I'm looking to get a couple 2600xt just so I can play UT3. It seems like it'd be the most cost effective solution, and it would only consume something like 90watts of power (I also have an ATI TV tuner and it works well with ATI video cards). However, the whole crossfire platform and motherboard offerings are confusing to me. I need an intel chipset so that I can migrate my RAID array over, and at the same time I need up to date crossfire support. I read good things about crossfire, but ATI needs to hold to some standards because I can't keep track of all that crap. Any suggestions?
ATI 2600XT crossfire MOBO solution?
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INTELCRAZY
banned
Get an 8800GTS 320Mb for the price of those and it outperforms both in Crossfire...
First off you would need an ATI chipset for seeing a full Crossfire setup with two ATI model cards. Likewise you would need an nForce shipset by NVidia for a full SLI setup. Yet some have seen dual cards used in the lesser capacity regardless of chipset. For gaming setups that would be out however.
For the HD 2600XT lineup go for the the new Catalyst 7.10 and not the 7.9! ATI first had to release a patch for the 7.9 version and quickly got the 7.10 with all the corrections in it. With the MSI HD 2600XT 512mb card used here these was quite a hassle with driver errors until the new cataylst cleaned things up.
For the HD 2600XT lineup go for the the new Catalyst 7.10 and not the 7.9! ATI first had to release a patch for the 7.9 version and quickly got the 7.10 with all the corrections in it. With the MSI HD 2600XT 512mb card used here these was quite a hassle with driver errors until the new cataylst cleaned things up.
Forget the nVidia route, alpha blending the TV is too handy. A 2600xt is $99, where can you get a GTS for <$200? I know from my roomies furnace/computer that the GTS takes a lot of juice, which would be bad for my computer, just can't do it. I did a lot of looking and it seems for price-performace-power you can't beat a 2600xt in crossfire. I know Intel makes crossfire boards, but where are they?
Tuesday 13 September 2005]
Intel’s forthcoming high-end 975X chipset, which is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year, will support both Nvidia’s SLI and ATI Technologies’ ‘CrossFire’ dual-graphics technology, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers. http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20050913A4012.html
That's one bit of information found on any Intel chipset offering this type of support. Another quicky seen in march of this year talks about the P35 chipset. http://www.dvhardware.net/article17698.html
Intel’s forthcoming high-end 975X chipset, which is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year, will support both Nvidia’s SLI and ATI Technologies’ ‘CrossFire’ dual-graphics technology, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers. http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20050913A4012.html
That's one bit of information found on any Intel chipset offering this type of support. Another quicky seen in march of this year talks about the P35 chipset. http://www.dvhardware.net/article17698.html
Bradan
New Member
NEVER EVER BUY TWO LOW END CARDS
NEVER EVER BUY TWO LOW END CARDS
NEVER EVER BUY TWO LOW END CARDS
a higher end single card is always the best bang/buck, and will be more efficient.
the only reason there is crossfire/sli, is to buy the two best cards out.
OR
to add an extra card in after the single card becomes outdated. extending the life of your system.
do you realize how much dual card motherboards cost?
allot.
get a gigabyte DS3L or similar with an 8800 gts 320mb or similar.
NEVER EVER BUY TWO LOW END CARDS
NEVER EVER BUY TWO LOW END CARDS
a higher end single card is always the best bang/buck, and will be more efficient.
the only reason there is crossfire/sli, is to buy the two best cards out.
OR
to add an extra card in after the single card becomes outdated. extending the life of your system.
do you realize how much dual card motherboards cost?
allot.
get a gigabyte DS3L or similar with an 8800 gts 320mb or similar.
Geoff
VIP Member
Two 2600XT's will take a LOT more power then a single 8800GTS. You are right about the price, and it may seem worth it, but remember SLI isn't twice the performance.
Archangel
VIP Member
could you please list me what games dont use SLI? Some games are not optimised for SLI, that i know, but I havnt heard so far of a program that only uses 1 card while its enabled. (neither have I noticed one doing that either)
A recent studay reveals that less than 1 & of gamers use duel graphics, and only $ % of that 1 % is crossfire. Hopefully that will put you off buying two mid range ati cards.
Taken from here
http://www.custompc.co.uk/news/601423/only-1-per-cent-of-gamers-use-dual-graphics.html
''132 more people are apparently still using Intel’s ageing 810 integrated graphics than CrossFire. Considering that 810 can barely manage to clock up 11fps in Quake III: Arena, that’s a pretty substantial kick in the teeth for CrossFire.''
Taken from here
http://www.custompc.co.uk/news/601423/only-1-per-cent-of-gamers-use-dual-graphics.html
''132 more people are apparently still using Intel’s ageing 810 integrated graphics than CrossFire. Considering that 810 can barely manage to clock up 11fps in Quake III: Arena, that’s a pretty substantial kick in the teeth for CrossFire.''
The concept behind running dual cards is for the increase in grahics processing leading to improved image quality. In either SLI or Crossfire the implimentation is for two identical cards not taking outdated cards and running them in pairs once support is gone.
SLI and Crossfire boards are priced according to where you buy from. Price also depends on how new like which socket type.
Many people simply can't rush out and spend $200-$300+ for each card when one lower cost mid range will also do the job. Plus many that lack any experience in custom building simply buy a prebuilt system retail with onboard not actually knowing the difference. You'll find that figure easily applies to SLI as well since custom builds generally see something besides onboard video used especially by gamers.
I can't agree with what you people are saying. Crossfire 2900s beats GTX SLI in benchmarks, even before catalyst 7.10 were released it seems. 70% increase in performance with 7.10 in bioshock which is an unreal engine game. I think that's in vista and I run XP but still, crossfire is good.
The 2600xt takes 45 watts of power. One 8800GTS takes something like 140 and would drive me insane with noise. 2600xt in crossfire would cost $200+mobo-old mobo < $200. I could have a decent framerate while maintaining a modest, whisper quiet computer.
Have any of you actually used crossfire? Why does the ATI FAQ say:
I see now that the 2950pro is coming out. I think I'll just wait for that, because will change everything and will come out at the same time as UT3. But I digress, because what I wanted in the first place was a friggin motherboard recommendation.
The 2600xt takes 45 watts of power. One 8800GTS takes something like 140 and would drive me insane with noise. 2600xt in crossfire would cost $200+mobo-old mobo < $200. I could have a decent framerate while maintaining a modest, whisper quiet computer.
Have any of you actually used crossfire? Why does the ATI FAQ say:
I see now that the 2950pro is coming out. I think I'll just wait for that, because will change everything and will come out at the same time as UT3. But I digress, because what I wanted in the first place was a friggin motherboard recommendation.
I went through Fear, Prey, Half Life 2, and a much older game 5-6yrs. old now all at the highest settings with just the one MSI HD 2600XT 512mb model without one bit of lag seen in any of the games. I can imagine seeing a considerable boost in image quality and vpu processing power with a Crossfire setup.
Choosing a board depends more on the type of system planned since you start with that first. From the board up you expand accoding to what the board supports. I simply skipped over some good SLI and Crossfire models to see 6 instead of 4 sata ports to replace any with two ide channels. But the mid range card improved image quality seen in screen captures of documents and other things as well as gaming performance once the driver situation was improved with the 7.10 being released.
Choosing a board depends more on the type of system planned since you start with that first. From the board up you expand accoding to what the board supports. I simply skipped over some good SLI and Crossfire models to see 6 instead of 4 sata ports to replace any with two ide channels. But the mid range card improved image quality seen in screen captures of documents and other things as well as gaming performance once the driver situation was improved with the 7.10 being released.