how does crossfire work

[corvetteguy]

i am buying a new system and was wondering how the new 1900 crossfire works.

is it 2 cards like sli or one card with 2 cores or something and is it better than the 1900xt and 7800gtx 512 sli

don't refer me to the toms review cause i read it twice but to me its basically a bunch of numbers

 

[mdd1963]

"is it 2 cards like sli or one card "

Similar in that two cards are used, but one must be a Crossfire Master card, around $50 more, but comes with connections and a dongle unique to being the Master card...

www.firingsquad.com has a nice review of Crossfire performance today, in fact, where they compare gtx256 SLI, 512SLI, 1900Crossfire, etc...

(For the money spent, personally I feel even a single 1900XT is the best overall value, as the framerates with Crossfire don't always drastically increase when using two cards for having spent an additional $550 on the Crossfire board...twice the price for 15% framerate hike is rather steep...)