Motherboard Company

[lancer]

ok one question, what is a physics board? never heard of this in my life.

Also consider this, would it be more cost effective to just get one top end card instead of two hight end cards in crossfire/sli?

 

[Sazar]

Ageia, read up about it.

It's like having a separate math co-processor which is designed specifically to handle all physics calculations.

For your gfx question, I don't think 2 cards are worth it. One high-end card is typically sufficient for most things and less taxing on your overall system.

2 cards likely give you the best performance in most situations but the costs are a little on the high-side and it's not really worth it in the grand scheme of things.

 

[lancer]

wow that seems pretty cool, but $300 seems a little steep considering a v/card is around $300 also for a decent one.

Sazar are you talking about the sli setup or the physics v/card setup as two cards?

 

[Sazar]

There is a separate product which is the physics card (physx).

http://www.ageia.com/

 

[lancer]

i know that is what i was referring to as being $300 dollars as well as most gpu's that are any good being $300 or more.

 

[Sazar]

K.

 

[Not Bman]

lol, I just got abit lost in this thread, first off I was saying I might get a physics card, just as a maybe. I definently am getting dual video, which even if its not worth the price, right now, I think, and seems like dual is the way things are going. Might come in handy later on.

 

[lancer]

yeah it better be "K" sazar haha.

in my opinion though (which i'm sure Sazar will shoot down ) i think crossfire is a far better system than SLI which relays on software (drivers) to work, whereas the crossfire relays on hardware, so it is compatible theoretically with any game.

 

[Sazar]

yeah it better be "K" sazar haha.

in my opinion though (which i'm sure Sazar will shoot down ) i think crossfire is a far better system than SLI which relays on software (drivers) to work, whereas the crossfire relays on hardware, so it is compatible theoretically with any game.

They both have hardware.

Sli uses an sli bridge chip. Ati currently uses that dongle thinger. Their future implementation should not have any such component.

Crossfire is better on paper. Sli just works better because it is more mature.

 

[Not Bman]

I know I know, I'll have both!!! SLI and Crossfire Setup, 4 cards @!@!!@!

 

[lancer]

so you are saying that you don't need specific drivers on a SLI setup for each game you play?

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

so you are saying that you don't need specific drivers on a SLI setup for each game you play?

I dont think anyone would want that !

 

[Not Bman]

lol, duh

 

[LeeJend]

Not a lot of types out yet. The chipset just came out a few weeks ago:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131004

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/03/02/ati_crossfire_xpress_3200_chipset_takes_off/

The Asus looks like the only PCI-e 1x slot will be useless with a crossfire setup due to the dual wide cooling design.

 

[Sazar]

I think this link will prove useful.

http://www.ati.com/buy/promotions/radeonxpressmobo/amd939disccross.html

Shows you all the current models out there which support cross-fire and their features. Will make it easier for you to research.

 

[fitz]

ECS btw didn't get a 20% share of the market with having crap stuff.

Well, let's see..

VHS won the market despite having inferior picture quality (at the time) than Beta.
Windows won out over Mac despite having a worse (at the time of Windows 3.1/95) product than Apple/Mac
Bose has a large percentage of the 'high end' audio market despite producing absolute crap.

It's all about marketing.. not the quality of the product

edit: That being said, the newer, higher-end ECS stuff isn't too bad. I'd stay away from their cheaper stuff personally. I'm usually an Asus/Epox/ABit fan myself with a sprinking of MSI and BioStar or even Tyan if I'm going more server side.. Lately thought as I contemplate a new MB, I've been considering this one..

I won't comment on ATI chipset boards because, honestly, i don't know too much about them.

 

[Not Bman]

I think this link will prove useful.

http://www.ati.com/buy/promotions/radeonxpressmobo/amd939disccross.html

Shows you all the current models out there which support cross-fire and their features. Will make it easier for you to research.

Nice link, but what's the difference between PCIe x 16 Slots, and 1 Slots?

 

[LeeJend]

so you are saying that you don't need specific drivers on a SLI setup for each game you play?

SLI has a config file that tells the SLI cards how to work with each game. Nvidia updates the files (included with their driver updates) for most new games. Older games you may have to build your own file for. There is a thread around here somewhere with a link to instructions on how to edit your own config file.

Crossfire offers more ways of splitting the work load between the two video cards which makes it more friendly to a broader range of games. It just hasn't been around as long as SLI so the experience base is thin and now the improved 3200 crossfire chip is out but only available on one MB so far and I haven't seen any performance comparison reviews.

Some other things to think about.
"Many" newer ATI cards are crossfire compatible as slave cards, except the AIW cards which are not compatible (something they don't mention up front). Also, call ATI and verify that the specific card you are looking at is compatible and has a compatible "master" card. Crossfire is supposed to be much more mix and match friendly (with llimitations) than SLI cards are but I no longer take any claims like that at face value (from anybody, ATI, Nvidia, video, MB, etc.).

Another issue is heat. This year Nvidia cards are running cooler than ATI so single slot options are much more readily available.

Gigabyte (and maybe ASUS?) have dual SLI cards in one pack now.

Quad cards are now being sold (SAZARs new subsidiary Alienware has one).

Dual vs Single:
I did a cost benefit analysis a few weeks back between dual card and single card video rigs and I think it was pretty much a wash on cost. Taking into account PSU upgrades, extra $ for dual video capable MB and video cards over single video card versions, the price drop on a given card over the time it takes your first card to become too slow for the latest games.

That left secondary considerations as the deciding factor:
-noise level (2 GPU fans make more noise than 1),
-space (1 slot or 2-4 slots used up),
-waste heat that needs to be airconditioned,
-complexity/risk (making 2 high performance video cards play well together is harder than one card).
-trouble shooting as a card starts getting flaky (which to RMA?)
-will next years card support important new shading features that aren't in my old card? (That means you can upgrade raw speed but not image quality.)
-being able to drop a $60 6600GT into your rig and playing new games at high speed vs buying a $300+ next gen card.

Single or dual video is a tough call and going to be a matter of personal preference.