Crossfire

[Mozno1]

Hi,

I have just purchased a crossfire ready motherboard and a XFX 5770 gpu and am now looking at setting up crossfire.
I am totally new to crossfire as I must admit I have been some what an nVidia fan boy. *hangs head in shame*
My question is what kind of benefit will adding an extra card to the system listed in my sig make?
Also (this is kinda a side question) is the little bridge connector thing supposed to come with the cards? Or do you have to buy it on its own?

 

[atmax1]

Hey Mozno1

You will get a performance boost in games if the drivers ant buggy and you just plug the second card into the pci-e slot use the connector that comes with the graphics card to connect both the cards.. you then open CCC and make sure crossfire is ticked and away you go.

I had crossfire for 2 - 3 months then sold my second card as i had enough with the drivers but I think they fixed most of the problems now?

 

[Mozno1]

use the connector that comes with the graphics card to connect both the cards.

Erm what connector that came with the card? Is it supposed to?

I currently get a 3Dmark (Vantage) for GPU of 11050, anyone any ideas how much difference I may see?

I noticed somewhere on the net that the chipset on my board (P45 express) splits the bandwidth on each PICe slot to x8? What kind of differance does this make over have two x16 slots?

 

[Peter_C]

Erm what connector that came with the card? Is it supposed to?

I currently get a 3Dmark (Vantage) for GPU of 11050, anyone any ideas how much difference I may see?

I noticed somewhere on the net that the chipset on my board (P45 express) splits the bandwidth on each PICe slot to x8? What kind of differance does this make over have two x16 slots?

PCI-E 2.0 8x8x is almost exactly the same as 16x16x when run in crossfire.

 

[cmndr_andi]

This review shows how well the 5770 in crossfire does in a bunch of games. Its a pretty potent upgrade.

The x8 bandwidth to each card won't be a problem - in terms of real-world performance it will dip by a few % compared to a x16x16 connection.

As for the crossfire bridge, it should come with the card, however it is possible that motherboard makers will also include on with their bundle (especially with such a nice board). If you don't find one, then jump onto a popular auction site - many are available there for a relative pittance.

 

[Mozno1]

PCI-E 2.0 8x8x is almost exactly the same as 16x16x when run in crossfire.

Tah

 

[ThomasTheTankEngine]

Erm what connector that came with the card? Is it supposed to?

It should have been in the box. It doesn't matter if you've lost it or one wasn't included, because the second card you buy will come with one.

 

[PaulyD]

Some motherboards will also come with them as well so worth checking the box for that too

 

[Mozno1]

Thanks for your help guys.

Well no sign of the bridge in either my mobo box OR graphics card box. Guess its an eBay job now then.

I take it it is just a parallel bridge between the two cards? By this i mean there isnt a specific bridge to go with a specific card?

 

[MoRT489]

if u bought the card from a retailer ask them to send you the crossfire bridge. There is no specific make of bridge they are all the same but do come in different lengths.

There is a decent spacing between the PCIe slots on the P5Q Deluxe so cooling will be better than on some motherboards where the cards are practically touching.

I dont know how it compares but i have been using 5870 crossfire for a couple of weeks now and i'm going to sell one of the cards cos the heat output is so high it makes the room stuffy and the drivers are terrible (keep crashing in games). The fastest single card you can afford is the better option but everyone's experience varies, some people have no trouble at all.

I think unless ur using 2560x1620 or higher resolution crossfire is unnecessary and there will be a single card that can do the job.