3870 x2 & 3870 XT IN Trifire

[Dwbreeze1982]

Ive heard rumours that having quad xfire (3870x2 X2) Isnt up to much as it doesnt use the fourth core propperly. I Have also heard that it is possible to tri X Fire with a 3870 XT.

Has anyone heard rumours of this or even done this as i would like to no.

 

[Cupra]

yeah its true add a 3d core better vfm

 

[w3bbo]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3232&p=3

Tempted to go with tri-fire myself but unsire how a 3870x2 would perform with 8xpcie instead of 16 x as I'm on p35.

 

[Dwbreeze1982]

i have a x38 chipset so i could get 1 but the price of the water blocks are putting me off. I Could get an x2 and a new block for a little bit more.

 

[fornowagain]

Tempted to go with tri-fire myself but unsire how a 3870x2 would perform with 8xpcie instead of 16 x as I'm on p35.

The top slot is x16 until a second card is used and they both switch to x8, right? What happens if you just put a card in the second slot? Does it stay at x4 like a normal P35 or does it switch to x8. Because if it does you could try the X2 at x8 and see the effects of dropping from x16.

 

[w3bbo]

Pretty sure it will drop to 4x as the crosslinx chip dosn't fire up unless both slots are occupied.

 

[Banny]

I am using it at the moment, dont expect to much difference at low rez.
It seems to shine at high rez, with AA and AS applied, 3 mark for example is less than 2K slower at 1680*1050 4AA 16AS than the normal test.
I am still testing so will add to this post.
Problems to look out for are heat, as the cards are quite close to each other, did have to move my X-Fi and put it right against the heatsink of the x2 card which I dont like, but seems the only way to do it

 

[Mud]

Problems to look out for are heat, as the cards are quite close to each other, did have to move my X-Fi and put it right against the heatsink of the x2 card which I dont like, but seems the only way to do it

Yep, displaced my X-Fi too (now above the top card. These things do get a bit toasty and upped my motherboard temperatures 8-20'C before I added a 220mm fan over the cards.

 

[carrot1401]

Pretty sure it will drop to 4x as the crosslinx chip dosn't fire up unless both slots are occupied.

Yer, I thought the top lane always runs at 16x and the bottom one only runs at 4x (and on my gigabyte motherboard, disables all the pci-express 1x lanes....

Am up for getting another 3870xt soon if they do drop in price...

 

[fornowagain]

Yer, I thought the top lane always runs at 16x and the bottom one only runs at 4x (and on my gigabyte motherboard, disables all the pci-express 1x lanes....

The Asus Blitz/Formula is a little different to a normal P35.

 

[Banny]

Hex tried it on a P35 its very poor, seems that you need 2*16 lanes for it to scale properly.
crysis bench is poor for me no increase at all, whatever I do for it.

 

[Dwbreeze1982]

well its good to hear that it is possible. At the moment i only have a 20" mnitor so it prolly wont be worth it

 

[Banny]

well its good to hear that it is possible. At the moment i only have a 20" mnitor so it prolly wont be worth it

Thats same as me, still 1680 is a good rez.