ATI CrossFire: Hardware Vs Software

[Cooper]

Nice review covering two X1950XTX in CF with and w/o dongle.

Original source (german) (http://www.computerbase.de/news/hardware/grafikkarten/ati/2006/dezember/kurztest_software-crossfire_x1950_xtx/)
Google translation (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerbase.de%2Fnew s%2Fhardware%2Fgrafikkarten%2Fati%2F2006%2Fdezembe r%2Fkurztest_software-crossfire_x1950_xtx%2F&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools)

[nn_step]

damn that is surprisingly close

[cadaveca]

almost as close as 16x/4x and 8x/8x. The same apps that are affected by the software Crossfire are also affected by lane assignment. Funny, that.

[b0bd0le]

what motherboard did they use for this testing?

[Revv23]

too bad non xfire cards dont have the compositing engine.

[cadaveca]

too bad non xfire cards dont have the compositing engine.
Might not matter on a 16x16 lane config. It's quite obvious by those results at the posted link that bandwidth is the major problem here. I wonder how res affects this as well ;)

[3NZ0]

Might not matter on a 16x16 lane config. It's quite obvious by those results at the posted link that bandwidth is the major problem here. I wonder how res affects this as well ;)

Indeed but god knows when ati/amd release a dual 16x chipset.

[Revv23]

Might not matter on a 16x16 lane config. It's quite obvious by those results at the posted link that bandwidth is the major problem here. I wonder how res affects this as well ;)


I thought you needed a master card on x19k no matter dongle or no dongle?

I read the article but the translation made it confusing were they just using two regular cards?

[xlink]

so essentially what it means is we loose some bandwidth w/o the dongle right?

who gives a damn?


try it on a board with dual PCI-e 16x

[nn_step]

Indeed but god knows when ati/amd release a dual 16x chipset.
they already did, RD580 anyone? :rolleyes: also known as 3200CF, DFI made a Socket 939 board with it

[Revv23]

best 939 board there is, too bad there is no am2 version

[nn_step]

best 939 board there is, too bad there is no am2 version
absolutely, pity they didn't use it for 4x4, since it had enough lanes for 4 x8 PCIe slots and it runs really cool.
however I doubt that nVidia would let them use Quad SLi on it, without costing heavy on licensing

[stevke]

German:
Der durchschnittliche Einbruch bei zwei herkömmlichen Radeon-X1950-XTX-Modellen beträgt dabei elf Prozent.

English:
The average performance decrease of two standard X1950XTX cards is eleven percent.

So they've used 2 standard X1950XTX.

[Revv23]

German:
Der durchschnittliche Einbruch bei zwei herkömmlichen Radeon-X1950-XTX-Modellen beträgt dabei elf Prozent.

English:
The average performance decrease of two standard X1950XTX cards is eleven percent.

So they've used 2 standard X1950XTX.


Thanks! :)

absolutely, pity they didn't use it for 4x4, since it had enough lanes for 4 x8 PCIe slots and it runs really cool.
however I doubt that nVidia would let them use Quad SLi on it, without costing heavy on licensing

Yeah you are right, that would have been cool, and the chipset on my RD580 Manta reference board doesnt even get warm.

[thephenom]

best 939 board there is, too bad there is no am2 version
There is RD580 for AM2, I've seen the MSI and the Asus one before.

[ahmad]

But this looks promising. Especially for low end.

EDIT: ...

[cadaveca]

Indeed but god knows when ati/amd release a dual 16x chipset.
I'm hoping that the merger will make it so that we can run multi-gpu rendering on ANY platform. Like Intel, ATI chipsets will be the stock chipset for a given AMD platform, and hopefully nVidia will be there to provide the nessecary support for either thier's, or ATI's, vidcards. It's just a matter of time, IMHO, as we all know that it's simply drivers preventing such from happening currently.

On 939 RD580 gave me a 1000 point increase over RD480 in 3DMark06. I'm hoping for the same sort of increase(abt 15%) by giving Conroe the same bandwidth...as 3ghz AMD dualcore scores within 100 points of Conroe @ 3ghz, so you would think the benefit would be similar.


Someone mentioned about mid- /low- range being the target...and i agree. The only problem revolves around the driver assigning software Crossfire when a mastercard is present.:rolleyes: Dealt with that a few times myself!

[nn_step]

There is RD580 for AM2, I've seen the MSI and the Asus one before.
currently in the states there are 4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Category=20&N=2010200022+1070921489+107191003+1071920192&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=22
the DFI is infinity and hard to get but damn that board loves to crank :D

[biohead]

Thanks! :)



Yeah you are right, that would have been cool, and the chipset on my RD580 Manta reference board doesnt even get warm.
my rd580 (asus) is always 1°C above room temp and doesn't change on load. it just sits there, awesome.

[cadaveca]

:stick:
my rd580 (asus) is always 1°C above room temp and doesn't change on load. it just sits there, awesome.

LoL. Gotta love crappy software.:stick:

[nn_step]

:stick:


LoL. Gotta love crappy software.:stick:
it all depends on how good of a chipset cooler he has. :fact:
If it is something like this:
http://www.radianheatsinks.com/standard/images/HS2088DB.JPG
(yes I know that is a BGA cooler)
it'll be alot warmer than 1C above ambiant
now if it is something like this:
http://www.raffaz.net/mac/heatsink.jpg
its probably true

[cadaveca]

Well, considering the location of the chipset in relation to the top pci-e slot, I'd say his choices were pretty limited, even for watercooling, and If i remember right, he's on air.:stick:


bugger, nn. Can't let me have a little fun?:lol2: You just wanted to post that pic!:lol2:

[SpikeP]

I have been looking for something like this!

I got myself a x1900xt 512mb now and i am tempted into getting another, cause that is £170-£200.

Peerformance drops are pretty harsh in places, but new drivers, and other situations would change that. looking at the fps i am guessing they have every on high resolutions, high aa and high af.

- Paul

[3NZ0]

they already did, RD580 anyone? :rolleyes: also known as 3200CF, DFI made a Socket 939 board with it

Sorry i forgot to add decent on the end, my bad :)

[nn_step]

Sorry i forgot to add decent on the end, my bad :)
ummm just a little fact for you but take ANY Intel board with a Matching GPU and a CPU(that scores the same) and the RD580 score better...
I'm not quite sure what you are implying by decent

[Revv23]

Sorry i forgot to add decent on the end, my bad :)


Yeah r580 as we already covered was the best chipset released for 939 once it finally came out.

the CFX3200.

[dinos22]

Indeed but god knows when ati/amd release a dual 16x chipset.Socket 939 days remember....we have dual 16x mobos near the end of S939 era :)

[edit] - bah i need to read the whole thread heh

[MaxxxRacer]

now if it is something like this:
http://www.raffaz.net/mac/heatsink.jpg
its probably true

stop showing us evil pictures of g3/4 macs!

[cooter]

I would have liked to see that article with a single X1950XTX in the mix to see how the software crossfire compares with a single card.

[biohead]

:stick:


LoL. Gotta love crappy software.:stick:
well maybe that 1°C above ambient is actually more but the point is that the temp doesn't go up when priming or running atitool tester. got a high cfm fan on my BT .. air goes right through the tiny heatsink as well. Touched the heatsink, cool to the touch.

remember the rd580 only uses like 8 W or so..

[cadaveca]

lol. I played with the board for about 6 months...more than aware what the board is capable of. More to the point, it's basically impossible to remain just 1c above ambient on water, nevermind air. I dunno how the air from the Typhoon is gonna get past your vidcard to cool the chipset, especially when the chipset's own fan fights this possiblity, but whateva.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=53569&stc=1&d=1165340069

I ran 315x5 HTT 24/7 tho, and that's what mattered. The chipset is MUCH cooler than NF4 or any intel chipset, nevermind smaller...so really, the point still stands, but we all know how reliable software can be.