Intel Core i7 Review Thread

[Bellisimo]

Won't know until I get a CPU and run the 4870 X2's x-fired. But the BW demands on a FSB (or even HT) in gaming scenarios is not nearly as much as you would think. I posted a lot of data on this in another thread where, for example, I cranked the 2000 Mhz HT on the phenom down to 200 MHz and it made a grand total of about 2% difference at most (basically in the noise). EDIT: Also, while the PCIe lanes will service the command sets from main memory or CPU to card, most of the actual communication between GPUs in multiGPU setups are arbitrated through the SLI or xFire link -- specifically to move away from the back bus bottlnecks.

dont forget all memory read/writes are placed on the FSB, if all data of 3 GTX280 have to placed on that same FSB, a serious bottleneck is born
i also thought the fsb isnt bidrectional, so you have to wait before you can send something in a direction

and i didnt find large gains with 4870x2 either