• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

You Can Pair an R9 300 Series GPU with an R9 200 in CrossFire

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,235 (7.55/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
With AMD unifying the driver between the R9 300 series and the older R9 200 series GPUs, it's now possible to pair a Radeon R9 300 series graphics card with one based on a similar-spec chip from the R9 200 series. At launch, the R9 300 series and R9 Fury series had a separate driver branch from the remaining lineup, which was unified with Catalyst 15.7 WHQL. Now, you may pair an R9 390 or R9 390X, with an R9 290 or R9 290X.

You may even create a 4-way CrossFire setup with one each of the four cards. You should even be able to combine R9 380 with R9 285. AMD allowed similar cross-generation pairings in the past, such as those between the R9 280 series and HD 7900 series, and between the R9 270 series and HD 7800 series. The company's newer GPUs feature XDMA CrossFire, which does away with bridge cables, for increased flexibility.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
19,571 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name White DJ in Detroit
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
300 and 79/8xx possible?
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,235 (7.55/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
300 and 79/8xx possible?

The only condition is that the silicon should be the same. The cards may have different core configurations, clocks, memory amounts, or even SKU names. Hawaii and Grenada are the same silicon down to the last transistor, because they share the same device IDs.

So R7 370 with HD 7800 and R7 360 with HD 7790 are possible.
 

APEKS

New Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
5 (0.00/day)
The only condition is that the silicon should be the same. The cards may have different core configurations, clocks, memory amounts, or even SKU names. Hawaii and Grenada are the same silicon down to the last transistor, because they share the same device IDs.

So R7 370 with HD 7800 and R7 360 with HD 7790 are possible.

How would that work though because the old cards had crossfire fingers didn't they or have AMD been using the pci-e lanes for a while now?
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
561 (0.11/day)
System Name Salamander
Processor Ryzen 5 3600 @ 4.325ghz 1.206v
Motherboard Asrock X370 Taichi
Cooling EK Supremacy Evo | Black Ice Nemesis 360GTS XFlow | Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro 120mm x 3
Memory Team T-Force Xtreem 2x8GB DDR4 3733 @ 3733mhz c16 1.4v | IF @ 1866mhz
Video Card(s) XFX RX-470 RS Single Fan flashed to RX-570 @ stock water-cooled
Storage Samsung 850 Evo 256gb M.2 | Crucial M4 128GB | WD Blue 1TB | WD Blue 500GB 2.5" | Toshiba 2TB 2.5"
Display(s) LG 27MP68VQ 27" 1920x1080 75hz IPS Freesync monitor
Case Fractal Design Define C
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Gold 650w
Mouse Steelseries Kana White
Keyboard Steelseries 6GV2 Cherry MX Black
Software Windows 10 Pro N
How would that work though because the old cards had crossfire fingers didn't they or have AMD been using the pci-e lanes for a while now?
that would only be for the Fury series, R9-300/R9-290, and R7-360(afaik)
 
Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
4 (0.00/day)
Does anyone know if you can paid R9 270/270X with and of R9 3xx cards? Because that would be extremely useful for mainstream users.
 

W1zzard

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
27,837 (3.71/day)
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory 48 GB
Video Card(s) RTX 4080
Storage 2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s) 30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software Windows 10 64-bit
Does anyone know if you can paid R9 270/270X with and of R9 3xx cards? Because that would be extremely useful for mainstream users.
Not the same GPU, so no
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
1,927 (0.44/day)
Location
UK
System Name TITAN Slayer / CPUCannon / MassFX
Processor i7 5960X @ 4.6Ghz / i7 3960x @5.0Ghz / FX6350 @ 4.?Ghz
Motherboard Rampage V Extreme / Rampage IV Extreme / MSI 970 Gaming
Cooling Phanteks PHTC14PE 2.5K 145mm TRs / Custom waterloop / Phanteks PHTC14PE + 3K 140mm Noctuas
Memory Crucial 2666 11-13-13-25 1.45V / G.skill RipjawsX 2400 10-12-12-34 1.7V / Crucial 2133 9-9-9-27 1.7V
Video Card(s) 3 Fury X in CF / R9 Fury 3840 cores 1145/570 1.3V / Nothing ATM
Storage 500GB Crucial SSD and 3TB WD Black / WD 1TB Black(OS) + WD 3TB Green / WD 1TB Blue
Display(s) LG 29UM67 80Hz/Asus mx299q 2560x1080 @ 84Hz / Asus VX239 1920x1080 @60hz
Case Dismatech easy v3.0 / Xigmatek Alfar (Open side panel)
Audio Device(s) M-audio M-track / realtek ALC 1150
Power Supply EVGA G2 1600W / CoolerMaster V1000 / Seasonic 620 M12-II
Mouse Mouse in review process/Razer Naga Epic 2011/Razer Naga 2014
Keyboard Keyboard in review process / Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2014/Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2011
Software Windows 7 Ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate
Benchmark Scores cinebench 15.41 3960x @ 5.3ghz Wprime32m 3.352 3960x @ 5.25ghz Super PI 32m: 6m 42s 472ms @5.25ghz
Not the same GPU, so no
The R7 370 is a R7 265 and IIRC the 265 can CFX with the 270(X) so the 270(X) and 370 should work.
 

W1zzard

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
27,837 (3.71/day)
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory 48 GB
Video Card(s) RTX 4080
Storage 2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s) 30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software Windows 10 64-bit
Sorry I misread, I thought you wrote R9 39x.
What Buildzoid said is correct
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
63 (0.01/day)
Location
South Africa
How would that work though because the old cards had crossfire fingers didn't they or have AMD been using the pci-e lanes for a while now?

The HD7790 can use XDMA over PCI-E, it just was never enabled in the drivers. The R7 260X and R7 260 can do it as well.
 

jamesdunn

New Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2014
Messages
2 (0.00/day)
OK great to know, but I have an question, I have an MSI R7 260X with an MSI 970 chipset motherboard. I wonder what of the new R 300 card that I can crossfire that with or just stay with my R7 260X crossfire setup as it is?
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
63 (0.01/day)
Location
South Africa
OK great to know, but I have an question, I have an MSI R7 260X with an MSI 970 chipset motherboard. I wonder what of the new R 300 card that I can crossfire that with or just stay with my R7 260X crossfire setup as it is?

Nothing for now. You'll have to wait for a Radeon R7 360X to surface which will pair up with the R7 260X.
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (7.94/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
any idea whats compatible with a 7970/280x? i'm in warranty right now with my 280x, and after 3 faulty cards they may be willing to upgrade me.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
6,771 (0.94/day)
Location
Republic of Asia (a.k.a Irvine), CA
System Name ---
Processor FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s) Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s) 3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s) Built-in Realtek
Power Supply Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
I wish the drivers allow cross fire R9 290 4GB with 7950 3GB, that way I don't need to sell the 7950 for throw away price!!
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2014
Messages
1,390 (0.35/day)
Location
Alabama, USA
Processor 5900x
Motherboard MSI MEG UNIFY
Cooling Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 360mm
Memory 4x8GB 3600c16 Ballistix
Video Card(s) EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra
Storage 1TB SX8200 Pro, 2TB SanDisk Ultra 3D, 6TB WD Red Pro
Display(s) Acer XV272U
Case Fractal Design Meshify 2
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard Ducky One 2
any idea whats compatible with a 7970/280x? i'm in warranty right now with my 280x, and after 3 faulty cards they may be willing to upgrade me.
Nothing R9 3xx. The place where Tahiti would be in the lineup is replaced by tonga.
 
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
98 (0.02/day)
Location
WIGAN, UK
System Name BlackDragon
Processor Ryzen 5 2600
Motherboard MSI Gaming Pro Carbon
Cooling Silverstone RGB 240 AIO
Memory 32 gb 3200 Corsair vengence pro DDR4
Video Card(s) Asus Vega 56 OC edition 8gb
Storage 2x 512gb NVME m.2 plus 4x SSD's
Display(s) 29WK600 Ultrawide screen DP to DP
Case NZXT 630 phantom case
Audio Device(s) Onboard 1220 Realtek with Nahimic support
Power Supply 700Watt Cooler master
Mouse Generic gaming mouse
Keyboard Logitech G19s gaming keyboard
Software Win 10 (20H2)
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
14,091 (3.82/day)
Location
Sunshine Coast
System Name H7 Flow 2024
Processor AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling Custom liquid
Memory 32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s) Intel ARC A750
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s) AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse Lenovo
Keyboard Eweadn Mechanical
Software W11 Pro 64 bit
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
98 (0.02/day)
Location
WIGAN, UK
System Name BlackDragon
Processor Ryzen 5 2600
Motherboard MSI Gaming Pro Carbon
Cooling Silverstone RGB 240 AIO
Memory 32 gb 3200 Corsair vengence pro DDR4
Video Card(s) Asus Vega 56 OC edition 8gb
Storage 2x 512gb NVME m.2 plus 4x SSD's
Display(s) 29WK600 Ultrawide screen DP to DP
Case NZXT 630 phantom case
Audio Device(s) Onboard 1220 Realtek with Nahimic support
Power Supply 700Watt Cooler master
Mouse Generic gaming mouse
Keyboard Logitech G19s gaming keyboard
Software Win 10 (20H2)
The 370 is basically a rebrand of the 270, so it should be possible
But would I need the CrossfireX bridge cable to do it
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
14,091 (3.82/day)
Location
Sunshine Coast
System Name H7 Flow 2024
Processor AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling Custom liquid
Memory 32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s) Intel ARC A750
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s) AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse Lenovo
Keyboard Eweadn Mechanical
Software W11 Pro 64 bit
But would I need the CrossfireX bridge cable to do it
It's my understanding that any of the new generation "R" series do not need the crossfire bridge.
 
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Messages
2,388 (0.63/day)
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia USA
System Name Home Brewed
Processor i9-7900X and i7-8700K
Motherboard ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme & ASUS Prime Z-370 A
Cooling Corsair 280mm AIO & Thermaltake Water 3.0
Memory 64GB DDR4-3000 GSKill RipJaws-V & 32GB DDR4-3466 GEIL Potenza
Video Card(s) 2X-GTX-1080 SLI & 2 GTX-1070Ti 8GB G1 Gaming in SLI
Storage Both have 2TB HDDs for storage, 480GB SSDs for OS, and 240GB SSDs for Steam Games
Display(s) ACER 28" B286HK 4K & Samsung 32" 1080P
Case NZXT Source 540 & Rosewill Rise Chassis
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM1000 & Corsair RM850
Mouse Generic
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Tournament & Corsair K90
Software Win-10 Professional
Benchmark Scores yes
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
5,966 (0.95/day)
Location
New York
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5950x, Ryzen 9 5980HX
Motherboard MSI X570 Tomahawk
Cooling Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4(With Noctua Fans)
Memory 32Gb Crucial 3600 Ballistix
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3080, Asus 6800M
Storage Adata SX8200 1TB NVME/WD Black 1TB NVME
Display(s) Dell 27 Inch 165Hz
Case Phanteks P500A
Audio Device(s) IFI Zen Dac/JDS Labs Atom+/SMSL Amp+Rivers Audio
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G502 SE Hero
Keyboard Corsair K70 RGB Mk.2
VR HMD Samsung Odyssey Plus
Software Windows 10
The 370 is basically a rebrand of the 270, so it should be possible

the 370 is a rebrand of the 265

and I think you do still need a crossfire bridge, the 370's still have the connectors for it, and you probably could crossfire with a 270 since its a pitcairn but I'm guessing sp's would get disabled on the 270 unless its one of those 1024sp 270's that came out later.
 
Last edited:

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (7.94/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
Nothing R9 3xx. The place where Tahiti would be in the lineup is replaced by tonga.


balls. i'm stuck with faulty, ever failing gigabyte 280x's then :(
 
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Messages
2,388 (0.63/day)
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia USA
System Name Home Brewed
Processor i9-7900X and i7-8700K
Motherboard ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme & ASUS Prime Z-370 A
Cooling Corsair 280mm AIO & Thermaltake Water 3.0
Memory 64GB DDR4-3000 GSKill RipJaws-V & 32GB DDR4-3466 GEIL Potenza
Video Card(s) 2X-GTX-1080 SLI & 2 GTX-1070Ti 8GB G1 Gaming in SLI
Storage Both have 2TB HDDs for storage, 480GB SSDs for OS, and 240GB SSDs for Steam Games
Display(s) ACER 28" B286HK 4K & Samsung 32" 1080P
Case NZXT Source 540 & Rosewill Rise Chassis
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM1000 & Corsair RM850
Mouse Generic
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Tournament & Corsair K90
Software Win-10 Professional
Benchmark Scores yes
balls. i'm stuck with faulty, ever failing gigabyte 280x's then :(

My 280X cards are all working great. No problems at all with all three of them. Sorry to hear that your's don't work right.
 

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
58,413 (7.94/day)
Location
Oystralia
System Name Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory 2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage 2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s) Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) | Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) | Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s) Logitech G560 | Corsair Void pro RGB |Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores Nyooom.
My 280X cards are all working great. No problems at all with all three of them. Sorry to hear that your's don't work right.

i've got a really bad gigabyte one, from a known bad series. third RMA in two months - the thread title here got me hopeful i could ask for a 3x0 card to pair it with and avoid the issues.
 
Top