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AMD 3800+ and X1900XTX

Boomerang

Boomerang

Boomerang

Associate
Joined
11 Apr 2006
Posts
15
would I get CPU bottleneck problems with this set up?

Also I am considering a Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire board with a single X1900XTX for the time being.Is it ok to run single cards on a crossfire board or is it not worth paying the extra for?
 
Welcome to the forums, most new graphics cards are to some extent bottlenecked by the CPU but it shouldn't be much of an issue. You can always overclock the CPU as well.

It is fine to run single cards in a Crossfire motherboard but it does seem that Crossfire motherboards have had a few issues, these may just be teething problems so to speak but it might pay to check them out and if you are unlikely to be buying a second graphics card then consider getting another motherboard, maybe based on the Nforce4 ultra chipset.
 
But if he wants Crossfire....anyway I've seen people with Nforce 4 problems saying "never buy again" so all have bugs. My board has been rock stable, it's got the Mosfet whine though, and I can't test Crossifire yet.

Personally I would just buy a single X1900XT, wait until framerate drops until annoying level, decide if a X1900 master card or just replacing the single card again. You have a choice, if you get a Nforce basically single ATI, single Nvidia or SLI. You're going to pay more for a SLI or Crossfire but what's a extra £20 for a mobo? At least you can get dual cards, if you buy a single GFX slot mobo and want dual GFX later means new motherboard, and probably buy that time CPU for that socket are old hat, new memory pin type etc. Basically new PC. Personally I would opt for a dual core CPU also.

As for Nforce 4 mobo- Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)
 
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squiffy said:
Personally I would opt for a dual core CPU also.
Click to expand...

Yep I'd agree here, the 3800 could be X2 although I suppose it could equally be an A64 as well but I just assumed that it would be the X2 version.

Depending on if you want to overclock your CPU and what the budget is I'd pick the DFI Nforce4 ultra motherboard for overclocking or the Asus Nforce4 ultra motherboard for stability and because it is cheaper.

squiffy I don't think that the Crossfire motherboards are all bad by any means but I'm just highlighting that there have been some issues. If these issues can be sorted out or you are lucky and they aren't present then technically they are superb motherboards :)
 
Boomerang said:
would I get CPU bottleneck problems with this set up?

Also I am considering a Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire board with a single X1900XTX for the time being.Is it ok to run single cards on a crossfire board or is it not worth paying the extra for?
Click to expand...


A 2ghz cpu is not fast enough for a top end card.I had problems with bottle necking my 7800 GT never mind the faster x1900.

EDIT :just noticed it the single core 3800 :p
At this price range the dual core option is better provided you overclock it.

That cpu just isn't going to provide data to the card fast enough at stock.
Overclock it however then thats a different story.

I was running my old x3800 x2 at stock and the fps were awful.People have been complaining about this in oblivion when they are running x3800's x2 at stock.Wondering why they are getting low fps.

It was only when I overclocked it to 2.6ghz did I see a massive boost in games.

Now I have my opty at 2.8ghz I have no problems with the 7900 GTX.
 
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well i didnt notice much a difference with me 3200 at stock or 2.4ghz with a x1800xt. it does depend what resolutions you run at i think as the higher you go the less of a bottleneck the cpu is (iirc?)
 
Yeah precisely ^^^^^^^^^^
Check my system spec below in my sig.
I have a 3800 and an x1800xt in there which is about right for my performance on a single core chip really. If going for the x1900xtx which is what you say your going to do I would get a fater cpu to unlock the full potential.
If however you are going to have a 3800 single core chip in there then I would say save yourself a bit of cash and pick up a really cheap x1800xt! :D you could just get the x1900xtx but really you need a faster cpu.
What resolutions will you be playing at as well? thats the consideration here....
I myself only have a 17" IIyama ProLite E431s monitor and that max res is 1280x1024 and that would mean the x1800xt is ideal for me!
If your playing at 1600x1200 +++++++ then you will see the true benefits of the x1900xtx card!
 
but i didnt gain a great deal of extra performance with the gfx card I had.so I took it out but will go with it with the new gfx card.
I suppose burning out the opty or just leaving it sitting in the draw is same as one another.
So ** saying the 3800 is a no no then :)
 
The opty is the far better option my friend....i joined these forums shortly after my build and if i had joined earlier id have gotten myself an opty too!
Extremely good clockers from what everyone says so you cant go wrong there!
 
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