I been thinking about getting a CrossFire setup but I sure like the way this 4 -way SLI setup looks...


http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/7954/cnrquadmobo13yv.th.jpg

What do you guys think?

I think my 9800Pro still works pretty good ;-)

My 9800 AIW is a non-PRO and only has 128MB :-/

It is currently my fastest card  :-[



That nV setup reminds my old XS-100 (aka 100DB 4440)
Notice the SLI Cable... Very much the same ;)

http://www.3dfx.cz/q3d/xs-100_09.jpg

yeah, but I can't imagine what the electric bill is after running that thing gaming for a weekend.  :P  You need a what? 700/800 Watt power supply in your system?   :o   hehehehe  

*urg*

I'll pick up my Radeon 1900XT today, but I'd be really reluctant to ever aquire such a monster.
(especially since even normal SLI setups hardly get a solid workout with today's CPU's and Games)

Quote:

I'll pick up my Radeon 1900XT today, but I'd be really reluctant to ever aquire such a monster.

Have a look at this one...

http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=621691

Hm, low performance and high noise ratio, those cards IMHO don't make sense when existing single GPU Cards easily outperform it at lower noise levels (and likely comparable prices).

That's the crux with Dual GPU boards... Take high-end GPU's, the performance makes sense but power consumption, heat generation and noise levels get insane.
Take lower spec GPU's, heat and noise problems are (partially) solved, but the concept will lack meaningful performance.

Here's the thing though, why would you get a x1600 card either in crossfire mode or a duel chip card when you could just get a x1900 instead and get better performance out of it for not a whole lot more? Granted, they are more expensive sure, but by the time you get the other x1600 card for Crossfire, the price isn't that much better.

You guys all make very good points.

It seems like when the manufacturer's produce the next generation GPU it will smoke the dually's of today. All that money wasted :-/

wrote on 28.06.06 at 17:28:24:

It seems like when the manufacturer's produce the next generation GPU it will smoke the dually's of today. All that money wasted :-/

yeah, but when the next gen GPU is released you could wait for the next next gen... an endless game. So you can wait the whole life ;)

G80 is scheduled for the end of the year, so for me it makes no sense to wait until that. because i am a gamer and want to play in high res with AA and AF enabled.

wrote on 28.06.06 at 17:54:04:

because i am a gamer and want to play in high res with AA and AF enabled.

Yeah I've played the waiting game before. Currently my fastest machine is only an AMD 2400+ with an ATI 9800 AIW. It's getting a little long on tooth so I need to start looking for a replacement. I'm trying to deceide if I want to build my new machine in my Koolance case or just give the whole thing to my daughter and start over completely.

I also like AA & AF to the max settings but I only game at 1024 x 786 on a 21" CRT (Sony). At these settings the targets aren't too small and look pretty good.

if you have the money and like to play computergames in High Quality Settings, buy this 7950GX2. It's a great card. You won't regret it.

That's a lot of card... And a lot of money 600USD.

If I go nV probably the 7800GT is enough for me.

Another addition concerning price :

Since my brand new Radeon 1900XT requires a new PCIe compilant ATX Power supply (didn't know that :P ), that needs to go into account.

According to the Info Sheets I got with my Card, a CrossFire setup for example requires a Power Supply with even two VGA power connectors *ugh*

Those things aren't quite cheap as well ;)

wrote on 28.06.06 at 23:31:44:

That's a lot of card... And a lot of money 600USD. If I go nV probably the 7800GT is enough for me.

thats also not a bad choice. but i would go for a 7900GT instead! thats the best bang for your buck!

That's true. They're almost the same price on www.Pricewatch.com

I may as well get the 7900GT.

Might want to check out Newegg.com as well. I've been finding prices there alot cheaper then on Pricewatch. 25$ cheaper for the Powercolor X800GTO 256 meg AGP card compared to the lowest listed price on Pricewatch. Not sure how the Nvidia part pricings are compared, but ATI listings are generally cheaper at Newegg though.

it's not a single chip card so it should be compared to a CrossFire X1900XTX with a X1900 CrossFire Edition setup and believe me it weill get crushed to it's knees lol.

Ati still has the fastest single chip setup and multi chip setup, NV still has lot's of catching up to do, @ least NV cards do quite good in OpenGL games, the point is that most games are D3D lol so then again ATi takes the lead :)

comparing dual chip cards to single chip ones is like comparing apples with pears lol.

So I'm skipping this one just stick to my Sapphire X1900 XTX and wait for ATi R600 ;D unless nVidia G80 is gonna be hot as well, though I doubt that they will over succeed ATi though heh.

The best thing that ever would happen is that if 3dfx would resurrect that would be purepwnage to me and yeah would be a dream for all of us as well :)

The 7900GT is a nice bang for the buck indeed so is the X1800XT 256MB if you prefer HDR & FSAA :)

anyways everyone has thier choice and taste for Graphical vendor :) @ least we all are true 3dfx fans keep up the spirit!

wrote on 01.07.06 at 13:41:42:

it's not a single chip card so it should be compared to a CrossFire X1900XTX with a X1900 CrossFire Edition setup and believe me it weill get crushed to it's knees lol.

wrong. a crossfire setup is way more expensive than a 7950GX2 so you cannot compare it.

you can compare 2x 7900GTX in SLI with 2x X1900XT in Crossfire!

but still in practical case a 7950GX2 is a multi GPU setup so to compare a X1900XTX CrossFire Setup wouldn't be that wrong  A they both have 2 GPU's and B the 7950GX2 is not 2GPU's on one PCB it's still seen as 2 cards in one PCI-E slot so I don't agree lol.

I still would give ATi the winning lead because it can do HDR & FSAA at once which the 7950 still lacks  :-/ hope that the G80 will be alot better like R600 will hehe

oh well can't complain with my Leadtek 6800 AGP 128MB it's SM3.0 and HDR do look nice and it's great for my other gaming rig, it's mainly used for RedAlert2 and FarCry those games run pretty well on it :)

That GX2 thing is a nice idea but it's still too big I miss the small sizes like the 9700 Pro and GeForce3 cards were.

7950GX is 2x 7900GT.

you cannot compare it with a crossfire x1900xt setup.

as i already set, crossfire (800Euros) is compared with 2x 7900GTX (800Euros). thats the same price range and not one 7950GX2 for 500Euros.

don't talk about money it's still a multi GPU setup and a Raddy X1900XTX is not so it's still an unfair comparrison if you're looking at the performance you would then have to disable 1 GPU to get a fair Single GPU score ;)

and for multi GPU the X1900XTX crossFire setup still takes the lead.

but anyways neither way Ati still has the lead if it's single v.s. single or multi vs multi. but it may change with G80 or it may not, it depends on how you see the situation :)

Sorry I see it different hehe :-X

But to be honest that new stuff ::) it's fun to play around with for sure but 3dfx is still the Master in 2D as 3D imho ;)

off-topic
BTW I started to collect again will take some time before I will list though, kinda missed the 3dfx envy :P

x1900xtx is compared to 7900GTX.

7950GX2 has no comparison to ATI at the moment.

7950GX2 is the fastest Single Graphics card at the moment.

(Or what do you say about Voodoo 5 5500 and 6000? is it no single graphics card?)

Thats the fact.

For now, i am outta here. Makes no sense.

Speed aside folks - it's NOT the most important issue.

The emphasis is changing in the GFX market anyhow from overall speed to a compromise...

Speed vs image quality.

We can all agree that the best image quality is from 3Dfx cards - but they are obviously old in terms of todays hardware and gaming.

As for todays GFX cards - ATI cards will always have better image quality than nVidia.

nVidia have always and will always sacrifice image quality for extra speed.

So for speed, yes - nVidia is the winner here.

For image quality ATI pwns hands down!

That's my two cents...

I agree but what about compatibility with older games?

Which one is better?

ATi still has the fastest single chip sollution period.

in multi GPU ATi have overall the best sollution for speed , and since when does money come in to a Ultra High End Sollution??? The most Die Hards I know don't care about money, they just go and get the fastest sollution out there and Ati is still the best way to go in image quallity and speed.

and about Quad Sli it really isn't sufficiant at all  :
BTW it's totally unstable also:

"The continuous crashes, freezes and problems of the currently shipping Nvidia GeForce quad SLI systems may be associated with early revisions of the hardware, but as the hardware is shipping to customers, any issues with stability are totally unacceptable."

LoL nice try NV.
here the source:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7900-quad-sli_10.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video/quad-sli-preview/charts/rid_16x.gif
but what does it all matter everyone has thier own thing, right so why would we mess that up? :-/

In overall conditions ATi has teh best D3D performance and IQ and NV has teh best OpenGL performance and IQ  so we have 3dfx for Glide :)

wrote on 02.07.06 at 00:56:31:

In overall conditions ATi has teh best D3D performance and IQ and NV has teh best OpenGL performance and IQ  so we have 3dfx for Glide :)

That made me think of something.... Can't we breed new life into Voodoo Cards by using a Ageia Physics card with it to perform right up their with the top dogs? That'a be nice to boost the voodoo 5 video card 10 times.

the problem with the PPU is that the games must support it, and that is the main thing that usually does not show it's glory with the PPU cards of nowadays :(

Just my two stupid cents:

I would buy a 7950GX2 if i would have the money for it. This card is the coolest card floating around atm. The price is also very fair.
I would say you can compare it with X1900XTX in Crossfire mode. Fine, the ATI card kicks asses in the benchmarks. But: It's ~480€ vs ~800€. So you get with the 7950GX2 one of the coolest looking cards, with a high performance, for a good/fair prize.

I saw the comparison with the XS-100...you now what? That's why I really like the nV card. Reminds me of good old times.

wrote on 20.08.06 at 22:07:42:

Fine, the ATI card kicks asses in the benchmarks. But: It's ~480€ vs ~800€. So

Heh, I like my $113 X850   ::)

I know, I know. I over paid for mine :-/

I still think 119USD ain't bad for the card ;)

I think $119 is a smoking deal.

Yeah it's a nice card ;D

Much faster than my 9800 AIW