Crossfire Help ...

[alien.46.uk]

Hi All ...

I was looking at the Saphire 4870 1Gb Card in my build (and no, if anyone remembers my first thread from some time ago, i still havent decided ) ...

But anyway, I'm now looking at the possibly of 2x XFX 4830's instead, both for the slight increase in performance based on current reviews and opinions (20-30%) but also because I've never had an SLi or CFx set-up and just really want to try one.

However, most boards both Intel and AMD side from P35/P45 to 770/790GX all run CFx @ 8x/8x and some even @ 16x/4x ...

Would this set-up see noticeable reductions in performance over say X38/X48 or 790FX which run them at 16x/16x ...?

Main reason is cost, most boards that run @ 16x cost around £150 minimum, where I could get a nice P45 or 790GX board for around £80-£100 etc ...

Any help appreciated on this matter and maybe i will finally decide on a build.

Thanks in advance.

 

[alien.46.uk]

@ Guardsmon: There's several reports of CF 4830's beating the 1Gb 4870 (both set-ups fully stock clocks) ... Even reports of them beating the odd GTX280.

@ LeJosh: If I did that I'd probably never bother putting in a second, just keep changing the single as things progress lol ... Hence why I want to try now.

@ Reflux: Yeh I agree the 16x/4x is pointless, but don't X38/X48 and 790FX also all run at PCI-E 2.0 both at 16x/16x? Would that not also theoretically mean an increase over PCI-E 2.0 8x/8x P45?