3-Way CrossfireX - Failed!

[Freddie1980]

the X48 doesn't really offer much over an X38 except official support for higher FSB which can be reached with an X38 via overclocking. However if the X48 is around the same price might as well go for it.

The P45 is a newer chipset so its a bit better than X38/X48 but only if your using a single graphics card, in your case you want to go tri X-fire so X38/X48 will be better than the P45.

Doesn't X48 offer PCI-E 2.0 whereas X38 uses the older PCI-E 1.0 standard?

 

[BlackBat]

Doesn't X48 offer PCI-E 2.0 whereas X38 uses the older PCI-E 1.0 standard?

No, X38 has two 16x PCI-E 2.0 lanes just like X48.

 

[oweneades]

You won't find any reviews of 3 way crossfire on p55 with a Radeon 5000 series as all the reviewers will use the best setup possible which X58 but I'm telling you now P45 was never a great chipset for multiple video cards just look at

Hmmmm I never noticed a performance issue when I had CF HD4850 on a P45 motherboard (Asus P5Q pro).

It's very odd that Tweaktown came to the results/conclusion they did as much more recent benchmarks have shown virtually no difference between CF/SLI on PCI-E 2.0 8x and PCI-E 2.0 16x.

Unless there was something wrong with the chipset itself the 2 x 2.0 8x lanes would not be a hinderance to CF on a P45 board.

 

[Flanno]

3 and 4 way GPU rendering has never been upto much crossfire or SLI. Crossfire generally tends to be a bit a bit rough and ready.

There's plenty of reports on Hardforums and XS showing people running 3 5870's with great success and very good scaling. I for one never had any major issues with 3 5870's or 2 5970's. For some reason people just assume 3 way and 4 way is no use, usually those that have not tried it. Just because trifire and quadfire may have had issues in the past, doesn't mean it's always going to be the case.

 

[Yurihyuga]

Hmmmm I never noticed a performance issue when I had CF HD4850 on a P45 motherboard (Asus P5Q pro).

It's very odd that Tweaktown came to the results/conclusion they did as much more recent benchmarks have shown virtually no difference between CF/SLI on PCI-E 2.0 8x and PCI-E 2.0 16x.

Unless there was something wrong with the chipset itself the 2 x 2.0 8x lanes would not be a hinderance to CF on a P45 board.

2x graphics cards on an 8x lane ain't much of a hit but when tri/quad xfire/SLI which even on 16x lanes has its problems on the 8x lanes its gonna take more of a hit.

 

[Freddie1980]

Hmmmm I never noticed a performance issue when I had CF HD4850 on a P45 motherboard (Asus P5Q pro).

It's very odd that Tweaktown came to the results/conclusion they did as much more recent benchmarks have shown virtually no difference between CF/SLI on PCI-E 2.0 8x and PCI-E 2.0 16x.

Unless there was something wrong with the chipset itself the 2 x 2.0 8x lanes would not be a hinderance to CF on a P45 board.

2x graphics cards on an 8x lane ain't much of a hit but when tri/quad xfire/SLI which even on 16x lanes has its problems on the 8x lanes its gonna take more of a hit.

The problem here isn’t the fact P45 uses x8/x8 for Crossfire as I’ve already shown x8/x8 works just fine with the Radeon 5000 series on P55 (when compared to X58 at x16/x16) it’s to with how P45 manages the lanes or how the Crossfire technology actually works on that Chipset.

You wouldn’t have noticed a performance drop off on your P45 board because I assume you don’t have a X48 to compare it with so the performance you get with your P45 you accept is the norm hence why there isn’t a problem in your eyes.

 

[Jayce85]

I've just had a ASUS P5Q3 (Intel P45 & DDR3) arrive, and a Foxconn Blackops (Intel x48 & DDR3) is on the way!
I'm going to use a Q6600 (Overclocked) with 1600MHz Corsair Dominator RAM for a 'CrossfireX Showdown' - 2 indentical systems of dual HD4890s only the chipset will differ (P45 v x48).
The Blackops also supports 3-way Xfire, so I can compare it to my Foxconn ELA (P45) results.

 

[Jayce85]

I for one never had any major issues with 3 5870's or 2 5970's. For some reason people just assume 3 way and 4 way is no use, usually those that have not tried it. Just because trifire and quadfire may have had issues in the past, doesn't mean it's always going to be the case.

I still don't think 2x dual GPU cards (HD5970 or HD4870x2) count as 'Quad-fire'.
As the system only recognises 2 cards. And games that previously didn't support Crossfire (GTA IV) still made use of both GPUs on a single card.
The reason you're not going to experience 'issues' with 3x HD5870s is because a single HD5870 is good enough to run most games at max settings.
Only if you were to benchmark your frame rates in games and have a look at the scaling of 1, 2 & 3 cards would you be able to notice 'issues'.
Some people can't afford £300+ gfx cards, let alone 3 of them! That's why using 3x HD4890s or HD3870s is useful, because we are supposed to end up spending on £150 - £300 on 3 cards, which is supposed to give up improved performance, negating the NEED to spend £1000 on graphics cards.