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Is CrossFire worth it?

Well I am running a crossfire compliant X1800XT in a SLI motherboard. Running a single card is fine. We have no other choice than a card that is crossfire/SLI compatible if you want the best from either company.
 
Welcome to the forums. :)

All the cards are crossfire ready, you can just use 1x no problems, crossfire ready just means that if you get a master card, then you can pair it with your card for crossfire, if you mean the master cards, then you can just use the master cards on their own, as they will act just like a normal card until paired with a slave, and if you only do get the master, then you have the option to go crossfire if you want to further down the line, but crossfire is only worth it on the x1900's now, as the x1800's are not made anymore (otherwise you could have used those for crossfire), and the x800 series is stuck at 1600x1200 60hz, which is pointless. :)
 
In my opinouin an X1900XT is the best bang for buck at the moment ( none master card) no point paying premium for the master cards unless you are going crossfire immediately ( as the premium will soon be eroded when more become available)
 
I am thinking of buying a X1900XT now and sticking it into a Crossfire mobo. Then I might purchase a master version when they are cheaper in the future. Would this be a decent strategy ?

My possible upgrade is due to now running at 1680x1050 (new screen) and my 6800GT is not fully up to the task.
 
Yep

The Master cards are a fair amount more at the moment so if you're only buying one card for the moment I'd just get a slave card. If you want to go crossfire later then buy a master card

You can mix and match brands without any issues
 
Seirrah said:
I am thinking of buying a X1900XT now and sticking it into a Crossfire mobo. Then I might purchase a master version when they are cheaper in the future. Would this be a decent strategy ?

My possible upgrade is due to now running at 1680x1050 (new screen) and my 6800GT is not fully up to the task.
Click to expand...


The only problem with this idea...Is normally what happens..is by the time the xt1900 range have gone down to a much cheaper price..
There is a new card out that be about the same speed as two xt1900 cards in crossfire.
(E.G DX10 cards ATI R600 card & Nvidia G80 card later this year)

Plus highend ATI cards lose there value far far faster then highend nvidia cards....
 
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Dammit, now you've got me wondering if I should just stay with AGP and get a 7800 GS and hold off a big upgrade until the DX10 cards arrive.
 
I wouldn't stay with AGP

The 7800GS is the last of the line and it's not a great performer, only keeping up with the 6800Ultra

Compare this to the 7800GT/GTX/X1800/X1900 etc which are a fair bit faster

I'd personally get a 7800GT and a new PCI-E motherboard rather than a 7800GS. When the 7800GS is overclocked it's a fair bit better

What CPU are you running? If it's Socket A then it would be worth looking at a 7800GS and clocking it. If it's Socket 754/939/LGA775 then I'd go PCI-E
 
Seirrah said:
Dammit, now you've got me wondering if I should just stay with AGP and get a 7800 GS and hold off a big upgrade until the DX10 cards arrive.
Click to expand...

I wait till next month before buying anything went the new 7900gtx g71 comes out....It should push the prices down on the other highend cards.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
I wouldn't stay with AGP

The 7800GS is the last of the line and it's not a great performer, only keeping up with the 6800Ultra

Compare this to the 7800GT/GTX/X1800/X1900 etc which are a fair bit faster

I'd personally get a 7800GT and a new PCI-E motherboard rather than a 7800GS. When the 7800GS is overclocked it's a fair bit better

What CPU are you running? If it's Socket A then it would be worth looking at a 7800GS and clocking it. If it's Socket 754/939/LGA775 then I'd go PCI-E
Click to expand...

I've got an Intel P4, so it'll mean a fair bit of money to upgrade. I've got a 6800GT so moving to a 7800GS wouldn't be a massive increase in performance. I could however upgrade CPU, mobo and gfx card...but that's a much bigger investment.
To be honest even if I did get a 7800GS I'm still going to have to sacrifice graphical sexiness for decent frame-rates in some games.
 
Ah - in that case than the 7800GS makes far more sense :)

There are a few Socket 478 PCI-E motherboards but they tend to use Via chipsets and have a rather poor implementation of the PCI-E architecture

When the 7800GS is overclocked it starts to pull away and come into it's own. It's a great overclocker - 375Mhz stock reaching at least 490Mhz

Here's a review of an overclocked 7800GS
 
If you already have a 6800GT then it really isn't worth moving to the 7800GS. I have a 6800Ultra already and am definitely not upgrading to an AGP 7800GS. Put the money away and save for the PCI-Express upgrade when you have more cash.
 
To a stock 7800GS, no

If you look at the review of the overclocked 7800GS though it pulls ahead

Application - 6800Ultra - 7800GS Overclocked (460 Mem, 1350 ram)

3D Mark 06 - 2525 - 3155
Half Life 2 - 56.1fps - 72.3fps (1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF)
Half Life 2 Lost Coast - 35.9fps - 48.1fps (1280x1024, 2xAA, 4xAF)
Battlefield 2 - 46.4fps - 66fps (1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF)
Quake IV - 58.6fps - 72.8fps (1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF)
IL2: FB - 68.2fps - 71.3fps (1280x1024, 4xAA, 16xAF)
FEAR - 37fps - 41fps (1280x1024, 2xAA, 16xAF)
COD 2 - 25.2fps - 31.2fps (1280x1024, 2xAA, 16xAF)
Serious Sam 2 - 44.2fps - 55fps (1280x1024, 4xAA, 8xAF)
Far Cry HDR - 27fps - 51.1fps (1280x1024, 0xAA, 0xAF)
 
I would personally save up for a new system, dont waste your money on a 1/2 rate card now that wont improve your system by that much.
 
FrankJH said:
I would personally save up for a new system, dont waste your money on a 1/2 rate card now that wont improve your system by that much.
Click to expand...
Agreed, the 7800GS is not really worth what you have to pay for it.
(the overclocked ones, just go up in price).


Far better to go PCI-E
 
I don't think the 7800GS would be powerful enough to make me fully happy. I'm now running at 1680x1050 and I've seen some benchmarks for the 7800GS on a 1600x1200 (which isn't too many more pixels) and the scores/frame-rates do dip.

Decisions decisions :rolleyes:
 
Mate,

Hang on and do a complete overhaul, socket AM2, DDR2 and PCI-E, if you can wait till 2nd quarter that is.
 
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