Quote Originally Posted by intel101 View Post
I bet it is true compare 4870s in crossfire 3d mk 06.

26100K P45 at 790/1100 qx9650 @ 5ghz ddr2 1200 CL4 - Asus Max II Formula
27200K X48 at 790/1100 qx9650 @ 5ghz ddr3 1800 CL7 - Asus P5E64 EVO

Estimated about 1000 points loss right there and about 8-9K in 03.
Already did compares so please dont say not true.

P45 8/8x link in crossfire
X48 16/16x link in crossfire

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/14...nce/index.html
the tweaktown review is erroneous. look at the crysis numbers. this was discussed a while back, i know what you're talking about. ask hardwarecanucks review editor SKYMTL.

Quote Originally Posted by SKYMTL View Post
This in itself is very hard to do. Let me explain.

Due to the different natures of the P45 and boards with X38 / X48 chipsets it is almost impossible to have a completely even playing field. Heck even when testing boards WITH THE SAME CHIPSET there will be differences in gaming performance. I will draw your attention to a few articles:

Techreport's X48 Showdown (See ET: EQ benches)

Bit Tech's Multi GPU benches with the Gigabyte P45 DQ6

OC3D's P45 Showdown

Not only are there performance differences between X48 and X38 (basically the same chipset) when equipped with similar hardware but there are even VERY large differences between P45 boards when it comes to performance. We aren't talking about 1-2%, more like 10-20% difference in some cases.

So, the question begs to be asked: in a Crossfire vs Crossfire review between the X38 / X48 and the P45, how do we know that the performance (or lack thereof) of the motherboard itself and NOT the PCI-E bandwidth is being brought to the forefront? The simple answer is that there is really no way to know unless there are MASSIVE differences in performance.

Writing a review of Crossfire performance between two motherboards with different chipsets, getting results that are within 5-10% difference between the two products and then saying that there is a bottleneck is a stretch at best. That is why I look at some preformance results and take them with a grain of salt.

Will a P45 bottleneck a pair of HD4870 cards? Heck no.