New Crossfire Chipset 3200

[bman212121]

I just saw this little article on the front page and figured I would post it up for discussion.

Markham (ON) - ATI today introduced its Crossfire 3200 chipset, which was formerly code-named RD580. The dual-graphics chipset offers two x16 PCI Express slots and allows users to install two graphics cards without the need for a master/slave configuration, as it is the case with the Xpress 200 version.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/03/01/ati_crossfire_3200/

What this means is that you can run 2 normal x1000 series cards without having to get the expense and hard to find master card. This may be exactly what ATI needs to really start selling their crossfire.

 

[ast_4_real]

If it has 40 pci-e lanes, then manufacturers should integrate a 4x pci-e slot. It would be a nice thing to have

I'm waiting for dfi's rd580 mobo.

When will ati release SB600?

 

[sleepdeprived82]

No it means that the x1300 and x1600 will get a performance increase as they will no longer saturate the lanes. These gens of card do not need a master card

The x1900 and x1800 still need a master card and as the article says 2x16pcie currently has little benefit for the high end cards as they will still transfer data using the bridge.

It does i guess make it possible down the road to remove the brige on the high end cards, but that is up to ati.