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Confused: How to go crossfire?

t_aitch

t_aitch

t_aitch

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Joined
21 Oct 2002
Posts
881
I have a Powercolour X1800XT 512mb softmodded to PE.

How would i go about going crossfire? Im kinda probing that route, and im a bit confused with all of the crossfire mastercards.

I see on the ocuk shop that they have a Powercolour X1800 Crossfire edition, but its over £300!! :eek: Is this a mastercard?

Is this what i need? or can i mix and match mine with other X1800 mastercards?

Someone needs to help me before my head implodes.
 
Yeah i thought that might be the case. :(

Seems a little expensive for me, i might just have to go for Sli then, seems much cheaper.
 
I've been trying to find a master X1600XT, does anyone know why i cant find one? Tis driving me nuts! :eek:

Just wondered as i agree the above is a tad expensive!
 
If I remember right, 1600 and under dont need master cards, and sooner or later they're going to do away with mastercards for all cards, but not sure, someone else could probably shed more light.
 
Happy Days! :D Thanks! That would be just great as i could then crossfire for around an extra £140 for a new Mobo and card, although will i be better off getting a higher spec single card?
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
If I remember right, 1600 and under dont need master cards, and sooner or later they're going to do away with mastercards for all cards, but not sure, someone else could probably shed more light.
Click to expand...

You saying if I got another of my cards and a crossfire mobo I could get Xfire?
I cant find a mastercard for my X800.

MC_Bob
 
Its all rumours really. Logic says ATI have to do away with the whole master card system as it's really not working out for the end consumer.

On the other hand supposidly there isn't enough bandwith on the bus to support crossfire without a master card and that dongle thing for the x1800 and above cards.

I think its probably possible, the PCI-Ex bus is pretty big ( at least in x16 ) but i think the x1800 cards simply werent designed to allow it, and the x1600's can do it kind of in a software mode.

It would be risky to buy an x1800xt now hoping drivers allow crossfire later. But it's a great price, you could ebay it and probably get most of your cash back if you never open.
 
mc_bob said:
You saying if I got another of my cards and a crossfire mobo I could get Xfire?
I cant find a mastercard for my X800.

MC_Bob
Click to expand...

a) cant find? try looking

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_X800___X850_Series_407.html

b)no, before you spend money wait for drivers to do this, first

c)x800 xfire is pointless to say the least, sell it and get an x1800 or better tbh.

d)chances are, you will be able to use xfire without a master card later on but you will suffer degraded performance.
 
lay-z-boy said:
a) cant find? try looking

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_X800___X850_Series_407.html

b)no, before you spend money wait for drivers to do this, first

c)x800 xfire is pointless to say the least, sell it and get an x1800 or better tbh.

d)chances are, you will be able to use xfire without a master card later on but you will suffer degraded performance.
Click to expand...


people keep saying you can use an X850 master card with an X800 but wheres the proof to say you can?

when i RMA'd my AGP X800XT i asked the company that dealt with sapphire RMA's (ECS) if they could change it to a pci-e card and they did, i also asked them what card i needed to crossfire it with and they told me an X800 master.

they said,

any X800 and an X800 master

any X850 and an X850 master
________
extreme q vaporizer
 
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taken from ATI's FAQ's


Card One----------------------Card Two
Radeon X1900 Series --------- Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition
Radeon X1800 Series --------- Radeon X1800 CrossFire Edition
Radeon X1600 Series --------- Radeon X1600 Series
Radeon X1300 Series --------- Radeon X1300 Series
Radeon X850 Series ---------- Radeon X850 CrossFire Edition
Radeon X800, PRO/XL/GTO/XT/XTPE---- Radeon X800 CrossFire Edition
}
 
Been looking for an answer to that too.I mean,they don`t even sell the dongle & cable separate which for an 1800xt means a lot more money when 2 similar nvidias can run straight out the box.
Anyone care to elaborate on exactly what the dongle does? or is the crossfire master different in hardware to normal card? cheers
 
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the master card has a compositing chip on it which handles all the crossfire stuff,

the dongle is the means for the 2 cards to comunicate with each other.

thats my understanding of it anyway.
 
Yes I believe the above is the case and I also believe for upto and including X1800's the may drivers will be able to handle non mastercard Xfire setups, but as stated above ( disappointingly) the X1900 series would flood the PCIE bus supposedly which is why you will need the mastercard and dongle ( and yes unlike SLI where the bridge comes with the mobo - I believe the dongle for Xfire only comes with the mastercards)

I got this info regarding PCIE flooding from the long R580 thread in mob section
 
is there any info on the may drivers about enabling crossfire without a master card?

i want to crossfire my x800xt and if i can get another xt instead of the lower clocked master card then i'll do that instead.
 
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