CrossFire Comparison: Intel X38 vs. P35 - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 12th Oct 2007, 17:26

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...8_versus_p35/1

We test ATI CrossFire on 16x16, 8x8 and 16x4 configurations using the Intel X38 and P35 chipsets to see if the extra bandwidth actually makes a difference. From this we discuss what you should aim for if you've got your heart set on an Intel-CrossFire setup.

Digg

Mankz · 12th Oct 2007, 18:18

Very nice, informative article..

some good photography in there aswell!

Brett89 · 12th Oct 2007, 18:25

I agree with Mankz, bit-tech's updates on hardware has kept me "in-the-know"if you will, and was indispensable in helping me build my new computer. Thank you for these articles.

atanum141 · 12th Oct 2007, 18:35

Huh.. thats weird i thought the 8X-8X config would give the best overall performance Vs. Price.

Ahh well, nice to see Crossfire getting the legs it finally deserves.

Kipman725 · 12th Oct 2007, 18:51

all new low end AMD graphics cards are already pci express 2 and have been for several months

Tim S · 12th Oct 2007, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kipman725

all new low end AMD graphics cards are already pci express 2 and have been for several months

AMD certainly hasn't indicated to that at any point during our chats with the company since the mid-range cards launched in July, or since X38 has launched. Also, none of the engineers we talk to at Taiwanese motherboard firms have said that AMD's current cards support the technology. They're all talking about something else called RV670.

EQC · 12th Oct 2007, 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kipman725

all new low end AMD graphics cards are already pci express 2 and have been for several months

Yah...that's at least true according to theInquirer.net:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquir...es-pcie2-cards

Tim S · 12th Oct 2007, 19:25

I'm pretty (99%) sure RV615 and RV630 are not PCIe2 compatible. Instead, I'm under the impression that the 55nm refreshes, RV620 and RV635, are PCIe2 compatible - at least that's what my contacts that work close to AMD/ATI have suggested. I wouldn't take everything that comes out of Charlie's mouth as gospel and nobody with any authority has said that the current cards are PCIe2 capable.

TreeDude · 12th Oct 2007, 20:24

The x38 chipset is still very new. My guess is in the coming months driver/BIOS updates will push this past the P35 in most games. I wonder if a native PCIE 2.0 card would yield a better result.

Too bad the lowest x38 I could find was $250. That is a lot of money for a motherboard.

Naberius · 13th Oct 2007, 00:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeDude

Too bad the lowest x38 I could find was $250. That is a lot of money for a motherboard.

May be a lot of money to spend on a motherboard, but it is money well spent, you see so many people cripple the performance of a processor o graphics card by using substandard motherboards.

rennyf77 · 13th Oct 2007, 00:58

give me a break. informative my ass. fear, cod2, come on gentlemen, why not bioshock, call of juarez, rainbow six vegas. and what are these benchmark numbers, averages. give me mins, they mean more. 1280x1024? anyone running two 2900xt's and playing at this res needs to get kicked in the taint. when i read header on this article i got really excited, because i've got an asus p5ke with two 2900's and it runs like crap. i was really hoping you guys were going put the screws to the current crossfire implementation, but imagine my surprise, fear and cod2....ridiculous.

Renoir · 13th Oct 2007, 02:33

Would be interested to see what impact PCIe gen 2 has on single card performance. Essentially can current and coming in near future gpus make use of any of the extra bandwidth that gen 2 provides.

HourBeforeDawn · 13th Oct 2007, 07:14

well it may not be much now but will play a bigger factor down the road, they just dont have any cards yet that take advantage of the bandwidth, hell we didnt evene max out what the AGP could do either before the switch to PCI-E happened and even then the difference between PCI-E and AGP was very very minor, so just like this it will take some time before it really takes its own.

Woodstock · 13th Oct 2007, 09:24

interesting, would have been nice to have single card results as well for reference

Bindibadgi · 13th Oct 2007, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodstock

interesting, would have been nice to have single card results as well for reference

Well a single card would already work in x16 and there have previously been single versus CrossFire performance analysis done.

Renny: Old games, new games, low resolution, high resolution - it was meant to be a coverage. Does resolution affect it more? Do older games affect it less? - plenty of people still play FEAR MP.

Bioshock, true, I did have it down to play but I've been unable to script it and I just didn't have the time to play it through repeatedly on three systems sorry. I'd love to have spent two weeks on it investigating every game but with Vista being it's wonderful self and other stuff I have to get done this already took enough on its own - we're not a bedroom site

I did update Quake 4 to ETQW and we did use Sup Com and WiC which are recent games, as recent as R6:Vegas. I know of no one who actually plays CoJ, and the update was only released yesterday. We didn't use the source engine because it's not particularly intensive for a recent game though. I can't cover every single game, I'd love to but I just didn't have time.

Tim or I will include Bioshock and look at R6:Vegas when Gen-2 cards (worth owning) arrive - single and multi-GPU.

12th Oct 2007, 17:26	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	CrossFire Comparison: Intel X38 vs. P35 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...8_versus_p35/1 We test ATI CrossFire on 16x16, 8x8 and 16x4 configurations using the Intel X38 and P35 chipsets to see if the extra bandwidth actually makes a difference. From this we discuss what you should aim for if you've got your heart set on an Intel-CrossFire setup. Digg __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947) Last edited by Bindibadgi; 12th Oct 2007 at 23:50.

12th Oct 2007, 18:25	#3
Brett89 Ultramodder Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Grand Forks ND Posts: 1,084	I agree with Mankz, bit-tech's updates on hardware has kept me "in-the-know"if you will, and was indispensable in helping me build my new computer. Thank you for these articles. __________________ C2D e6700 @ 3.25 Asus P5n-e SLi, 4GB of OCZ Platinum, Xonar D2, 320 and 160 GB Seagate, eVGA 8800 GTX and an Antec P182. C2D T7500 2.2ghz, 2GB DDR2, Quadro NVS 135M 14.1in screen

12th Oct 2007, 18:35	#4
atanum141 I fapped to your post! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: London Posts: 7,536	Huh.. thats weird i thought the 8X-8X config would give the best overall performance Vs. Price. Ahh well, nice to see Crossfire getting the legs it finally deserves. __________________ Welcome to Thunderdome, B*tch XBL: atanum141

12th Oct 2007, 18:51	#5
Kipman725 When did I get a custom title!?! Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UK Posts: 1,753	all new low end AMD graphics cards are already pci express 2 and have been for several months __________________ Sn45g game server mod My Electronics Site Hardware: 3400+ Sempr0n, 1GB RAM, 1.28TB local storage, x1950pro,Razer Viper,M$ comfort curve 2000,L70S + 17", Fujitsu 17" CRT Audio: HD-650's, PE congress amp, Sound Blaster AWE64, Soundblaster 24bit

12th Oct 2007, 19:25	#8
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	I'm pretty (99%) sure RV615 and RV630 are not PCIe2 compatible. Instead, I'm under the impression that the 55nm refreshes, RV620 and RV635, are PCIe2 compatible - at least that's what my contacts that work close to AMD/ATI have suggested. I wouldn't take everything that comes out of Charlie's mouth as gospel and nobody with any authority has said that the current cards are PCIe2 capable. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

12th Oct 2007, 20:24	#9
TreeDude Multimodder Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 239	The x38 chipset is still very new. My guess is in the coming months driver/BIOS updates will push this past the P35 in most games. I wonder if a native PCIE 2.0 card would yield a better result. Too bad the lowest x38 I could find was $250. That is a lot of money for a motherboard.

13th Oct 2007, 00:58	#11
rennyf77 What's a Dremel? Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2	give me a break. informative my ass. fear, cod2, come on gentlemen, why not bioshock, call of juarez, rainbow six vegas. and what are these benchmark numbers, averages. give me mins, they mean more. 1280x1024? anyone running two 2900xt's and playing at this res needs to get kicked in the taint. when i read header on this article i got really excited, because i've got an asus p5ke with two 2900's and it runs like crap. i was really hoping you guys were going put the screws to the current crossfire implementation, but imagine my surprise, fear and cod2....ridiculous.

13th Oct 2007, 02:33	#12
Renoir Multimodder Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Milton Keynes, UK Posts: 190	Would be interested to see what impact PCIe gen 2 has on single card performance. Essentially can current and coming in near future gpus make use of any of the extra bandwidth that gen 2 provides.

13th Oct 2007, 07:14	#13
HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Cali, USA Posts: 1,790	well it may not be much now but will play a bigger factor down the road, they just dont have any cards yet that take advantage of the bandwidth, hell we didnt evene max out what the AGP could do either before the switch to PCI-E happened and even then the difference between PCI-E and AGP was very very minor, so just like this it will take some time before it really takes its own. __________________ Current Rig: RubyRED • Lian-Li A05B • (2) Swiftech 220 Radiators • (2) D5 Variable Pumps • (2) Res • and a whole lot of modding • Retired Rig: Project F.E.A.R. • TT Lanbox Lite • Swiftech H2O-120 • Q6600 G0 OC@3.6ghz • 2900XT • 4gb SuperTalent Memory •

13th Oct 2007, 09:24	#14
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	interesting, would have been nice to have single card results as well for reference __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.