Crossfire vs. SLi (X1900 CF vs 7900GTX)

[Deus Excalibur]

I'm having trouble deciding between a Crossfire/XTX setup with an A8R32-MVP mobo and eVGA 7900GTX superclocked cards with a K8N Diamond Plus.

The X1900CF setup is slower but has better IQ. It seems to have less issues in games.(my 7800GTXs would freeze in games like HL2, the dual core issue) But these cards are supposedly LOUD, and having two of them might be SUPER LOUD. I don't mind something that makes some noise but if it is loud that that will influence my decision.

SLi seems to scale better with two cards. I've been using nVidia cards(6800GT, 2x 6800 Ultras, and 2x 7800GTXs) since I upgraded from a 9800 Pro.

I really don't want to regret buying one of these setups, it will be a $1400 purchase so I won't be upgrading for awhile.

[Nazu]

I'd go for the SLI 7900GTX :) They have better coolers so they will be cooler and silent than X1900XTX.

[IvanAndreevich]

For benches or games?

[mascaras]

Benchamrks >>>> 7900GTX
Games >>>>> X1900XTX


this is my opinion

[Daveb2012]

Benchamrks >>>> 7900GTX
Games >>>>> X1900XTX


this is my opinion

If im not mistaking a CF xtx setup is currently the 3d05 WR holder. so how can you figure this. I would say get what ever is less expensive. I think SLI is more efficient then CF, but time with drivers will change that. I think CF xtx setup would be cheaper right now also.

[Nazu]

If im not mistaking a CF xtx setup is currently the 3d05 WR holder. so how can you figure this. I would say get what ever is less expensive. I think SLI is more efficient then CF, but time with drivers will change that. I think CF xtx setup would be cheaper right now also.
Crossfire X1900XTX setup isn't cheaper than SLI 7900GTX. They are pretty eguald in games, so I would pick the one with better cooling and cheaper (=7900GTX).

[mascaras]

for what i saw and just in 2 days of 7900GTX 3dmarks they seems to be best in benchmarks than X1900 so i think its just matter of time to see WR with 7900GTX SLI , thats why i said that for benchmarks 7900 should be better , but for games i think x1900 its better and i also think ATI have better image quality , but once again this is just my opinion

[Deus Excalibur]

For games only.

I've been reading the threads about the A8R32-MVP and apparently it has a ton of issues the reviewers didn't run into.(seeing as they usually benchmark instead of actually playing the game)

I think I may go with the 7900s but I havn't made up my mind yet.

[ahmad]

Yeah I would definitely go for x1900CF even for benching now. If you have the CPU on phase cooling, you can easily get 19k with water cooled cards.

And for gaming, yeah no doubt. 14xAA is more than playable on a x1900 crossfire setup :)

Its your money. You do the math ;)

[PkG.1337]

I would go for 7900GTX SLi, watercooled.

[AACDIRECT]

For games only.

I've been reading the threads about the A8R32-MVP and apparently it has a ton of issues the reviewers didn't run into.(seeing as they usually benchmark instead of actually playing the game)

I think I may go with the 7900s but I havn't made up my mind yet.


I am running this board and there is a few issues. I am working with Asus and ATI on fixing them. There is a new bios for the board that fixes many problems. (Bios 0311)

Is anyone here running CF on either the A8R-MVP or A8R32 AND running a RAID set on the ULI southbridge.

[Winterwind]

i would buy ATi cos it has better image quality + more features..
nvidia is nice but it cant do HDR AA

[Dragoran]

which game require 1900XTX CF / 7900GTX SLI ?
If you are not doing benchmarks than you are wasting your money.
I would go for a single card setup (I would preffer the 7900GTX)

[RTB]

This is XS and eXSessive is what we like. In the world of 3D power, there's no such thing as overkill, there are always settings that can be set higher.

[perkam]

Single Card: X1900XTX - ~$500
SLI/Xfire: 7900GT SLI - ~$630

How many times will i need to post that for people to understand there is no better substitute to both choices for single and dual card setups.

The XTX is the single card leader by far...dual 7900GT SLI will equal a 7900GTX SLI in performance with the right cooling and while being much cheaper. The price/performance of 7900GT SLI is unprecedented in the history of the industry. (both gtx and gt have 24 pipes :rolleyes: )

Perkam

[Deus Excalibur]

I had my SLi 7800GTXs WCed(MCW-55s) and I felt it just wasn't worth the effort for just gaming, games didn't feel faster although it sure did bench higher. Whichever cards I get will stay on stock cooling, I'll probably only WC CPUs from now on. I'll definitely OC the GPUs on air however.

For Crossfire I definitely need the slower X1900 CF edition? Does it have 1.1ns RAM like the XTX?

As for the reason I'm going for dual GPUs it's because even games like BF2 will dip below 30fps with one card at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF, hell it goes down to 24fps with TWO cards.(tested with SLi 7800GTXs @ 514/1300). It also made FEAR totally playable at 1600x1200 2xAA. I just HATE low framerates, I like my gaming to be super smooth.

I'm still a little cautious about that A8R32-MVP, my A8N32-SLi wasn't that great either. I'm starting to drift towards nVidia but I still havn't made up my mind.

I saw somewhere that two X1900s in CF config are 70dB loud, is that true?

[perkam]

IF you are going crossfire, which is better off for stock cooling due to the ability to change volts on the fly for higher OCs, then go with X1900 XFire edition and X1900XT not XTX....the XT is more similar to the X1900 Crossfire card and will be less of a bottleneck than with the XTX.

Perkam

[IvanAndreevich]

For games, I would go with X1900XTX's but get a RD580 board for sure.

[Deus Excalibur]

Ok, any idea when the DFI RD580 board will be out? I'd probably get that over the ASUS if it doesn't eat CPUs :P

With the RD580 do you have to use a Crossfire edition card? I can't just buy 2 XTX cards? I'm a little confused as I see reviews that show XT crossfire and XTX crossfire.

If I need the crossfire editon card I'd probably just get the XTX anyways so I could attempt to OC the x-fire edition card to the same speed(if possible)and not worry about OC'ing two different cards.

I may as well go for the more expensive card anyways, Creative Labs is paying for everything in my new system :)

As for the noise, is there any comparison as to how loud it is during 3D? I think I heard someone on another forum say it was as loud as the 6800 Ultra, which isn't too bad. I'll be using 6 120mm fans in my case so it may not be an issue lol.

[Overgloc]

Seem like you might not need a Master Card. http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4839

[Deus Excalibur]

It says only the x1800 line :(

I keep hearing that these cards are very loud. I don't mind a little noise but if it is up to the point where it is annoying I think I'd just get 7900s. Anandtech recorded one card at 50db with a background noise at 40db. Thats like a Vantec Tornado, if it is that loud than I'd rather have slightly less IQ than live near a jet liner :P

EDIT: I've been reading about the Accelero X2 cooler and how it actually cools better than the stock cooler, I think we may have a winner :)

The only problem is I won't have a side fan on the case so there might be alot of hot air blown around :(

[ccokeman]

Yes they are loud when the fan spools up but it does a reasonable job cooling.Not great but reasonable. Less than 70c in my 70f house.

[RTB]

The XTX is the single card leader by far...dual 7900GT SLI will equal a 7900GTX SLI in performance with the right cooling and while being much cheaper. The price/performance of 7900GT SLI is unprecedented in the history of the industry. (both gtx and gt have 24 pipes :rolleyes: )
Yes, it definatly seems I bought my cards too soon, and should have upgraded my power supply. Damn you NVidia.:rolleyes:

[ReD.SkY]

wait a sec, creative is paying, do you like work for them or something or did they fry your rig with an XFi lol??

[omga14]

the only mfg that i know of right now that has a released mobo for RD580 is Sapphire. they have two:
Sapphire PC-A9RD580 (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=3199)
Sapphire PC-A9RD580ADV (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=3200)

well here's a little article showing the differences: Sapphire RD580 mobo's (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1046) . no evident performance differences between the two that we can see. guess we'll have to wait for reviews since the PC-A9RD580 ws just released

[Deus Excalibur]

I've been looking at some more benches... the 7900GTX is definitely slower by itself but it seems in SLi it just clobbers Crossfire. This is refereing to Anandtech, The Tech Report, and HardOCP's results.

I guess I'm going back to nVidia on this one, they just have a more mature dual card solution with better gains.

As for the Creative thing, there is a massive thread about popping and crackling on their cards. I was working with them to solve it and they proposed taking my rig and replacing it with my "ideal" system.

[Danger30Q]

How does the increase in pipelines of the 7900 effect performance when compared to only 16 in the X1900?

Does anyone have a good read on how ATi and nVidia compare in respect to gaming only?

I'm looking to get an SLI setup and I thought the new 7900 GTX's would be a no-brainer but it looks like the X1900 XTX can still compete in gaming. The cards are virtually identical in price. Wouldn't the smaller core, more pipelines, and better OC ability of the 7900's be a better choice?

[Nazu]

How does the increase in pipelines of the 7900 effect performance when compared to only 16 in the X1900?

Does anyone have a good read on how ATi and nVidia compare in respect to gaming only?

I'm looking to get an SLI setup and I thought the new 7900 GTX's would be a no-brainer but it looks like the X1900 XTX can still compete in gaming. The cards are virtually identical in price. Wouldn't the smaller core, more pipelines, and better OC ability of the 7900's be a better choice?
X1900XTX and 7900GTX are in par when comparing performance in games, so both of those cards are excellent choices for gaming. 7900GTX has few advanteges over X1900XTX and they are: better stock cooling, quieter,consumes less power and bit it's cheaper.

[unclean]

dual 7900GT SLI will equal a 7900GTX SLI in performance with the right cooling and while being much cheaper. The price/performance of 7900GT SLI is unprecedented in the history of the industry. (both gtx and gt have 24 pipes :rolleyes: )

True, but the 7900GTX still has the advantage of 512mb framebuffer per card; which has an affect at the kind of resolutions this kind of solution would be used at.

[Daveb2012]

True, but the 7900GTX still has the advantage of 512mb framebuffer per card; which has an affect at the kind of resolutions this kind of solution would be used at.

I cannot speak for him but I think he meant the 256mb version of gtx. I would never keep a pair of old 7800gtx 512's they still sell for atleast $500.00 online you could trade them in for any card or cards you wanted right now and have some $ left over still if you choose a pair of 7900gts' or a single gtx/xtx.