1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Hardware CrossFire Comparison: Intel X38 vs. P35

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Tim S, 12 Oct 2007.

  1. Tim S

    Tim S OG

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2001
    Posts:
    18,882
    Likes Received:
    89
    Last edited by a moderator: 12 Oct 2007
  2. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    Very nice, informative article..

    some good photography in there aswell!
     
  3. Brett89

    Brett89 Minimodder

    Joined:
    15 Dec 2005
    Posts:
    1,329
    Likes Received:
    35
    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.
     
  4. atanum141

    atanum141 I fapped to your post!

    Joined:
    22 Jul 2004
    Posts:
    7,986
    Likes Received:
    19
    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.
     
  5. Kipman725

    Kipman725 When did I get a custom title!?!

    Joined:
    1 Nov 2004
    Posts:
    1,753
    Likes Received:
    0
    all new low end AMD graphics cards are already pci express 2 and have been for several months :)
     
  6. Tim S

    Tim S OG

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2001
    Posts:
    18,882
    Likes Received:
    89
    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.
     
  7. EQC

    EQC What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    23 Mar 2006
    Posts:
    220
    Likes Received:
    0
  8. Tim S

    Tim S OG

    Joined:
    8 Nov 2001
    Posts:
    18,882
    Likes Received:
    89
    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.
     
  9. TreeDude

    TreeDude What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    12 May 2007
    Posts:
    270
    Likes Received:
    0
    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.
     
  10. Naberius

    Naberius What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    20 Nov 2006
    Posts:
    209
    Likes Received:
    0
    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.
     
  11. rennyf77

    rennyf77 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    13 Feb 2007
    Posts:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    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.
     
  12. Renoir

    Renoir What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    19 Jul 2006
    Posts:
    190
    Likes Received:
    0
    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.
     
  13. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

    Joined:
    26 Oct 2006
    Posts:
    2,637
    Likes Received:
    6
    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.
     
  14. Woodstock

    Woodstock So Say We All

    Joined:
    10 Sep 2006
    Posts:
    1,783
    Likes Received:
    2
    interesting, would have been nice to have single card results as well for reference
     
  15. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

    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.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 13 Oct 2007
Tags: Add Tags

Share This Page