View Full Version : Question about CROSSFIRE...
rob[GL]
06-22-2006, 08:29 PM
I am sorry if this has been posted before, but I am just wondering if mixing/matching manufacturers is any problem?
I have a retail Built By ATI X1900 Crossfire master card, and I was going to pair it up with a retail BBA X1900XT card, however, the local store ran out... They only have 1 left, and it's a Powercolor... Is there any problem running BBA + powercolor? Are the powercolor any good? I have only ever used retail BBA cards, and sometimes Sapphire...
ahmad
06-22-2006, 08:39 PM
Should be the same. Also, if this is an early batch you have a good chance of it having BJ11 (actually there are very few BJ12 cards, so you will most likely run into cards with BJ11).
Also, Crossfire will work with ANY x1900XT(X) card.
Pumbaa
06-23-2006, 04:50 AM
May be out of subject but with SB600 chipset motherboard (ex: Epox EP-MD580 XR), do we need Master card for Crossfire X19k or not?
b1lk1
06-23-2006, 06:53 PM
All X1800 XT's and X1900's need a mastercard. The next generation is doing away with them and anything from X1800GTO down does not need a mastercard.
NickS
06-23-2006, 06:56 PM
X1800XT's dont need mastercard's on the 32x CF boards (16x per slot) :)
Nick
n00b 0f l337
06-23-2006, 06:57 PM
Seems x1900gt and down dont need dongle/mastercard with 6.6's
NickS
06-23-2006, 06:58 PM
Seems x1900gt and down dont need dongle/mastercard with 6.6's
Yep. All of the card's "up to" the X1900GT do not need a master card with the right mobo (dual 16x) and Catalyst 6.6's. :D
Nick
b1lk1
06-23-2006, 07:05 PM
What is the performace difference with/without the dongle? That was the main reason I shelled out for the X1800 master. I figured there was almost certainly some loss without.
NickS
06-23-2006, 07:13 PM
If you have the dual 16x slot mobo, there is virtually no performance difference. I can see you do, so you should sell ur mastercard and buy a regular one, pocketing the profits :)
Nick
rob[GL]
06-24-2006, 10:55 AM
Good thing I have an X1900Crossfire, and am looking to get an X1900XT(x) so I still have my dongle... :)
Turok
06-24-2006, 11:29 AM
Yep. All of the card's "up to" the X1900GT do not need a master card with the right mobo (dual 16x) and Catalyst 6.6's. :D
Nick
I saw the threads about Cat 6.6, but I was wondering if everything up to the x1900GT includes the x1800xt :confused:
The x1800xt seems to outperform the x1900GT and its a lot cheaper. Is the lower performance on the x1900GT due to driver problems?
Im planning on updating to a sub-$500 solution while I wait for the r600 to run Crysis and UT2k7 in SM4.
My initial plan was to update to a single x1900xtx, but then these news about the Cat 6.6 show up. If you can run 2x x1800xt on Crossfire withough master card and performance losses, then that would be awesome.
2x x1800xt cost about $450 and beat a single x1900xtx by about 20% I think in GPU intensive applications.
I could get a 7950GX2 for $550, but I want HDR+AA and watercooling the GPUs will be a bit complicated and I dont really need that much GPU power as I wait for the r600. Dont think its worth the extra $100 vs 2x x1800xt.
So my question is: Will 2x x1800xt run without master card and perform better than 2x x1900GT?
NickS
06-24-2006, 12:29 PM
My guess that since the 1900 is a "higher" model card than the 1800 in ATi's eyes, it'd be supported.
I'm guessing 2x X1800XT wld outperform the two X1900GT's in SOME games, but they're pretty evenly matched.
Nick
http://www.ati.com/technology/crossfire/howitworks.html
b1lk1
06-24-2006, 07:14 PM
Either way, I will keep my X1800 master as I doubt I can even sell it for any profit now and the dongle doesn't bother me in the least. Plus I have already modded it out with a waterblock and epoxied ramsinks and heatsinks on the vregs. I still have yet to see anyone sucessfully run X1800 XT's in crossfire with no master, but this is the 6.5 drivers too.
Blacklash
06-26-2006, 03:07 AM
The dongle is behind the case. I never see it and never need worry with it. The only time I might find the dongle to be a PITA would be if for some odd reason I was removing my master card from my case frequently.
Blending on the composite chip of the master allows neat things like Crossfire Super AA at 14x to often be faster or as fast as nVidia SLi AA at a mere 8x.
Oh yes, and I have a MSI master card and a ATi slave. No problems here.