ive beed research ing about ATI's new multi gpu technology and i have to admit it sounds quite intreeging, me being mainly a nVidia man myself, not that i dont like ATI its just that SLI sealed the deal for me, but now with ATI's new Multi GPU technology coming out in july (rumored) im right back at the start. Even though nVidia have their new generation of graphics cards being unveiled in 10 days, with SLI capabulities (only naturaly) it still brings a smile to my face thinking of the power of two watercooled x850xt's in an AMD 4000+ rig. SWEET.
However, at the moment SLI seems like it will be the more affordable of the two multi gpu technologies, as it has the 6600GT with the capabilities of SLI and the cheapest card that will have the "CROSSFIRE" technology is the x800!!! so unless you have money to burn or are just stone mad dont expect to see a decent ATI, multi gpu rig standing beside your legs as you are blasting your way through HALF-LIFE 2 or COUNTER STRIKE: SOURCE, without being $3000 less in the bank...for now. But if you are a normal person , you are just going to have to wait for the price to fall on the ATI "CROSSFIRE" cards, which wont be for a good year as the first "CROSSFIRE" cards shipping are in late July, and they are the x850's, with the x800's coming in August. again these are just dates put out there by ATI as a reference for the estimated date of release and to add to a delay even more, ATI dont have a reputation for having the most avalible, top of the line cards.
The interesting though about the "CROSSFIRE" technology is that unlike SLI, there is no bridge connection, the two cards are simply joined by DVI out port of the "SLAVE" card, and another very intreaging feature is that the two cards do not have to be r=the same. that means however that the two cards will rin at the clock speed of the slower card, which kind of defeats the purpose, but means that you dont have to upgrade both of your GPU's which is the case in SLI, just simply replace the slowest card.
in my opinion however, i feel that ATI have come in too late in the multi GPU market for any major success any time soon. i'd say that it will take about a year to get to the stage that SLI is at now, what with the affordability of cards and what not and by the time that ATI do get a fair grip on things nVidia and SLI will be nice and snug with a tight grip on the market. Also, i have a funny feeling that the x800 and x850 cards with this feature will be a bit more expensive that the ones out now (which are expensive enough) so people will be able to see the true cost of this technology, where as you dont see this with SLI, if a card is SLI compatable the only version you will find that is not is the AGP one, which are practicaly the same price anyway. Most people who were building a new pc in the past few months, jumped on the SLI bandwaggon anyway (including myself) and i know i cant speak for anyone else but i wont be changing any time soon.
for further information on the "CROSSFIRE" technology, visit these URL's:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/31/ati_crossfire/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/19/ati_crossfire/
However, at the moment SLI seems like it will be the more affordable of the two multi gpu technologies, as it has the 6600GT with the capabilities of SLI and the cheapest card that will have the "CROSSFIRE" technology is the x800!!! so unless you have money to burn or are just stone mad dont expect to see a decent ATI, multi gpu rig standing beside your legs as you are blasting your way through HALF-LIFE 2 or COUNTER STRIKE: SOURCE, without being $3000 less in the bank...for now. But if you are a normal person , you are just going to have to wait for the price to fall on the ATI "CROSSFIRE" cards, which wont be for a good year as the first "CROSSFIRE" cards shipping are in late July, and they are the x850's, with the x800's coming in August. again these are just dates put out there by ATI as a reference for the estimated date of release and to add to a delay even more, ATI dont have a reputation for having the most avalible, top of the line cards.
The interesting though about the "CROSSFIRE" technology is that unlike SLI, there is no bridge connection, the two cards are simply joined by DVI out port of the "SLAVE" card, and another very intreaging feature is that the two cards do not have to be r=the same. that means however that the two cards will rin at the clock speed of the slower card, which kind of defeats the purpose, but means that you dont have to upgrade both of your GPU's which is the case in SLI, just simply replace the slowest card.
in my opinion however, i feel that ATI have come in too late in the multi GPU market for any major success any time soon. i'd say that it will take about a year to get to the stage that SLI is at now, what with the affordability of cards and what not and by the time that ATI do get a fair grip on things nVidia and SLI will be nice and snug with a tight grip on the market. Also, i have a funny feeling that the x800 and x850 cards with this feature will be a bit more expensive that the ones out now (which are expensive enough) so people will be able to see the true cost of this technology, where as you dont see this with SLI, if a card is SLI compatable the only version you will find that is not is the AGP one, which are practicaly the same price anyway. Most people who were building a new pc in the past few months, jumped on the SLI bandwaggon anyway (including myself) and i know i cant speak for anyone else but i wont be changing any time soon.
for further information on the "CROSSFIRE" technology, visit these URL's:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/31/ati_crossfire/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/19/ati_crossfire/
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