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1950pro Xfire 16x/4x thoughts?

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JCLW

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2002
P5WD2-P, 945D in the 4.5ghz range, 2GB @425mhz....

Primary display is an LCD @1680x1050

Right now I'm using an X800XL, which has been a good card but is starting to show its age. Wasn't so bad until I bought the LCD, because I could always drop the resolution a little on the CRT without the weird scaling issues.

Anyways...

(All prices CDN$)

A 8800GTS 320 will run me somewhere in the $450 range, which is more then I really wanted to spend.
A 1950XT 256 will be $300, and a 512 version would be $350 (but with slower mem clocks).
After having a look at some reviews I noticed there wasn't a huge difference between the XTs and the Pros, and I can get a 1950pro 256 for $210.

But then I was offered a deal with a pair of Sapphire 1950pro 512s for $425 (which again is a little more then I want to spend, but it might be fun). Fully HDCP compliant as well.

As the 1950pro cards have an internal bridge connection (two, actually) I would hope that running one at 4x wouldn't hurt too much (since no Xfire data goes over the PCIe bus). Since the 1950pro AGP cards don't take a performance hit, neither should a 4x lane (AGP 8x = 2GB/s, PCIe 4x = 2GB/s).

Or I could just keep the X800XL 'til the summer, when we'll see more DX10 cards out.

Or am I missing another option?

Does anyone who runs Xfire currently have any issues with it?
 
JCLW said:
P5WD2-P, 945D in the 4.5ghz range, 2GB @425mhz....

Primary display is an LCD @1680x1050

Right now I'm using an X800XL, which has been a good card but is starting to show its age. Wasn't so bad until I bought the LCD, because I could always drop the resolution a little on the CRT without the weird scaling issues.

Anyways...

(All prices CDN$)

A 8800GTS 320 will run me somewhere in the $450 range, which is more then I really wanted to spend.
A 1950XT 256 will be $300, and a 512 version would be $350 (but with slower mem clocks).
After having a look at some reviews I noticed there wasn't a huge difference between the XTs and the Pros, and I can get a 1950pro 256 for $210.

But then I was offered a deal with a pair of Sapphire 1950pro 512s for $425 (which again is a little more then I want to spend, but it might be fun). Fully HDCP compliant as well.

As the 1950pro cards have an internal bridge connection (two, actually) I would hope that running one at 4x wouldn't hurt too much (since no Xfire data goes over the PCIe bus). Since the 1950pro AGP cards don't take a performance hit, neither should a 4x lane (AGP 8x = 2GB/s, PCIe 4x = 2GB/s).

Or I could just keep the X800XL 'til the summer, when we'll see more DX10 cards out.

Or am I missing another option?

Does anyone who runs Xfire currently have any issues with it?
IMO if you can hold out til summer for a dx10 card i would. but i'm a cheap skate. i try and hold out as long as possible on upgrades so i can save a little $$$$. if i hadn't upgraded to 939 pcie i would still be happily running my 800xl.
 
Well, I decided to go for it. :D

2x1950pro1sm3.jpg


Two matched cards (consecutive serial #s), packed five days ago. :)
 
nows a good time to get into folding if you are not already, 2x x1950pros should do some damage.
 
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