CHIV X Notes (work in progress, to be improved upon as necessary)
Now as before, an moderate airhead thus far, no extreme or subzero testing from me - usable practical 24/7 clocks FTW. Got to add the proviso that this top end mobo is maybe meant more for the extreme or money no matter crowd though. Test Setup
Open air mobox test rig
Asus Crosshair IV Extreme retail box mobo revision 1.02G
1090T x6 at Idle/Load/Turbo@800-4x/3700-18.5x/4000-20x [email protected]/1.33/1.46v with CnQ activated
Noctua DH14 with stock fans
Team Elite 1600@[email protected], 1600@[email protected]
2 x MSI Hawk GTX460@900/1800/[email protected] in Hydra N Mode
MSI HD 5870 OC to check out Hydra X Mode
Seagate SATA3 2TB HD, Intel 80GB X25-M SSD
Amatech 650W/Corsair HX850 PSU
Samsung SATA 223F DVDRW
Power meter wall readings
Idle ~110w
Unigine load ~600w
Few notes on the findings over last 4 days
Hydra N mode is definitely distinctly different from SLI
2 similar nVidia cards tested show good scaling on Vantage scores, pity no chance to try 3 x GTX460 cards yet (it's possible on this mobo cos no SLI bridge is needed)
NameGT's X mode findings shows relatively predictable scaling with 1 Radeon + 1 nVidia card, my findings show it scales poorer with 1 Radeon + 2 similar nVidia cards though.
Simplified summary of PCI-e slot usage
(hope I got it correct)
A - ATI
N - nVidia
X - miXed
Max. video card modes
1 card - x16
2 cards - x16 x16
3 cards - x16 x16 x16
4 cards - x16 x16 x8 x8
With 3 or 4 video cards installed, slot 3 can still support another card in x1 mode.
The Good
Solid build
Beautiful design/colour coordination
Fabulously detailed stable BIOS even with the 1st 0243 release
CnQ works even with o'cing
Optional offset or manual set voltage settings
Flexible 3D card combos with Hydra
S3 sleep/resume works
Good quiet stock cooling
Native Crossfire slots preserved, no Hydra overheads with these slots
Issues
Hydra compatibility, scaling, slot allocation issues
Retail cost
Late AM3 entry but hey, the AM3 CPUs are still forward compatible unlike Intel's
Mobo e-ATX size & casing compatibility
No diagnostic LCD unlike GA UD7 (another e-ATX 890FX top end mobo - having tried both, no fight CH IV X wins hands/pants down)
Overall imo, oh my goodness.. what a desirable & beautiful mobo to lust after!!!
PS: This testing was only made possible with many thanks to Avertek/Asus, Corbell and Shrek@USA in alphabetical order. You guys really rock!
Mafia 2, PhysX on Medium. Must have forgotten to capture the screenie for PhysX on High but strangely enough, iirc the score is not much different too.
GTX460 card 1 as main card and card 2 as PhysX (game PhysX set at High), Hydra is deactivated (simple, just untick the option in the Lucid control panel). Voila, what a big difference!
PS: The other main quirk of this benchmark is that it should be run at least twice cos the 1st run tends to be jerky and thus inconsistent.
Yup, that's what the Hydra chip does. I still needs refinement, but it's getting there.
Also note that it allows SLI(or using two+ nvidia gpus at least) on a board with an AMD chipset.
This chip will restore balance to the world and bring forth a new era a peace between hardcore AMD (ATI) and nVidia fanbois holding hands and singing Kumbaya....Umm scratch that thought. It is a nice leap forward though. What's nice is that I could just go out and by a GTX 460 to boost the performance of my 5870 instead of having to buy another 5870. I would get PhysX too. SLI on an AMD chipset too...Nice
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What's nice is that I could just go out and by a GTX 460 to boost the performance of my 5870 instead of having to buy another 5870. I would get PhysX too. SLI on an AMD chipset too...Nice
