• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Bring me up to speed with ATI?

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Feb 2003
Posts
29,640
Location
Chelmsford
It's been years since i've owned an ATI card but the latest generation look quite good.. Trouble is i've not been keeping in touch with things on the ATI side so wonder if you could help..


I'm a little confusssed with the crossfire compatability i.e. can I have a single card and add later? If I have two cards what do I need? Do I need a new mobo? Can I use my SLi to host a single X1950? so on..

Thanks
 
Admiral Huddy said:
I'm a little confusssed with the crossfire compatability i.e. can I have a single card and add later? If I have two cards what do I need? Do I need a new mobo? Can I use my SLi to host a single X1950? so on..
Click to expand...
A single ATI card will run on your SLI motherboard just fine, but if you want two ATI cards in Crossfire (their version of SLI) then you will need a motherboard that supports it as the system is quite different from SLI.

One thing to keep in mind with Crossfire is that you cannot simply pair two cards like you can with SLI, not until next year anyway. At the moment you must buy a master card (labelled Crossfire Edition) and a slave card (the standard graphics cards.)

E.G. If you wanted to go X1900 Crossfire, you would buy one of the X1900 Crossfire Edition cards and an X1900XT or X1900XTX to go with it. Also, you can use a Crossfire Edition master card on its own, which can help with the cost in the long-run.
 
Also to have crossfire you need a Crossfire motherboard, the one in my sig is Crossfire chipset, the non deluxe version is as well. All you need after that is a master card plus a standard card, from the same range that is crossfire compatible.

So
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe or
Asus A8R32-MVP

Plus
X1900XT or X1900XTX Master
X1900XT or X1900XTX Slave

I think the X1800XT are Crossfire compatible too, again require Master plus a standard X1800XT.
 
So I could buy a single Crossfire addition card for my 939 Sli mobo, then buy a new mobo later and add the slave.. but i don't see any slave cars on the OcUk website under the x1950 range?
 
Admiral Huddy said:
So I could buy a single Crossfire addition card for my 939 Sli mobo, then buy a new mobo later and add the slave.. but i don't see any slave cars on the OcUk website under the x1950 range?
Click to expand...

Indeed you can. The slave cards are just any card not listed as "Crossfire edition" :)
 
gotcha... Seems ATI have made things a little complicated with this setup tbh.. that too and the fact that Nvidia and ATI are no longer compatible. i.e you need seperate mobos for each. This I knew already but it sounds daft.. it forces users to making a permanant choice rather than having the freedom to move around. Your most likely going to see Nvidia users and ATi sticking with ATI.. or am i wrong?
 
Admiral Huddy said:
gotcha... Seems ATI have made things a little complicated with this setup tbh.. that too and the fact that Nvidia and ATI are no longer compatible. i.e you need seperate mobos for each. This I knew already but it sounds daft.. it forces users to making a permanant choice rather than having the freedom to move around. Your most likely going to see Nvidia users and ATi sticking with ATI.. or am i wrong?
Click to expand...
Depends on prices etc., but it's more than likely that multi-card users will end up stuck with their particular brand really. You can't really blame Nvidia or ATI for this situation, as I'm sure it's within the reach of chipset manufacturers (ATI, Nvidia, Intel, SIS, VIA, ULI etc.) to make a chipset capable of supporting both.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
gotcha... Seems ATI have made things a little complicated with this setup tbh.. that too and the fact that Nvidia and ATI are no longer compatible. i.e you need seperate mobos for each. This I knew already but it sounds daft.. it forces users to making a permanant choice rather than having the freedom to move around. Your most likely going to see Nvidia users and ATi sticking with ATI.. or am i wrong?
Click to expand...

You can use single ATI and nVidia cards in any motherboard. It's only when you use SLI/Crossfire that you have to buy a special motherboard. It would be cool if there's a motherboard in the future that can do SLI/Crossfire but I doubt it.
 
Most people dont go Crossfire or SLi, single cards can easily handle 1600x1200 and above in single card mode. Dual cards are for e-penis and people with more money than sence if then use it on 1600x1200 and lower.

If they use huge 30 inch monitors then fair enough.

As for me @ 1600x1200, one X1950XT-X please! (In october :p)

CR.
 
Concorde Rules said:
As for me @ 1600x1200, one X1950XT-X please! (In october :p)
Click to expand...
Why not simply do what I have just done? :p I have bought an X1900XT and I'm going to clock it to XTX speeds, then it will be literally 1-2fpx behind the X1950XTX for only £199 and available immediately. :)
 
Admiral Huddy said:
gotcha... Seems ATI have made things a little complicated with this setup tbh.. that too and the fact that Nvidia and ATI are no longer compatible. i.e you need seperate mobos for each. This I knew already but it sounds daft.. it forces users to making a permanant choice rather than having the freedom to move around. Your most likely going to see Nvidia users and ATi sticking with ATI.. or am i wrong?
Click to expand...

Correct, I decided on X1900XT, knew of Crossfire so it makes sense to buy a ATI Crossfire motherboard, rather than a Nvidia Nforce. I might not add a Master X1900, but at least I won't have to replace the motherboard when if I do. And because 939 is on it's way out it would probably mean a whole new upgrade (mobo, CPU) just to go dual card. I agree if you're always sticking to single card it doesn't matter.
 
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-060-HT)

so this baby will run on my Nvidia SLi board on it's own quite nicely?
 
Admiral Huddy said:
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-060-HT)

so this baby will run on my Nvidia SLi board on it's own quite nicely?
Click to expand...

Yep :D

They dont stop single cards running as its still 90% of the buisness ;)

and Im not buying a PC until late october so a X1950 will be cheap as chips :D
 
Admiral Huddy said:
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-060-HT)

so this baby will run on my Nvidia SLi board on it's own quite nicely?
Click to expand...
It'll run fine in your SLI board on its own, but I would strongly suggest going for the X1900XT or X1900XTX instead.

The X1900XT is only £199 on this week only, and if you overclock it to XTX speeds it will literally be 1-2fps behind the X1950XTX performance-wise. The X1900XTX is only 1-2fps behind the X1950XTX performance-wise even without an overclock, but costs a bit more.

The X1950XTX is really bad value for money right now, considering the alternatives.
 
Ulfhedjinn said:
It'll run fine in your SLI board on its own, but I would strongly suggest going for the X1900XT or X1900XTX instead.

The X1900XT is only £199 on this week only, and if you overclock it to XTX speeds it will literally be 1-2fps behind the X1950XTX performance-wise. The X1900XTX is only 1-2fps behind the X1950XTX performance-wise even without an overclock, but costs a bit more.

The X1950XTX is really bad value for money right now, considering the alternatives.
Click to expand...

.. and the a1900xt over the 7800GTX? big performance gain?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom