ATI X1900 crossfire

  • Thread starter Thread starter SL
  • Start date Start date
S

SL

Hi,

I own a sapphire X1900GT (first edition) graphics card and would like to go
for a crossfire edition (needed by microsoft last flight simulator X). I am
a little be confused by the existing solution. May another simple X1900GT or
1950pro allow me to buil a crossfire solution ? If yes will it be a "real"
crossfire mode and not a mode wher the pci express bus (2x8) will be used.
Thanks for any response.

Sid
 
You have two choices:

1) Add another X1900GT and run in "software" Crossfire mode with no dongle.
The two cards will communicate entirely through the PCIe bus, though there
is no difference between 2x8 and 2x16 motherboards. See:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/powercolorx1900gtcf/

2) Add an X1900XT or X1950XT Crossfire Edition and run in "hardware"
Crossfire mode with a dongle cable. 3D performance is about 10% better than
choice (1). Disabling/enabling Crossfire requires a reboot, because the
X1900GT and X1900XT have different amounts of RAM. Prices for the XT
Crossfire Edition cards start at $400 in the US, probably higher in Europe;
Geforce 8800GTS cards are cheaper.

You cannot add an X1950 Pro, because it uses a ribbon cable on the top of
the PCB, similar to nVidia and old 3dfx cards.
 
Thank's very much for your response. In the meanwhile, I have found many
informations and finally inderstood the different possibilities of the ATI
crossfire mode. It sems for me (review on anandtech.com) that buying two new
1950pro here in france (2x 179 euros)is the best solution (greatest
performance for less money) in order to use them for FSX. Do you have any
opinion?
Best regards

Sid
 
First said:
You have two choices:

1) Add another X1900GT and run in "software" Crossfire mode with no dongle.
The two cards will communicate entirely through the PCIe bus, though there
is no difference between 2x8 and 2x16 motherboards. See:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/powercolorx1900gtcf/

2) Add an X1900XT or X1950XT Crossfire Edition and run in "hardware"
Crossfire mode with a dongle cable. 3D performance is about 10% better than
choice (1). Disabling/enabling Crossfire requires a reboot, because the
X1900GT and X1900XT have different amounts of RAM. Prices for the XT
Crossfire Edition cards start at $400 in the US, probably higher in Europe;
Geforce 8800GTS cards are cheaper.
Click to expand...

Humm I only paid $329 for my Asus EAX 1900 Crossfire master card here
in the states right thru NewEgg and I just checked today and they are
still selling them at that cost.

They have a review of hardware Crossfire at Guru of 3D you may find
interesting, they claim that running the Asus EAX1900 Crossfire (512mb
DDR3) master card with the ATi 1900XTX (512mb as well) does cause a
bottleneck in the system. The bottleneck - there currently isn't a cpu
on the market that can keep up with the cards.
You cannot add an X1950 Pro, because it uses a ribbon cable on the top of
the PCB, similar to nVidia and old 3dfx cards.
Click to expand...

Your right you can't add the X1950 Pro but you can run a X1950 with
512mb of memory because most of these cards still require the Y cable.
Yes you need to reboot the computer when going between disabling and
enabling crossfire just as you would with any hardware change.
 
Custom Computers said:
Humm I only paid $329 for my Asus EAX 1900 Crossfire master card here
in the states right thru NewEgg and I just checked today and they are
still selling them at that cost.
Click to expand...

Have you got a link to the Newegg listing? Cheapest X1900 CF I could find is
an MSI card for $439 (though with a hefty mail-in rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127208

Cheapest X1950 CF is a Sapphire for $399.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102046

Cheapest 8800GTS is a PNY for $399.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133188
They have a review of hardware Crossfire at Guru of 3D you may find
interesting, they claim that running the Asus EAX1900 Crossfire (512mb
DDR3) master card with the ATi 1900XTX (512mb as well) does cause a
bottleneck in the system. The bottleneck - there currently isn't a cpu
on the market that can keep up with the cards.
Click to expand...

Then that review is definitely outdated. Oblivion HDR with 4x ADAA can
easily stress my CF setup in some outdoor areas. If I disable AA, the
framerates shoot up ~ 30%, which means it's a pure fillrate or memory
bandwidth limitation (and not even a pixel shader limitation). I have a
cheap Athlon64 3200+.
Your right you can't add the X1950 Pro but you can run a X1950 with
512mb of memory because most of these cards still require the Y cable.
Yes you need to reboot the computer when going between disabling and
enabling crossfire just as you would with any hardware change.
Click to expand...

Alas, two cards with the same amount of RAM would not need a reboot to
toggle Crossfire. This is an important distinction for users of
multi-monitor configurations. Rebooting every time before and after a game
would be quite a burden - we evolved away from that process ever since Win98
fell into disuse. :-)

BTW, as of Catalyst 6.11 supposedly all combinations of X1900 and X1950
cards (except the X1950 Pro) can be paired up in "software Crossfire"
without the bulky Y cable, with official support from ATi-AMD.
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/previous/radeon/radeonxip-cat611-xp.html
 
First said:
Have you got a link to the Newegg listing? Cheapest X1900 CF I could find is
an MSI card for $439 (though with a hefty mail-in rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127208

Cheapest X1950 CF is a Sapphire for $399.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102046

Cheapest 8800GTS is a PNY for $399.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133188


Then that review is definitely outdated. Oblivion HDR with 4x ADAA can
easily stress my CF setup in some outdoor areas. If I disable AA, the
framerates shoot up ~ 30%, which means it's a pure fillrate or memory
bandwidth limitation (and not even a pixel shader limitation). I have a
cheap Athlon64 3200+.


Alas, two cards with the same amount of RAM would not need a reboot to
toggle Crossfire. This is an important distinction for users of
multi-monitor configurations. Rebooting every time before and after a game
would be quite a burden - we evolved away from that process ever since Win98
fell into disuse. :-)

BTW, as of Catalyst 6.11 supposedly all combinations of X1900 and X1950
cards (except the X1950 Pro) can be paired up in "software Crossfire"
without the bulky Y cable, with official support from ATi-AMD.
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/previous/radeon/radeonxip-cat611-xp.html
Click to expand...

Well I looked again today and they don't even list an X1900 CF card
except this one and its an open box. That doesn't mean its used it
could be they recieved a damaged box. But at $239 I would by it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127208R

Or maybe you would like the Sapphire X1950 CF they have an open box of
that for only $319

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102046R

Heck they have a limit of two per customer on the X1950 CF
 
Custom said:
Well I looked again today and they don't even list an X1900 CF card
except this one and its an open box. That doesn't mean its used it
could be they recieved a damaged box. But at $239 I would by it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127208R

Or maybe you would like the Sapphire X1950 CF they have an open box of
that for only $319

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102046R

Heck they have a limit of two per customer on the X1950 CF
Click to expand...

Oh it may interest you to notice the original price of the MSI card I
posted at $239, its still under $300
 
Open-box is stretching it a bit, because it could also mean customer
returns, a rejected card from a rig build, etc. I don't expect Newegg's RMA
testing procedure to be very thorough, given the retailer's huge sales
volume ($1.3 billion in sales in 2005, half the size of nVidia...).

Keep in mind *I* don't need this card. :-)
 
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