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Medic739
08-19-08, 06:48 AM
Hey guys, quick question

Was rebuilding My system (getting away from phase and water cooling) and gonna got with 2 4870X2's running in crossfire.

I remember when I first tried it you had to have a master and a slave card to run crossfire .

does that still hold true? or can I buy just 2 of he same cards and run crossfire now? (Like nvidia and Sli)

thanks
rdrash
08-19-08, 06:51 AM
You will be fine with two cards and a bridge...the master and slave card is a thing of the past. :beer:
vixro
08-19-08, 10:33 AM
And a crossfire motherboard, and a massive psu. ;)
frankkesel
08-19-08, 11:07 AM
PSU.... How many watts would you guys recommend ?
PearlJammzz
08-19-08, 11:11 AM
^^I have this same question. Currently have an Enermax Infinity 720w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194021)

I am running a quad core 45nm, have 4 drives (3 hdd, 1 optical), and a sound card. Do you think this PSU will suffice? Never built a quad-gpu system before...
ratbuddy
08-19-08, 11:16 AM
^^I have this same question. Currently have an Enermax Infinity 720w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194021)

I am running a quad core 45nm, have 4 drives (3 hdd, 1 optical), and a sound card. Do you think this PSU will suffice? Never built a quad-gpu system before...

In a word, no.

Not even close.

You're going to need at least a kilowatt unit, for a little extra headroom, 1200. 4870X2 is an unholy power-hog. Put 2 of them in a system and the video cards alone are pumping out over 2000 BTU.

Unless you have a 30" display as well, the 4 gpu scaling just isn't up to snuff. Even then it's iffy.
Lukee
08-19-08, 11:34 AM
Unless you have a 30" display as well, the 4 gpu scaling just isn't up to snuff. Even then it's iffy.

What about if you have a 28" Display?
ratbuddy
08-19-08, 12:15 PM
What about if you have a 28" Display?

AFAIK, 28" monitors are 1920x1200, a single 4870X2 is plenty.
Badbonji
08-19-08, 12:27 PM
If the resolution is 2560x1500 or whatever, then yeah but 1920x1200 still isnt worth it at the moment. I would just buy one then another once price has fallen a bit.
ratbuddy
08-19-08, 12:33 PM
If the resolution is 2560x1500 or whatever, then yeah but 1920x1200 still isnt worth it at the moment. I would just buy one then another once price has fallen a bit.

Even at 2560x1600 there's only 2 games I can think of (Oblivion and ET:QW) that even show any gains. At 1920x1200, most games show no improvement and even some slowdowns when going from a 4870X2 to a pair of them. Pretty much like the 9800GX2, a pair just doesn't scale that well.
Gautam
08-19-08, 12:36 PM
How about 15"? :santa:
IWasHungry
08-19-08, 03:12 PM
All the advice in this thread is correct. If you're not playing as high as 2560x1600, you should only get one 4870x2 or else gains from using two of them will be very low over using just one (Unless you just have a ton of money you want to spend).
If using one 4870x2, you want at least a 700W PSU. If you use two 4870x2s, you want at least a 1000W PSU.

How about 15"? :santa:

lol, 800x600 is the way to go with dual 4870x2s.

(I'm joking)
Lukee
08-19-08, 03:16 PM
AFAIK, 28" monitors are 1920x1200, a single 4870X2 is plenty.


Thank you. That helps me a bit more. I was thinking of getting a new MB to OC my processor a bit and was considering getting one with 2 PCE x 16 slots, but I guess I only really need 1.
IWasHungry
08-19-08, 03:19 PM
Thank you. That helps me a bit more. I was thinking of getting a new MB to OC my processor a bit and was considering getting one with 2 PCE x 16 slots, but I guess I only really need 1.

Yup, get a P45 motherboard.