ATI CROSSFIRE

[gazza1970]

need some advice guys ive been wondering about the ati hd2900's

which would you say would be the best options in gaming

1 x hd2900xt 1gig ( any brand ) £250

or

2 x hd2900pro 512mb ( any brand ) £300+

the thing is im really intrested in seeing crossfire in action having read,watched and heard so much about them

as stated above the reason for this is budget allows me to get one or the other

cheers in advance for any advise

 

[Randell]

well for a start a HD3870 can be had for £130-£160 - is smaller, quieter, cooler, less power hungry than an 2900XT and is the same performance overall, often faster by a small margin.

So crossfired 3870's can be cheaper than than an 8800GTX (£260-£320 for crossfired HD3870's) and when it works (most of the time, but not always) is faster!

 

[Scougar]

Yup, it might even be worthwhile doing 2x 3850's 512mb's in crossfire as that will only set you back about £230-£270 (I think).

I think the price for 2x 3870's is more likely to be £280-£330 at the present prices and configurations.

Unless you have 1)No ears (2900xt's fans on full chat can be very loud) 2) a very big and brave PSU 3) Not worried about leccy costs , then sure go right ahead and get the 2900xt's, otherwise, get 38xx series stuff

Matthew

 

[gareth170]

2900xt and 3870 are the same performance. so just get 2 3870....

 

[LoadsaMoney]

2900xt and 3870 are the same performance. so just get 2 3870....

Agreed, 3870's are just 2900 version 2's, they are just made smaller so can be cheaper, use less power, and have a new cooler on them so they are also quieter, and they been given a new name.

 

[gazza1970]

top answers guys

just what i was thinking but never had the gutts to jump in till had some impartial advice

 

[RaiderX]

i have 2900 XT crossfire here and performance is good, but dont plan on playing crysis with the crossfire enabled, i had to disable it to get it to work properly, or it either didnt even get into the game or performance dropped from single card mode.

 

[Randell]

the GTX offer on here at £240 is a better bet I reckon, a fast single card is always the better option.

 

[Scougar]

i have 2900 XT crossfire here and performance is good, but dont plan on playing crysis with the crossfire enabled, i had to disable it to get it to work properly, or it either didnt even get into the game or performance dropped from single card mode.

I'm pretty sure ati will come out with a driver that solves that issue though. One of the biggest games, they aren't gonna let slide without a driver! At the moment I'm sure it just came down to Nvidia having all the development chit chats etc (READ: Payments), to get out how they could do SLI for it. If it can be SLI'd it can be crossfired. Just have a little patience.

Matthew

 

[Predator]

I have 2 x 2900Pro 1024MB, bios flashed from 600/1000 to 850/1000. They run superb at 1920 res.

 

[IamMed]

Agreed, 3870's are just 2900 version 2's, they are just made smaller so can be cheaper, use less power, and have a new cooler on them so they are also quieter, and they been given a new name.

Should've just called them 2950XT's tbh