ATI now has their own answer to Nvidia's SLI...

The Crossfire!!!

That's cool!!! It's supposed to kick SLI's butt.

What do you think?

It certainly has some potential: http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=2273&s=1

One big advantage of Crossfire is that it doesn't require AFR profiles, as is required for SLI, but that it will accellerate any Direct3D game. A fine tuned AFR profile will of course speed up the game even more, but at least you don't have to wait till ATI/game developers releases them.

I hope it is as good as they say it is.

Here's another review: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...preview/1.html
On page 5 you can read the editor's comment where he saw it in action. I cant wait to see it in action myself!

Chuck me just about any 'fact' about SLI/Crossfire and why it's 'good' and I'll counteract it with an argument showing why it's a waste of time. Let's start with the ones stated so far.


The claim that Crossfire will 'kick SLI's butt' is a bit hasty. It will be faster in some respects and slower in others.

The claim that 'doesn't require AFR profiles, as is required for SLI, but that it will accellerate any Direct3D game' is just words aired for little purpose. SLI/Crossfire is really designed at games to come, not games we already have. Any existing game will run quite well enough on any decent existing single display card, so for those SLI/Crossfire is a redundant issue. future games will, of course, have AFR profiles available for them so the difference has no import really.

Yeah I understand. My x850xt can do the work better than I could have ever wanted. In about a year or a little more if I want to upgrade my video, instead of trying to sell my current one I could just buy the crossfire x850 and the mobo. Thats if it comes cheaper that way. Prices should drop by then I guess.

** I would definitely not buy it right away when it comes out **

OK, time to answer that little misconception.

Firstly, before that year is out the R520 cards will be out and available, and they'll do double the X850XT performance with a single card. In addition to that, don't pin your hopes on the current top of the line card hanging around getting cheaper and cheaper. History proves that just doesn't happen.

When the next generation of display cards comes out, the top of the line cards from the previous generation rather rapidly disappear from the marketplace. A cut-down version of it will linger for a while till the mid-range cards of the next generation become established.

If you want to use two top of the line cards of a particular generation in SLI configuration, you gotta get them them from the outset or shortly after. That's for NVidia SLI.

ATi Crossfire is a little different. That requires a new card which can act as a 'master' card. So you're gonna be able to get that X850XT Crossfire master and a new Crossfire enabled motherboard and do the job. But hey, all you're gonna do is get the same performance as you would if you waited and installed an R520 based ATi card anyway, and it's most likely gonna cost you just as much!

Sorry, but I don't see much point in that

heh heh

I've put a couple of IFs in my previous post. I would surely consider the best money for performance option.

Thanks for the heh heh..........



As you can see, I've kinda got a 'bee in the bonnet' about dual display cards. I really dislike the way they're being marketted as something they're not. To be quite honest, I think the only real world use for them is to boost the egos of super rich benchmark whores who can afford to buy two of the fastest display cards that money can buy, and then sit back getting an epenis enlargement from the fact that they can get benchmark results wich beat those of anybody else they know.

They've got a reasonably practical application for people who are content to sit a fair bit back from the cutting edge with a mid-range card and want to stretch their system life out a bit, but that's the only real life value they have at present in my view. In time to come they'll quite possible be apretty standard thing, but certainly not until the graphics chip race slows down, and we no longer see ATi and NVidia putting out a new graphics chip each year which is twice as good as the previous one.

My post might not be that clear, but I agree with Catweazle. I'm actually only interested in the technology involved, no way I'll pay that amount of money for a dual graphics card.

This kind of development is for people who can afford it, not for people who need it. No doubt ATI had to do something to compete with Nvidia's SLI, it's all about image. We'll see what happens next.

I know it myself. My benchmarks scores are super high with my single card and games run well enough. I dont see why I would want to have a second card right now.