[EaH]

i come across a whole new door. i shouldnt have did that search for crossfire, and read that its coming out soon blah blah blah lotta people on ocf.com are gonna try it out for its stability.... and how its an alternative to the SLi technology. i could possibly, instead of buying a 6600gt now and MAYBE one later, buy two x700 pros for the same price as one 6600gt(give or take 10-20 bux)
im very finicky when it comes to big purchases, such as a whole new rig. would it be worth it to wait a bit and see how crossfire does? and what companies offer in terms of mobo capabilites and especially the PRICE.
originally, i was either going with the abit an8-sli (b/c its 100 bux AR now heheh) or bite the bullet and spend an extra 30 bux on the dfi nf4 ultra-d(which i realistically wont use 50% of the features probably :P)
however, i am set on some other things, that i wont see changing in the future.. such as fortron blueStorm 500w, 1 gig patriot ram, p180. amd 64 3200+

oh yeah, from what we all know.. would my choice in CPU be good for the crossfire boards? im not sure if there is much info that would allow us to base claims on, but.. opinions?


thanks in advance!``
;]

[EaH]

well, taking a look at more reviews and benchmarks for the 128mb x700 pro. i think i MIGHTl pass on it. but crossfire boards are something of interest to me lol

oops sorry, can a mod move this to the mobo section pls? :[

[Quest For Speed]

I would wait and see how well the crossfire boards perform.
For the processor you can save a few bucks and get the 3000. The OC in most cases as good as the 3200.

[Yuriman]

Get a 3000+, and 2x 1024mb of ram. Patriot makes some pretty good, cheap CAS2 sticks, or you can go with Corsair value.

Where can you get 2 X700pro's for the price of a 6600gt? As far as I know, you can get an X800xl for the price of 2 X700pro's and it will match or beat them.

[EaH]

tigerdirect has them for bout 80bux. although i never hear anything good about TD.. mainly because of their rebates. but the x700 pro doesnt have rebates.

eWiz has the amd 64 3200+ oem for $133. im 98% sure its the venice core (e6 revision)
cheaper than what newegg sells its 3000 for ;]

and someone told me that the jump from 1 gig to 2 is marginal. and its not worth the price for the added performance.. is that true?

[IWasHungry]

lol, I don't think you understand how Crossfire works. So I will tell you the secrets.

-Instead of requiring 2 identical cards like SLI, Crossfire will require a normal video card and a master card. These master cards haven't been released yet.
-Crossfire will not work for the X700 series. The only current cards that it will work with are the X800 and the X850 series.

I'm guessing it will be another month before the X800 master card and the X850 master card will release.

[thegreek]

Originally Posted by IWasHungry

lol, I don't think you understand how Crossfire works. So I will tell you the secrets.

-Instead of requiring 2 identical cards like SLI, Crossfire will require a normal video card and a master card. These master cards haven't been released yet.
-Crossfire will not work for the X700 series. The only current cards that it will work with are the X800 and the X850 series.

I'm guessing it will be another month before the X800 master card and the X850 master card will release.

You have a source for this?

[Pro*Banshee]

Originally Posted by EaH

tigerdirect has them for bout 80bux. although i never hear anything good about TD.. mainly because of their rebates. but the x700 pro doesnt have rebates.

eWiz has the amd 64 3200+ oem for $133. im 98% sure its the venice core (e6 revision)
cheaper than what newegg sells its 3000 for ;]

and someone told me that the jump from 1 gig to 2 is marginal. and its not worth the price for the added performance.. is that true?

If you think 1 GB is enough, when you get your crossfire/SLI rig up and running, try playing battlefield 2 at 1024x768 on a 64 player system and see if you dont smash your keyboard in frustration as your systems swap file rushes to catch up and make up for the lack of ram.

I wish I was running 2 GB

[waiownsyou]

Originally Posted by IWasHungry

lol, I don't think you understand how Crossfire works. So I will tell you the secrets.

-Instead of requiring 2 identical cards like SLI, Crossfire will require a normal video card and a master card. These master cards haven't been released yet.
-Crossfire will not work for the X700 series. The only current cards that it will work with are the X800 and the X850 series.

I'm guessing it will be another month before the X800 master card and the X850 master card will release.

He's right. I read this in MaximumPC a few months back. Apparently, you need a standard card and a Crossfire-certified card.

Also, I'd suggest you just go for the SLi technology now. ATi might take until the end of this year, and even then, NVIDIA may have a counter video card to match up to the threat.

And, not to mention, but as of yet, Crossfire is not supported in any commercial motherboard manufacturered. People are saying that the Intel 955X may be a Crossfire board, but even so, it will still require a software upgrade (but there's also a possibility that it's just a motherboard with dual PCIE x16).

I'd definitely go for NVIDIA.

[thegreek]

Originally Posted by waiownsyou

He's right. I read this in MaximumPC a few months back. Apparently, you need a standard card and a Crossfire-certified card.

Also, I'd suggest you just go for the SLi technology now. ATi might take until the end of this year, and even then, NVIDIA may have a counter video card to match up to the threat.

And, not to mention, but as of yet, Crossfire is not supported in any commercial motherboard manufacturered. People are saying that the Intel 955X may be a Crossfire board, but even so, it will still require a software upgrade (but there's also a possibility that it's just a motherboard with dual PCIE x16).

I'd definitely go for NVIDIA.

Intels 975X Chipset will support both SLI and Crossfire (link)

[IWasHungry]

Originally Posted by thegreek

You have a source for this?

Ah sorry. I'll give you a few links ala the ATI forum.

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=Nzc4
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2432&p=2
http://www.techreport.com/etc/2005q2...e/index.x?pg=1
http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/E...25707B000C48E0

[waiownsyou]

I'm pretty sure they said the 955X could do the same. Go do a search at Yahoo! (I'm too lazy to do so myself).

[Quailane]

It is not like it would take much extra to support SLI or crossfire as long as two big pci-e slots are available.

[waiownsyou]

It's not support for both. It's either one or the other... usually because of the MCP.

[EaH]

thanks for all the feedback ;]
i looked up the total cost of a Xfire setup.. it looks more expensive than the SLI. and the technology is new as well. i think im too newb to last through the troubleshooting and bios updates for the Xfire boards hahah

another thing dawned to me when considering SLI again. should i jsut get an SLI board for future proofing sake? get an SLI compatible board now, buy ONE 6600gt now and then when the more graphic intense games come out, pick up another 6600gt for (hopefully) 100bux or less in half a year or so? if they dont discontinue them that is.
my main thought is wheter there would be a vid card that can out perform the 6600gt SLI for cheaper than what i buy two 6600gt's for for in the future when i upgrade. the fact of the matter is that i am gonna get a 6600gt, and if i dont go SLI, my only option for upgrading is to buy a new vid card entirely. not sure if vid cards have any market for selling used though.

what are your thoughts? :]

[CarRamrod]

I wouldnt suggest getting a 6600gt in hopes to future proof a machine more. I would suggest going for a 6800gt. Chances are it will be a better performer for longer than the 6600gt.

[Yuriman]

If you can afford a 6800gt right now, its a better choice than getting 2x 6600gt's. You could afford one by moving down to a non-sli motherboard.

[Sentential]

As much as I like AMD for its peformance and price, I am not really sure thats the path you want to be taking at this moment. DDR1 prices are sky high and it would severly limit your budget unless you decide to buy inferior RAM.

The advantage of LGA775 is the use of very cheap and fast DDR2. It would reduce the cost of 2GB from possibly $300 to $200-150. Just a few things to consider. Sadly 2GB is the first of many new *standards*. According to devs creating Windows Vista, running true 64bit mode will require directally 2X the RAM needed in 32 bit mode. In other words, while running 64bit 2GB will feel like 1GB (etc etc).

With games like BF2 pretty much requiring 2GB of RAM for operation, you are looking at a possible 4GB standard in less than two year's time. The only way to hit that mark will be with DDR2.

I'd also like to add that Socket M2 is schduled for release shortly before Vista's arrival. Just a few things to think about for you

In addition, try to keep a lookout for a refurbished / cheaper X800PRO. I have been exceptionally happy with mine and I think you would as well.

Originally Posted by waiownsyou

I'm pretty sure they said the 955X could do the same. Go do a search at Yahoo! (I'm too lazy to do so myself).

The only reason why it cannot at this moment in time is due to a lack of driver support. The motherboard itself is quite capable of using videocards in both slots (as I tested). Its a matter of getting them to work together that becomes the problem.

The boards in question that are capable of such are: Intel's 955XBX, Asus's P5LD2 and P5WD2 Premium(s)

[c627627]

Well, we should see Socket M2 next summer, which is too far away to wait for, and generally the cost for it will be higher, not forgetting the gamble on revision 1 board bugs that show up with every new chipset.

....and Vista will likely see a December 2006 release date.

[EaH]

i looked into the intel route for a few min and tried to check the prices on the 775 mobos and 640/650 series p4's... and wow. the price of those two alone was near the price of my 75% entire planned setup with an amd lol
heres the break down of my list with prices.

amd 64 3200+ 2.0ghz venice core $134
DFI nf4 ultra-D for $129 or EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra $95
2x512 Patriot xblk ram $160
fortron blue storm 500w $80
antec p180 $119
xp-90 $30
6600gt $122 or a refurb 6800gt $250 :[

damnit the 6800gt is soo much more $$$ haha if i plan to get the epox, i will consider getting an ATi card cause no more possible SLI. from the looks of it, i think i got myself a pretty well budgeted mid-performance machine :] what u guys think? hahah