Crossfire questions

[Skriger]

Hey guys.. from what I know about using crossfire, you must have identical cards to be able to do this. But what about different versions of the same type. I.E. I have the X1800GTO, could i get a X1800XT and still do the crossfire?
or do i have to get only another X1800GTO...

any ideas?

[Spawn-Inc]

this is just a guess but i wouldn't think you could. like sli you would probably need the same card.

[jdbnsn]

For Crossfire to work you need several things. The 2 graphics cards must be in the same series (i.e. X1600, X1800, X1900, etc..) and I think there is one exception to this rule with running a X1900 series card with a X1950. One card need to be Crossfire Ready and the other must be a Crossfire Master card. You also must have a Crossfire Ready motherboard. The ATI dual card setup is actually more component specific than NVIDIA's SLI because you really can't even run identical cards due to the need for a master and slave versions. I am running a Crossfire setup and if you decide to do it be sure that your motherboard has the RDX3200 chip rather than the older RDX200, the RDX200 was rittled with problems but the new version works much smoother.

[Skriger]

Well... after some digging (which I missed my first pass by) I found exactly what I was looking for.

http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/demos/bilder/chart_phase2.jpg

This also answered my other question on if I needed to connect the cards together. I have the X1800GTO, and it looks like the best choice is another GTO card that way i dont need to get the DVI connector.


I also found out that if you use a higher core card with a lower one, they do stay the same but if you have one that has higher pipelines, it drops to the lower pipelines.

[Spawn-Inc]

speaking of ati cards and not to hijack but why is this card 1000????


ATI FireGL V7200 256MB PCI-Express Graphic Ca

[Skriger]

Those are made for Workstation computers, mainly high end graphic renderings and processing. Usually they are built with more abilities to render final product and high end graphics.

[Airbozo]

Yes, the ATI FireGL series and the nVidia Quadro series are for high end workstations. They will NOT keep up in games, but do a redraw in autocad or 3DSM with hundreds of polygons and they shine. 2D and OpenGL is where these cards have power.

You think the FireGL is expensive, look at this one...
http://www.sharbor.com/products/PNYN5300033.html
1.5 gb memory...

[jdbnsn]

That's interesting, according to that chart you no longer need one card to be a master (CF) card if you have certain versions including the GTO. That is news to me, when I bought mine they were just coming out with the internal connections vs the external cords but you had to have a master card for it to work.

[XcOM]

Yes, the ATI FireGL series and the nVidia Quadro series are for high end workstations. They will NOT keep up in games,

Not always true, i have a ATI FireGL X1 - 128mb AGP x8, i can play quake 4 on high and its smooth at 1024x768

doom3 runs smooth also, 3d mark 2001 gets 25k, 06 gets 10k

admittily some games like HL2 gets laggey in places. yes they kick ass when it comes to rendering, thats why i got it, i can't see a peformace drop changing from a 6800 ultra to FireGL x1, got a boost when it comes to rendering though.

[Airbozo]

Not always true, i have a ATI FireGL X1 - 128mb AGP x8, i can play quake 4 on high and its smooth at 1024x768

doom3 runs smooth also, 3d mark 2001 gets 25k, 06 gets 10k

admittily some games like HL2 gets laggey in places. yes they kick ass when it comes to rendering, thats why i got it, i can't see a peformace drop changing from a 6800 ultra to FireGL x1, got a boost when it comes to rendering though.

That is good to know. I have a Quadro FX1400 in my workstation here at work and it will play a few of the older games, but anything that needs T&L or AA kind of chokes. I was planning on trying one of the Quadro FX 4500's and running some benchmarks on it.

What software do you use that you have that card? (just the nosy geek in me...)


BTW: to get back on topic, this is usefull info for me since I am getting ready to start purchasing the parts to finish my bubble gum machine mod and have been leaning towards Crossfire and AMD. That may change since I have a chance to purchase a Striker Extreme at a _really_ good price

[Skriger]

If you rummage through ATI/AMD website, you can find all sorts of good setups for Crossfire computers. You should also look at getting a Motherboard with 3 PCIE 16X slots just to make room for later upgrads with phyisics. Also, jdbnsn is correct about how the X200 chipset has a few issues.

Check this link out for a bit more info on "certified components (http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/Certified.html)"

[jdbnsn]

Hey Skriger,

Just out of curiosity, have you used Crossfire at all or will this be the first time? If it's your first, my advise is to be patient. Since I have installed my CF card and started Crossfire I have discovered that it is not bugless to say the least. It was very frustrating getting the hardware and software to work well together and took lots of tinkering. Even after it was working well with CF enabled, nearly ever game needed tweaking to allow it to run in CF. But at this point I am able to run all but one game in CF (BF2 speacial forces) and I haven't tried hard to get it working. The plus side is once you have it working properly, Wow! The graphics are smooth at very high resolutions, you can set almost everything to maximum in your quality settings and it's no problem. The quality of the graphics is worth the trouble. Good luck!
Jon

[XcOM]

......
What software do you use that you have that card? (just the nosy geek in me...)



to answer your question:
my pc is dual boot,
Spec:
AMD Athlon 64 - 3000+ @ 2GHz
1GB 3200 RAM
ATI FireGL x1 - 128mb ram AGP x8
OS1:
Windows XP Pro (Build 2600 x86)
Driver: ATI FireFL x1 driver

OS2:
Windows Vista Ultimate (Build 6000 x86)
Driver: ATI FireGL Microsoft (XDDM) Aero support enabled

Test results 1=OS1, 2=OS2:
Doom3 @ 1024*768
1=45 FPS (+/- 10)
2=40 FPS (+/- 10)

Farcry @ 1024*768
1= 40 FPS (+/- 5)
2= 25 FPS (+/- 10)

Quake 4 @ 1027*768
1= 45 FPS (+/-5)
2= 40 FPS (+/-10)

Apps:
3d max (Rarly)
Photoshop
various DVD creators
Auto Cad (Some times)
Sketchup (Still learning)

The vista drivers from microsoft are strangly VERY good, haven't seen any problems yet, admittly there not as good as ATI, but ati don't make vista divers for the X1 yet.

[Airbozo]

I am completely shocked you got FarCry running on that card. I will have to re-think how I view the firegl and quadro cards. Last time I check Doom, I could not get it to even load with a quadro card (an old one but still). Now I want to sli a couple of the quadro 1400's I have... Too bad my workstation mobo only supports 8x on the second pci-e slot.

Thanks! Xcom!

[XcOM]

your welcome, it you look at the specs, the 8800 has been around for a long while before it got released, its a tweaked Nvidia Quadro.

the FireGL cards are Radeons with a new core, it has better rengering capabilitys, its like compairing a Intel P4 to an INtel Xeon, or AMD X2 to an Optron Dual Core.

my new machine i was thinking of going for a new Quadro.

I want one of these:
http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadroplex.html

[Airbozo]

Save your money on the QuadroPlex. I have a real good friend that bought 2 of them and is bummed because it actually runs slower than 2 high end cards in sli. (for his stuff anyway) He tried to get his money back, but nVidia(or the reseller) refused. If you are still interested I can ask him what his specific issues were. He still uses them only because of what they cost him and he does not have the time or $$ to deal with it right now.

EDIT: This is my friends company. He was using the Quadroplex in a new product, not the simulators...
http://andesengineering.com/index.php

[XcOM]

cheers dude, thats out me off one, i noticed its just two Quadros external, and they charge for the privlige, i would like the case though for my pc.