MSI ones
Can you rerun it for the 4gb variant?
I’d like to see that too! I just got the r9 380 4gb yesterday and it is a beast! Paired with my 4690k @ stock speed and my old kit of 16gb 1333mhz ram I can run, for example, GTA V with mixed high/very high setting and get very good fps and smooth gameplay.
I would definitely consider getting another 380 for CF in the future.
Definately get a second 4gb one – I can play GTA V in 4K VSR Max settings with Stable 45 FPS. If you tone it down slightly it can get to 60 fps
Wow, nice! What kind of PSU do you use and roughly how hot do your GPUs get while under load?
Hey I manage it with a 650 watt gold NZXT Modular – the GPU Coolers dont get that hot at all but my air flow setup is decent in the NZXT Noctis 450 case il upload a pic
Nice! I have a 750w modular Corsair PSU so I guess that should be enough. I’m also considering switching my current case for a Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 or a Phanteks Enthoo Pro M so airflow should not be an issue.
So are you planning to crossfire? – Id go for the phanteks enthoo they are suppose to be great. You make any really small form factor builds?
I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of crossfire 🙂 Right now my build is in a Corsair Air 240 so I’d say it’s a rather small build, got a 4690k cooled by a H100i, the R9 390, 16gb 2400MHz RAM in it, but I’m looking to switch to a compact ATX case so that’s why I’m speculating between the Arc Midi R2 and the Pro M. I don’t feel like cramming 2 GPUs inside the Air 240, that would certainly get too hot.
I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of crossfire 🙂 Right now my build is in a Corsair Air 240 so I’d say it’s a rather small build, got a 4690k cooled by a H100i, the R9 390, 16gb 2400MHz RAM in it, but I’m looking to switch to a compact ATX case so that’s why I’m speculating between the Arc Midi R2 and the Pro M. I don’t feel like cramming 2 GPUs inside the Air 240, that would certainly get too hot.
my smallest build is in the RVZ01 by silverstone an amazing case its only 14Liters. Looking to make an even smaller Mini ITX Gaming case using this little beauty. may put a nano in it.
That air 240 would be absolutely fine for Cross fire. id be more concerned with the phanteks
Sweet, a small build with the Nano would be awesome.
And I donno really, the Air 240 has 2 front intake fans and 2 top mounted exhaust fans, wich is basically the same as the Enthoo Pro M and the Arc Midi R2 except it doesn’t sport any rear fans. (It does have mounts for 2 80mm fans in the rear, but 80mm fans would probably make too much noise for most peoples taste so they don’t count 😉 )
But the Midi R2 and Pro M seems to be basically the same, so I guess it’ll come down to the looks for me, the Arc Midi, in my opinion, does look a bit better with the curved edges and it seems to be a little bit easier to build in. Although none of them is sound isolated so I’ll have to get some sound dampening foam and install it myself, if any of the cases have enough room behind the motherboard to fit the foam that is.
Be quiet do some small fans that are silent for the rear google be quiet 80mm fans
Sweet, a small build with the Nano would be awesome.
And I donno really, the Air 240 has 2 front intake fans and 2 top mounted exhaust fans, wich is basically the same as the Enthoo Pro M and the Arc Midi R2 except it doesn’t sport any rear fans. (It does have mounts for 2 80mm fans in the rear, but 80mm fans would probably make too much noise for most peoples taste so they don’t count 😉 )
But the Midi R2 and Pro M seems to be basically the same, so I guess it’ll come down to the looks for me, the Arc Midi, in my opinion, does look a bit better with the curved edges and it seems to be a little bit easier to build in. Although none of them is sound isolated so I’ll have to get some sound dampening foam and install it myself, if any of the cases have enough room behind the motherboard to fit the foam that is.
my smallest build is in the RVZ01 by silverstone an amazing case its only 14Liters. Looking to make an even smaller Mini ITX Gaming case using this little beauty. may put a nano in it.
That air 240 would be absolutely fine for Cross fire. id be more concerned with the phanteks
I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of crossfire 🙂 Right now my build is in a Corsair Air 240 so I’d say it’s a rather small build, got a 4690k cooled by a H100i, the R9 390, 16gb 2400MHz RAM in it, but I’m looking to switch to a compact ATX case so that’s why I’m speculating between the Arc Midi R2 and the Pro M. I don’t feel like cramming 2 GPUs inside the Air 240, that would certainly get too hot.
Also when you do the 4gb version can you test usi g 15.7
4gb crossfire please and compare it to r9 fury.tell more about crossfire issues encountered.
yeah i opted for crossfire 380s as the performance is around the same but its about £100 cheaper…also you can set the frame cap to reduce heat and power consumption using Frame Rate Target Control
you got good scaling please explain how
CF has had a good scaling almost always.
I really think you need to rerun it Rikki the 15.7 patch was extensive and added improved profile for a number of games on your testing list including GTA V
i have one pci 3.0 x16 and one pci 2×16(x4 mode) what will be the performance hit
Same as me I get hardly any performance hit maybe 5% if that
no bridge???
More recent AMD cards don’t need a bridge for crossfire