Xbitlabs X1900XTX croosfire review

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: nib95

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: nib95
C) Just as with issues with the whole Crossfire edition business, Nvidia shares a similar issue which is that many of their GPU's are no longer in production and are replaced just about the time when users require/want the secondary SLI counterpart.

example please.

The example are people around us, I know many people who have just bought 7800 GT's and GTX's (or in the last 2 months) in the hope of upgrading to SLI in a month or two, but the 7900 GT and GTX will be replacing the 7800 range (bar the GTX 512mb version). The two cards will not be coexisting, but being replaced.

So where are they to buy that second SLI card in a few months (besides eBay)?

The solution is to just go single top end GPU after a sale of your existing one.

:roll:

You can STILL get brand new 6800GT's at Newegg.

And as you noted you will be able to find cards on eBay and in the FS/FT till the end of time.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: fierydemise
Both SLI and crossfire are good options for the enthusiast who demands top end performance but for most people a complete waste.

I wish Rollo was here because it is clear to any gaming enthusiast who can and wants to have best of the best that SLI is simply not an option. In 99% of games tested, Crossfire absolutely destroyed 7800GTX cards in 8AA/16AF and 14AA/16AF situations, while still providing playable gameplay. And we already know that Nvidia doesn't benefit much from moving to 512mb vs. 256mb; so the situation wouldn't look much better for dual $750 512mb GTX cards. Clearly, NVidia needs to seriously revamp their architecture when it comes to AA performance. Paying near $800-$1000 premiums and losing up to 2x or more to your competitor is simply unaccepable.

X1900XTX Crossfire performance is still disapointing compared to X1800XT crossfire. Also, it can finally be concluded that a $399 X1800XT is a far better buy than a 7800GTX 256mb. Those who purchased it over the $50 cheaper 7800GTX card some time ago, when X1800XTs cost $500, should be glad they did. Looking at the benches, 1 7800GTX 512mb or X1900XTX can run most games just fine at 1600x1200. Like BFG said, it would be beneficial for those looking for dual cards to have access to results for higher resolutions -- or otherwise the dual-card system doesn't seem worth the price at all.

An another note, Gamespot had a follow up update on Oblivion and they mentioned that the Xbox360 version runs smoother than the PC version. With PC hardware easily outpacing Xbox360s, this is again a laugh at PC gamers' faces. So much for that $1000 graphics card setup....

 

[5150Joker]

As much as I love my X1900 XTX, there's no way I can say Crossfire is as good as SLI in some ways such as requiring dongles and a master card. Even ATi knows this and there should not be any dongles or master cards needed when the R600 is released. That said though, the performance of Crossfire using high AA levels absolutely destroys SLI and if someone is going to pay the cash for a dual card setup then they're going to want to push AA to the max.

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
As much as I love my X1900 XTX, there's no way I can say Crossfire is as good as SLI in some ways such as requiring dongles and a master card. Even ATi knows this and there should not be any dongles or master cards needed when the R600 is released. That said though, the performance of Crossfire using high AA levels absolutely destroys SLI and if someone is going to pay the cash for a dual card setup then they're going to want to push AA to the max.

I think we'll see Nvidia catch up in this department sooner than later.

Main reason Crossfire has such good Super AA performance is the compositing chip on the mastercard IIRC.

Remember, when SLI first came out there was no 8x/16x SLI AA. This was instead implemented later through drivers and is nothing but a software hack as far as I'm concerned. Looks good, but performance tanks.

This is a perfect example of the drawbacks of being first to the market.

I expect with G80 we'll see something similar to ATI's compositing chip to allow for much greater efficiency when handling AA between cards.

 

[MegaWorks]

I'm getting this board, ULI SB or not this board will rock!

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
I'm getting this board, ULI SB or not this board will rock!

Yep, that board is smokin' Even DFI moved to the ULI SB for RD580 though.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: nib95
C) Just as with issues with the whole Crossfire edition business, Nvidia shares a similar issue which is that many of their GPU's are no longer in production and are replaced just about the time when users require/want the secondary SLI counterpart.

example please.

Good call. They had eVGA 6800 Ultra's at Micro Center for $250... I was almost tempted to build myself the l33test rig of 2004 for $500.

Except it would perform like a ~$250 7800GT, making it a l33t early 2005 rig for double the money .

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: nib95
C) Just as with issues with the whole Crossfire edition business, Nvidia shares a similar issue which is that many of their GPU's are no longer in production and are replaced just about the time when users require/want the secondary SLI counterpart.

example please.

Good call. They had eVGA 6800 Ultra's at Micro Center for $250... I was almost tempted to build myself the l33test rig of 2004 for $500.

Except it would perform like a ~$250 7800GT, making it a l33t early 2005 rig for double the money .

I would bet that SLI'ed Ultras would probably beat a 7800GT in most cases considering that SLI'ed Ultra's hold their own fairly well against a 7800GTX @ 1600x1200 4xAA.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2451&p=8

Not that I would suggest buying two now anyway. If you already have a 6800Ultra that you paid big bucks for a while back the option is there though, which was the original debate.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: nib95

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: nib95
C) Just as with issues with the whole Crossfire edition business, Nvidia shares a similar issue which is that many of their GPU's are no longer in production and are replaced just about the time when users require/want the secondary SLI counterpart.

example please.

The example are people around us, I know many people who have just bought 7800 GT's and GTX's (or in the last 2 months) in the hope of upgrading to SLI in a month or two, but the 7900 GT and GTX will be replacing the 7800 range (bar the GTX 512mb version). The two cards will not be coexisting, but being replaced.

So where are they to buy that second SLI card in a few months (besides eBay)?

The solution is to just go single top end GPU after a sale of your existing one.

in that case there are no examples "all around us".

u can still get 6800's, and there will be plenty of 7800's in the channel for some time (excluding the gtx 512 of course, which is about as "paper launch" as you can get without actually being one).

a year or two from now if there are none left, i'm sure there will be plenty in the fs/ft forum, as well as on ebay, as u mention.

if you believe a single top end card is the solution, fine, but that's no reason to make up stuff to support your opinions.

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
I'm getting this board, ULI SB or not this board will rock!

Yep, that board is smokin' Even DFI moved to the ULI SB for RD580 though.

It has active cooling, I'd go with the Asus because of the passive cooling if they were equal otherwise

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: fierydemise

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
I'm getting this board, ULI SB or not this board will rock!

Yep, that board is smokin' Even DFI moved to the ULI SB for RD580 though.

It has active cooling, I'd go with the Asus because of the passive cooling if they were equal otherwise

I would probably end up with the Asus as well. I've been an Asus fanboy for a long time now. From what I can tell, the Asus will be similar to their current Xfire mobo with more mainstream features and a lower pricetag, whereas the DFI is going to be more targeted towards the overclocker crowd (big surprise there, eh?). So, I don't really think it will be an apples-to-apples comparison.

I mentioned this in another thread, but some people here may be interested as well. Asus has the A8R32-MVP Deluxe manual in pdf available for download on their support site. Obvioulsy, you won't get any benchmarks, but it does give you a nice detailed overview of the motherboard.