Crossfire Query/Mobo Query

[Nelly]

If for example you have 2 X1900XT's (Master+Slave) - Do both of these mobo's let the Graphic cards run as Crossfire? I'm abit puzzled because both are SLi right? is it just a case of both using a different chipset on the mobo? confused. . .

Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)

Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)

 

[chaparral]

only the crossfire board will let you run Two ati cards in crossfire.(one master card needed for crossfire as well)

SLI is only for running two nvidia cards..

 

[drunknmunky]

The first one is an Nvidia Sli based mobo so you can't run 2 Ati cards in it.

The second will run 2 Ati cards because it uses an Ati chipset.

Crossfire is the Ati equivalent of Nvidia's Sli.

 

[Nelly]

H'mm wonder if anyone can tell me why the Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS) is a lot cheaper than its Nvidia counterparts??

Glad I asked the question anyway.

 

[mdjmcnally]

Nvidia SLI chipset is quite expensive as chipsets go so will cost more for the board.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Stay away from the Asus Crossfire board, it got problems galore, either get the Neo2 Crossfire, or wait a few weeks for the RD580 chipset boards, whch are faster.

 

[BubbySoup]

Yeah, if investing in X-fire anytime soon, it would be well worth the wait for the new RD580 boards due beginning of March.

 

[Dr Who]

Isnt Spie running the Asus crossfire board?

Cant be that bad, most of the problems with it seem to be ironed out now... just not the best clocker..

 

[ACESHIGH]

Cant be that bad, most of the problems with it seem to be ironed out now... just not the best clocker..

Thats what i have heard too.


Taken from an online UK site (which cant be menmtioned due to rules)...

Asus A8R-MVP

Asus has changed the ATI Southbridge in favour for a chip from ULi and it seem to have done the trick as the review sample worked flawlessly in our benchmarks.

The board layout is quite clean and the power connectors are towards the top of the board. One small complaint is that beyond the CPU cooler there are only two fan headers, not great but then this is a low-cost board. The chipset is passively cooled – both the Northbridge and the Southbridge – alongside the MOSFETS.

So what about performance? Well, this isn’t the fastest board I have ever tested, but with an overall SYSMark 2004 score it beats the Asus A8N-SLI Premium by one point. This is within the margin of error and newer drivers might also make a difference here. In PCMark 2005 the A8R-MVP scored 4211 points overall compared to 4138 for the A8N-SLI Premium.

it goes to show that that ATI northbridge in combination with the ULi southbridge is a fast and stable combination and Asus has put together yet another solid motherboard. When you consider that it only costs £78.31 it’s pretty good value for money as well.

CrossFire worked flawlessly during the whole testing procedure.

Verdict

Overall the A8R-MVP proved to be a solid motherboard and it shows that CrossFire might finally be ready to compete with SLI as a dual-graphics card solution. It’s not the feature richest board on the market, but considering the price it’s still good value for money.