View Full Version : No CrossFire on Intel Broadwater 96x Chipsets
ost_2005
06-03-2006, 06:58 AM
DailyTech has received confirmation from Foxconn engineers that the upcoming Intel Broadwater 96x family of chipsets will not support CrossFire operation at launch. This comes as a surprise since ATI has previously supported CrossFire on Intel 945, 955, and 975 chipsets. Users looking for a DDR2-800 MHz supporting chipset will have to turn to the upcoming ATI RD600 which promises DDR2-800/1066 MHz compatibility as well as two full speed PCI Express x16 slots.
It is unknown if ATI has any intention of supporting CrossFire with the 96x family of chipsets in the future. The outlook is quite bleak since ATI has its own enthusiasts Intel CrossFire platform. With the upcoming RD600 it looks like ATI is trying to keep CrossFire compatibility limited to ATI chipsets as NVIDIA has done with SLI. Current Intel 945, 955X and 975X chipsets will continue to have CrossFire support.
Intel is expected to announced the Broadwater family of chipsets on June 7, 2006 at Computex Taipei.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2667
freecableguy
06-03-2006, 08:02 AM
Pfffttt....yes it will. We'll make it work. ;)
yet another proprietary war.
If you want Crossfire, you will need ATI chipset
If you want SLI, you will need NVidia chipset
If you want rock solid stability, you will need an Intel chipset that don't support either of them..
Way to go... :rolleyes:
Skyline GT-R
06-03-2006, 09:32 AM
You can always get the 975X, that does support CF and is rock solid indeed ;)
DemonicInfluenc
06-03-2006, 10:24 AM
You can always get the 975X, that does support CF and is rock solid indeed ;)
But 975 is supposed to be worse than 965 :(
Skyline GT-R
06-03-2006, 10:31 AM
We well soon know the answer when the first 965 boards are showing up :) Then we'll see some nice comparisons I hope :) But I think that 975X is better because according to intel 965 is mainstream and 975X is extreme/enthousiast ;)
Fixxxer
06-03-2006, 10:53 AM
But 975 is supposed to be worse than 965 :(
Nope. 965 is the mid-range chipset and 975 is the high end chipset.
JoeBar
06-03-2006, 10:56 AM
Allways go with the higher number on Intel chipsets... ;)
ost_2005
06-03-2006, 11:22 AM
Allways go with the higher number on Intel chipsets... ;)
975+Ich7r
965+ich8r
which one is higher?
I dont know indeed.
ost_2005
06-03-2006, 11:23 AM
Nope. 965 is the mid-range chipset and 975 is the high end chipset.
975 is the high end chipset because 975 support ECC Memory,nothing more!
But as for Performance ,I think 965 will win the war, anyway.
JoeBar
06-03-2006, 11:32 AM
Are u new to intel?
Just reffering the recent history: 875>865, 975>955>945.
ost_2005
06-03-2006, 11:40 AM
Are u new to intel?
Just reffering the recent history: 875>865, 975>955>945.
I dont think this time is the same.
965+ich8R
975+ich7r
Which one is higher?
vapb400
06-03-2006, 11:42 AM
The performance on 965 will be A LOT better than 975. 965 is an entirely new chipset, with a great deal of effort put into the performance of the MCH. Traditionally you are right... higher # the better, though not on this series of chipsets.
That is interesting. Too bad we can't get crossfire (without some hacking, even then it will be crippled by the 16x 4x pci-e setup) :( besides that 965 is better all around.
Skyline GT-R
06-03-2006, 11:43 AM
Stop speculating about it :stick: soon we will know when the first comparisons are popping up ;)
JoeBar
06-03-2006, 11:48 AM
The performance on 965 will be A LOT better than 975. 965 is an entirely new chipset, with a great deal of effort put into the performance of the MCH. Traditionally you are right... higher # the better, though not on this series of chipsets.
I dont think this time is the same.
965+ich8R
975+ich7r
Which one is higher?
Don't mess n/b with s/b. i didn't mention anything abot s/b... ;)
I have to agree with u on the s/b though. But i really don't think that intel will deliberately drop sales of their high end m/b's. In my opinion 965's performance will be at best equal that of 975's.
Only time will tell though. :)
GoThr3k
06-03-2006, 12:14 PM
Stop speculating about it :stick: soon we will know when the first comparisons are popping up ;)
everyone is speculating these days :p:
everyone is speculating these days :p:
For those of us that don't have ES chip, it's the only fun we have right now... :p:
freecableguy
06-03-2006, 12:48 PM
975 and Conroe have a known problem when it comes to BW. It is very possible that 965 corrects this and will outperfom 975 w/Conroe.
Kunaak
06-03-2006, 01:38 PM
this is definatly annoying....
I havent had a good experience with ATI chipsets yet... and Intel chipsets are sooo damn good. it just seems like moving backwards in this case...
I was looking forward to 985/crossfire/conroe :(
vapb400
06-03-2006, 01:53 PM
this is definatly annoying....
I havent had a good experience with ATI chipsets yet... and Intel chipsets are sooo damn good. it just seems like moving backwards in this case...
I was looking forward to 985/crossfire/conroe :(
As was I, but I was recently looking at a roadmap that showed 975X reaching well into Q2 07, which is very dissapointing.
Found it:
http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/1554_large_bearlake.png
Looks like the enthusiast will be forgotten for a while :( unless that roadmap has been modified to hide certain products
Cooper
06-03-2006, 02:14 PM
vapb400
What exactly did they forgot about ?
Those only chipsets - MB manufacturers will have different implementations on those :)
let`s just hope ICH8 won`t bring any DRM BS.
that Bearlake might have DDR3 support ;)
vapb400
that Bearlake might have DDR3 support ;)
No please no.... I want to use my overpriced DDR-1000 for a while :p:
[XC] DragonOrta
06-03-2006, 04:36 PM
One Intel chipset for an entire year? That makes no sense. I'm used to hearing about a new chipset from then every few months now. :P
freecableguy
06-03-2006, 05:43 PM
OH, duh....what was i thinking, I forgot about this. Now, this is important boys, so listen up:
The bottom PCI-e 16x mechanical slot on any Intel 965 Express chipset motherboard is only 4x electrical (due to the total number of PCI-e lane available with this chipset). This is less than the required specification for Crossfire (8x/8x vice 16x/4x). None of the 965X chipset motherboard should support CF....that's what 975 is for....
-FCG
ost_2005
06-03-2006, 07:20 PM
Don't mess n/b with s/b. i didn't mention anything abot s/b... ;)
I have to agree with u on the s/b though. But i really don't think that intel will deliberately drop sales of their high end m/b's. In my opinion 965's performance will be at best equal that of 975's.
Only time will tell though. :)
Why does 965 have the better Southbridge?
Why does 965 have higher Spec?
975 officially only support DDR2-667.
But 965 can support DDR2-800 officially.
Could you tell me why?