because its faster...idk it just does. I dont know if crossfire uses the same way, but in SLI one card can process 1/2 the screen, and the other card does the other 1/2(or something like that)
Best performance would probably be a pair of X1800s, although there are many disadvantages to consider. Power is probably the biggest factor. Two 1800XTs will draw a LOT of power. You may need to invest in a new PSU, depending on your setup. I know the X1800s are really cheap right now, but the added cost of a PSU may offset the bang-for-the-buck ratio. Also, what type of monitor do you currently use? There is not much point in using anything much faster than a single X1900XT if you can't display resolutions higher than 1280x1024.
Just my 2 cents either way you'll have an amazing gaming card(s).
because its faster...idk it just does. I dont know if crossfire uses the same way, but in SLI one card can process 1/2 the screen, and the other card does the other 1/2(or something like that)
Its every other pixal.. But ati's aproch involves a cable at the back of your pc Its as bad as it was in the voodoo 2 days .
Nice one, thanks.
I'll continue to ponder this in my own time.
Probably won't be buying a new card(s) until the next generation are out anyway, so a pair of x1900s might not be completely out of the question, come the time.
Thanks again!
Nice one, thanks.
I'll continue to ponder this in my own time.
Probably won't be buying a new card(s) until the next generation are out anyway, so a pair of x1900s might not be completely out of the question, come the time.
Thanks again!
I'm sitting out this round too, lewicron. There are some awesome cards out there, but I'm still getting by with my trusty X850 for now I always feel like I should wait for the next greatest thing. I'm very glad I didn't jump on the X1800XT when it first came out. That was the shortest lived video card ever IIRC.
Okay, sorry i missed this yesterday. The X1800 In Crossfire Will yield you fast frame rates beyond what your eye will even see in 1280 x 1024. But take in mind even if you do have 2 X1800 in Crossfire and are running a res. or 2200+ you will see low frame rates.
As much as we like to say a SLI or Crossfire setup will put out huge numbers. It just isn't true. Get a Dell or an Apple 30" LCD and your dual card setup will fall to its knees. Now it will perform and give good numbers but not the numbers you would think. This is why Nvidia has rolled out the Quad SLI setup allowing 2 cards per ½ of the screen.
In all honesty I would jump in on the X1900 it will offer the best performance all around. If you look at the charts an X1800 Crossfire setup does not out perform the X1900 by much if any at all. If I was a huge ATI fan I would wait until ATI finalizes its Crossfire setup, they seem to be doing allot of tweaking across the board. Especially with there onboard Northbridge, I think by the end of the year they will have a better performing system in place.
Once you need a Crossfire setup you can always add another X1900 down the road when they are cheaper.
Cheers Sledge, I'll bear that in mind.
I won't be buying anything until late this year/early next year anyway, so I can afford to wait and see how things unfold with crossfire. One of the main things that's tempting me to go for a dual card set up is the prospect of offloading physics computations to one of the GPUs. As of yet I don't know a great deal about how that will work though.
Thanks again!
Well ATI has been quite thus far with Physics... Nvidia seems to have a system that will work with SLI, but I am guessing we will see it in a big way at E3, and The demo for Ghost Recon is out and it is one of the first games to use Physics. If you install the game you get a nice Aeigia engine install even if you don't have a Physics GPU...
yeah, I read an article today saying that ATI were claiming their processors to be the ultimate daddy-boy physics processors, so I'm interested to see if it's really the case. We shall see.
BTW - Lemonlime: I like the new avatar - harks back to a time when men were men and haircuts were probably made out of fiber-glass or some sort of acrylic resin.
Yeah we will see, ATI seems to have a rep to boost about things and they are not all they say they are.
I remember when ATI said 2 card setups are foolish, and than they turned around and said there 2 card setup will blow SLI out fo the water. "As you can see that didn't happen" Lets see what they say with Physics if vendors were smart they will slap a Aiegia Physics chip to there cards... get dual SLI/ Dual Physics call it SLI-P or something
Hey guys I juat got my Quad SLI-P setup! It proccesses a mind blowing elvendy billion frames per sec...
if vendors were smart they will slap a Aiegia Physics chip to there cards... get dual SLI/ Dual Physics call it SLI-P or something
Yeah I guess, but wouldn't it make more sense just to use the GPU? I've never seen the point in wasting processing power on getting 10-to-the-25 fps, when you can't distinguish between that and 50fps. Seems like it would be a better idea using it to do something that you're actually going to notice, rather than something you're just going to be able to brag about. Still sounds cool though
A GPU does a plethera of calculations as it is...or there would be no need to have a GPU.
Pixil Shading
Vsync
AA
AF
OpenGL
DirectDraw
These are the the most important fetures of the GPU, and it uses almost all of its resources to do these good (if you have the right card).
Now your talking about a chip just to handle physics. This is because game physicis consist of so many equasions and formulas that there's no way the CPU and GPU can process them well together and continue to do their main jobs well. (Right now the CPU handles the physics in games that have physics.)
Lol, a GPU that did all that would probably have to be clocked at something like 100mhz or it would fry itself from all the work.
hmmm.... what I could really do with right now would be a chip that can do all the studying I need to do for my finals, then go and sit the exam for me. Don't suppose you know of a junior honours neuroscience processor that I could lay my hands on, do you............:bawling:
Comments
Oopps...wait this is an ATI question.
Better call in Sledge for this one =D
Ha!
Just my 2 cents
Its every other pixal.. But ati's aproch involves a cable at the back of your pc Its as bad as it was in the voodoo 2 days
I'll continue to ponder this in my own time.
Probably won't be buying a new card(s) until the next generation are out anyway, so a pair of x1900s might not be completely out of the question, come the time.
Thanks again!
I'm sitting out this round too, lewicron. There are some awesome cards out there, but I'm still getting by with my trusty X850 for now
As much as we like to say a SLI or Crossfire setup will put out huge numbers. It just isn't true. Get a Dell or an Apple 30" LCD and your dual card setup will fall to its knees. Now it will perform and give good numbers but not the numbers you would think. This is why Nvidia has rolled out the Quad SLI setup allowing 2 cards per ½ of the screen.
In all honesty I would jump in on the X1900 it will offer the best performance all around. If you look at the charts an X1800 Crossfire setup does not out perform the X1900 by much if any at all. If I was a huge ATI fan I would wait until ATI finalizes its Crossfire setup, they seem to be doing allot of tweaking across the board. Especially with there onboard Northbridge, I think by the end of the year they will have a better performing system in place.
Once you need a Crossfire setup you can always add another X1900 down the road when they are cheaper.
I won't be buying anything until late this year/early next year anyway, so I can afford to wait and see how things unfold with crossfire. One of the main things that's tempting me to go for a dual card set up is the prospect of offloading physics computations to one of the GPUs. As of yet I don't know a great deal about how that will work though.
Thanks again!
Only time will tell... and that time is next week
BTW - Lemonlime: I like the new avatar - harks back to a time when men were men and haircuts were probably made out of fiber-glass or some sort of acrylic resin.
Class.
I remember when ATI said 2 card setups are foolish, and than they turned around and said there 2 card setup will blow SLI out fo the water. "As you can see that didn't happen" Lets see what they say with Physics
Yeah I guess, but wouldn't it make more sense just to use the GPU? I've never seen the point in wasting processing power on getting 10-to-the-25 fps, when you can't distinguish between that and 50fps. Seems like it would be a better idea using it to do something that you're actually going to notice, rather than something you're just going to be able to brag about. Still sounds cool though
Pixil Shading
Vsync
AA
AF
OpenGL
DirectDraw
These are the the most important fetures of the GPU, and it uses almost all of its resources to do these good (if you have the right card).
Now your talking about a chip just to handle physics. This is because game physicis consist of so many equasions and formulas that there's no way the CPU and GPU can process them well together and continue to do their main jobs well. (Right now the CPU handles the physics in games that have physics.)
Lol, a GPU that did all that would probably have to be clocked at something like 100mhz or it would fry itself from all the work.