A Couple Of Questions

Daniel · 17 Jul 2006 at 11:32

Hi,

I havent built a new PC for years so am behind on whats compatible or not.

I am looking at getting a Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard with a Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 CPU.

The motherboard says it is ATI crossfire compatible.

Does that mean that I can add one Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT now and another the same at a later date to get crossfire?

The reason I ask is because it says:

Crossfire compatible - Master Edition ATI X1900 card required!!

Is a Master Edition ATI X1900 different to a Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT?

I know SLI is different but can I use one Nvidia card on it's own or does it have to be ATI?

Sorry for the daft questions...I have been out of touch of PC builds for a long time.

Thanks,
Dan

Stelly · 17 Jul 2006 at 12:01

Ok SLI does not need a master card, BUT CrossFire to run two cards together you will need a master card!... so you could buy a Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT and a ATI master card when you can afford it...you ONLY need a master card when you are running two cards together.... you can run ATI cards on their own

Any more questions??

Stelly

FrankJH · 17 Jul 2006 at 12:38

I would personally get the master card now if I were you for two reasons

(depending on what screen you are planning on using of course)

1) Master cards could disappear when DX10 comes out - previous master cards from AMD havent lasted that long once a new generation have appeared

2) Master cards seem to be keeping their price but general XT's are becoming cheaper - so if you do buy a "standard" XT now you may be losing out on a bargain later - but the current difference on the two style of cards is around £50 so this is an either or choice

3)IF you plan to use a TFT of 20" w/s or smaller then you will only ever need one XT in my opinion - but with any larger screen the natural res of these dictates that Xfire is usually needed

Just my opinion mind

Daniel · 17 Jul 2006 at 12:53

Thanks for your help.

I will hopefully be getting a 20" widescreen monitor so one card will be enough for me.

I guess I can then upgrade in the future to a DX10 master card and then add a DX10 slave card as and when I feel crossfire is needed.

Most likely only need one card but it's nice to know that the upgrade is there if needed.

Thanks,
Dan

FrankJH · 17 Jul 2006 at 13:09

Daniel said:
Thanks for your help.

I will hopefully be getting a 20" widescreen monitor so one card will be enough for me.

I guess I can then upgrade in the future to a DX10 master card and then add a DX10 slave card as and when I feel crossfire is needed.

Most likely only need one card but it's nice to know that the upgrade is there if needed.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan

If I have misunderstood your post then I appologise but just in case....

Its highly unlikely ATI will allow you to Xfire two different generations of card - I know its definitely impossible currently and I see no reason for this to change in the next generation

You can use an XT (master card) and an XTX for example but only if they are both either X1900 or both X1800 etc

to confuse matters with current drivers with X1800s and lower mastercards are not required at all so you can have two standard cards - but thats a comment by the by

Just thought I would stress that point in case

edit - completely ignore me I misread your post and yes with a 20" one card should be enough ( for starters at least on any current game available to buy)

HicRic · 17 Jul 2006 at 14:41

Aren't the 20'' and above screens all 1600x1200 resolutions and above though? I thought the general consensus was 1280x1024 (19'', 17'') it was pointless getting crossfire, but 1600x1200 (20'') there were more benefits? Maybe I'm just getting confused again lol.

FrankJH · 17 Jul 2006 at 17:06

HicRic said:
Aren't the 20'' and above screens all 1600x1200 resolutions and above though? I thought the general consensus was 1280x1024 (19'', 17'') it was pointless getting crossfire, but 1600x1200 (20'') there were more benefits? Maybe I'm just getting confused again lol.

Certainly lower than 20" you would get no benefit at all from Xfire / SLI currently -edit with a latest gen card ( obviously with medium card this would be a different matter)

1680*1050 is res of a w/s 20" and I get playable framerates on fear and oblivion without even editing any ini files or whatnot and thats with a single X1900XT

The next highest common TFT res is at 24" (1920*1200) and this is where you usually require a second card for the latest games to run smoothly - of course you can run less detail / shadows / aa/af and keep the high res with a single card - I am guessing but it seems reasonable - but if you can afford to spend around £800 on your monitor you can usually afford £600 on your vga setup (xfire - I realise SLI is actually cheaper than this now)

Thats just my opinion based on what I have experienced with my setup and what I have read here and there