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How to wait for DX10?

shodan

shodan

shodan

Associate
Joined
4 Jul 2006
Posts
212
Location
London
Hi all. Feels good to be part of the forum!

I've been planning my 1st self-built system for a few weeks now and I have a question or two.

I want to build a conroe E6600 machine on an Asus P5W DH deluxe (unless Asus release a more suitable board by the time the conroes are out), and having read the other threads in this section it seems the best vid card to tide me over until the DX10 cards are at their first revision is an X1900XT. To be precise, that naughty little ICEQ number in the OcUK shop!

The thing is, will the DX10 cards use PCI-E x16 slots? Will they use crossfire in the same way DX9 cards do?

If they do, I've noticed the Asus mobo PCI-E x16 slots will only run at x8 in a crossfire config. Would this ruin the performance for twin DX10 cards?

I'd like to be as DX10 ready as I can be really, and the last thing I want to have to do is change the motherboard on a complete system. Sounds like a pain.

If on the other hand crossfire and SLI are being binned with the introduction of DX10, what's the point of a compatible motherboard? I can't see myself getting irritated with the performance of an X1900XT within a year.

Thanks for the help!
 
Welcome to the forums! :)

The thing is, will the DX10 cards use PCI-E x16 slots? Will they use crossfire in the same way DX9 cards do? Next gen cards will use PCI-E so there is no need to worry about that and crossfire will be exactly the same as it is now minus the adapter cable thing that links the two cards together. (This is rumoured to be removed from the next gen cards)

If they do, I've noticed the Asus mobo PCI-E x16 slots will only run at x8 in a crossfire config. Would this ruin the performance for twin DX10 cards? I believe when cards are crossfired the PCI-E slots run at x8 for each card. So that wont be a problem. (I think this is the case - but don't quote me on it - either way it shouldn't be a problem)

If on the other hand crossfire and SLI are being binned with the introduction of DX10, what's the point of a compatible motherboard? I can't see myself getting irritated with the performance of an X1900XT within a year. SLI and Crossfire will still be around when DX10 cards hit the shelves. No one knows for sure when they will come out exactly, apart from 'around Q4 2006 - Q1 2007'.

I'm just about to upgrade to an X1900XT and I will personally wait till the second gen of DX10 cards become available. I hope this helps a little.
 
killer_uk said:
I believe when cards are crossfired the PCI-E slots run at x8 for each card. So that wont be a problem. (I think this is the case - but don't quote me on it - either way it shouldn't be a problem)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help! Much appreciated. However, before I discovered the impending greatness of conroe chips, I was planning an AMD FX60 system (and wincing from the price too) and therefore I had a different mobo in mind, the Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe. Asus's specs for the two cards show the AMD board to run both crossfire cards at x16, whilst the Intel board only allows x8:

A8R32-MVP Deluxe (AMD)
P5W DH Deluxe (Intel)

I think it is something to do with what is possible with the chipsets involved. Anyway, with GPUs getting faster at a rate of knots, are you sure having half the PCI-E speed of other crossfire mobos won't be bad for DX10 crossfire performance?
 
killer_uk said:
Well I have just searched for some reviews on the performance difference on Crossfire 8x vs 16x and here are the results:

http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/printpage.php?id=438

I'm afraid I don't know much more about crossfire so I would wait until someone with more knowledge can answer your question more fully. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Killer_uk. You've remedied my ignorance with great success! I'll just see what mobos are around when the conroes launch and hopefully something will offer crossfire at x16. It isn't crucial though. I'm sure once I upgrade to a second generation DX10 card it'll be a LONG time before I want to consider crossfiring it!

If anyone knows of any upcoming chipsets for conroe with full x16 crossfire support then post the details in this thread!
 
BloodWolf said:
Speaking of DX10, reckon X1900XT will be ok with DX10 games? :o
Click to expand...

An X1900XT will certainly run the latest games for a few years, it is a top-end card and there aren't many games manufacturers who could afford to cut off such a huge segment of the market by making their games natively DX10 only. You might have to turn down some settings or miss out on a few visual effects but it will work fine, there will be a DX9 mode at the very minimum.
 
Yeah DX10 games will also run in DX9, just they will have all the DX10 features disabled, Crysis is one example, the only game i know of thats only DX10, and will not work on a DX9 card, or Windows XP (will only run on Vista) is Halo2, but i think DX10 only games are a long long way of yet, as the DX9 market is huge. :)
 
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