Graphic Cards Crossfire question

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Xenesis

Novice
Hi all.. This is my first post at TE. And i am a complete noobie:bleh: :bleh: :bleh: . Now my Q is can Asus P5NE Sli or XFX 680LTi which have 2 PCI-E (x16 and x8) slots run Crossfire also?? Can any MOBO with 2 PCI-E slots support Crossfire or SLi???
Offtopic: I am planning to Crossfire 3870.:bounce: :bounce:
Ok can u tell me why both these platforms offer only 150% ??:annoyed:
Thanks in Advance!
 
150% of what?????? fat??? cheese??? chicken tikka????? sandiwiches??? XXX???. These boards support sli. Why not stick with one card btw???
 
Xenesis said:
Hi all.. This is my first post at TE. And i am a complete noobie:bleh: :bleh: :bleh: . Now my Q is can Asus P5NE Sli or XFX 680LTi which have 2 PCI-E (x16 and x8) slots run Crossfire also?? Can any MOBO with 2 PCI-E slots support Crossfire or SLi???
Offtopic: I am planning to Crossfire 3870.:bounce: :bounce:
Ok can u tell me why both these platforms offer only 150% ??:annoyed:
Thanks in Advance!
Click to expand...

Why you need Crossfire or SLI? At what res you play your games? How big is you monitor and your power supply? How many fans are there is your cabinet and what are the games that you play/plan to play? How many FPS you think you need for smooth play in games like UT3 (a game with very fast-paced gameplay)?

If you are clear on these questions, only then we can suggest you something :p
 
what about x38 chipest it support crossfire :p

also any p35 chipest

you can run 8800 GTs sli or ati 3870 using p35 or x38 mo
 
Boards deisgned for SLi cant be used to run crossfire and viceversa.. Also the "150" is due to the fact that the games are not coded to utilize the 200%. They just cant use the available resources...
 
Sli Boards cant run CF and viceversa. Also the 150% is due to the fact that the games are not coded to juice out the max from the 20%...
 
Actually Boards designed for SLi "can" run crossfire... but it required BIOS hack, which unfortunately I'm not sure how to achieve. HP is doing so on their blackbird line-up of gaming systems. They ARE running crossfire on Asus striker extreme SLi mobo.

Crossfire requires Point-to-Point writing enabled on PCI-E ports, which is the key to this hack, that HP (and VoodooPC) guys were able to do.
 
Ok so guys thnx fer replying. I, right now write this reply courtsey my Willamette (Socket 478) and now at last plan to upgrade soon.I have tried my hand at picking the right parts and inevitably couldnt decide on the GPUs (8800GT & HD3870). So the question. I am more inclined towards the Ati baby since on paper, its ahead of 8800GT (GDDR4,+75 MHz on the main clock).And a software update can patch things up and tie the loose strings i think. So guys whats ur call.
Ok by the way d new PC is for Mid-range Gaming and is speced as follows
MOBO: Abit IP35E
CPU : Intel E6750
GPU :__________??
HDD :Seagate Sata2 320GB
RAM :GSkill 8800MHz ....
So guys jus wanted to get things corrected from you guys!!! :clap: :clap:
 
To Sorcy : 1 card = 100% (whatever performane it gives)
2 cards = 2*100 = 200% performance.
I thought it to be that was. I know this is not pure mathematics, but my sense tells me that 150% (50% loss), is cheating!:p :p :bleh: :) :)
Enlighten Me with thy Stone sorcy!;)
 
To Sorcy : 1 card = 100% (whatever performane it gives)
2 cards = 2*100 = 200% performance.
I thought it to be that was. I know this is not pure mathematics, but my sense tells me that 150% (50% loss), is cheating!:p :p :bleh: :) :)
Enlighten Me with thy Stone sorcy!;)
 
hmmm .... one thing about sli/crossfire before you decide ... the key for these things is that you have to buy the 2 of the topmost cards available in the market for meaningfulness of your actions. let me clarify ... you get say 2*8600GT in sli ... but a single 8800GT will always beat the combo ... so you can go for sli if you want to shell out money for 2 8800GTS ultra now. again after say 8-12 months when they bring out their newer gpu, a single of that will beat your present 2*8800GTS combos as well and will cost less than 36-40k( right now 2*8800GTS will cost you around that level).
Also you might want to consider that technology and software/games mostly go hand in hand ... there are very less software/games which cannot be run at a reasonably optimal levels with a single 8800GTS/X and i doubt that you would run that.
If you want to have sli for sli-s sake then you can go ahead, but really i feel there is no real need at this point for most of us to run sli.
 
Xenesis said:
Ok so guys thnx fer replying. I, right now write this reply courtsey my Willamette (Socket 478) and now at last plan to upgrade soon.I have tried my hand at picking the right parts and inevitably couldnt decide on the GPUs (8800GT & HD3870). So the question. I am more inclined towards the Ati baby since on paper, its ahead of 8800GT (GDDR4,+75 MHz on the main clock).And a software update can patch things up and tie the loose strings i think. So guys whats ur call.

Ok by the way d new PC is for Mid-range Gaming and is speced as follows

MOBO: Abit IP35E

CPU : Intel E6750

GPU :__________??

HDD :Seagate Sata2 320GB

RAM :GSkill 8800MHz ....

So guys jus wanted to get things corrected from you guys!!! :clap: :clap:
Click to expand...

A lot depends on your budget but still from the above config I suggest you cut down on RAM. Go for 800MHz DDR2 from Transcend and save some money.

Put this saving in gfx card and buy MSI 8800GT OC version. Though 3870 is a very good card, with the current pricing the card from MSI is better value for money. Also the performance difference between both these cards can't be patched with new drivers.

So either get 8800GT or ATI 3850. 3870s VFM is not that good with its pricing in India.

SLI or Crossfire is advisable only if you are going to game at res of something like 1920X1440 or above and have a 700W solid power supply. A lot also depends on how big is your monitor.

Bottomline: SLI is not needed for mid-range gaming
 
another thing is that not all games will like crossfire or SLi setup... they may perform better on a single card or you may have to wait for a patch to support SLI or crossfire... at low resolutions there is hardly any difference between a single card and crossfire/SLI because the games are very CPU dependant so they become bottlenecked.. only at very high res will crossfire/SLI make a diff....
 
As always crossfire or an sli setup is just a waste of cash unless u're a real hardcore enthusiast..

These setups demand a lot of power, additional coolin, a spacious well ventilated cabinet, a good 22'' to exploit its true potential..

ATM u're better off with a good 8800gt..
 
Xenesis said:
To Sorcy : 1 card = 100% (whatever performane it gives)

2 cards = 2*100 = 200% performance.

I thought it to be that was. I know this is not pure mathematics, but my sense tells me that 150% (50% loss), is cheating!:p :p :bleh: :) :)

Enlighten Me with thy Stone sorcy!;)
Click to expand...

Now when you say performance....performance to play games or to design stuff??? Other people have allready highlighted the point so doesnt make sense of me to repeat everything :p
 
HI,
U can't easily. If U are going for Nvidea MB Chipset then U cant crossfire It, but U can use single 3870 On it.
OR Vice Versa.
 
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