X1950 pro crossfire

You do not need X-Fire unless you want to play at some insanely high resolutions. You will not see the difference in performance between a single card and X-Fire at resolutions <1600x1200.

Moreover, for the price of two X1950PROs + $50 or so you can get a single GF8800 which will simply kill your X-fire pretty much at any resolution.

Use your head, dude. Or maybe you just think that Crossfire sounds cool and mean? :roll:

An 8800GTS for the same price as 2 X1950pro's would kill both of them easily like Slava said. Plus, its more futureproof being that the 8800 series is DX10 compatible, while the X1950 series and under, are DX9 compatible.

No comment on what I think crossfire sounds like 8)

The reason I want the info on the x1950 pro CF is (as I've alredy written) I intend to buy one card now and then later on I might buy another and set it up in CF. I see no reason to buy both cards now since I'm coming from a radeon 9800 pro agp, so just about anything out there is going to be better. The GF8800 may be faster, less powerhungry etc, but also way too expensive at the moment.

fair enough, yeah you can get the x1950 for now. But "later" rather than getting another and going cross fire you might wanna consider selling off ur x1950 and going for one of the DX10 cards. By the time u decide to upgrade the prices may have fallen as it always does.

So yeah for now it will be fine. Just dont bother with the crossfire....yet.

2 X1950pros run close to 400 bucks. Guess how much a 8800 is? Around 400 bucks! Some even less! If you crossfire 2 X1950's your wasting your cash. Only giving the better option right here man.

I see both sides of the issue. First, Dual X1950 pro's now would not be as good as an 8800GTS. It doesn't sound like the 8800's are even on your list though.

Spending $400 now on an 8800GTS may not be feasible/worth-while for you. Seeing how no master card is needed, you may find a cheap X1950 pro someday and say hey, I'll go for crossfire. Oblivion for example is a game where crossfire X1950 pro shines, easily beating out a single X1950XTX.

The third situation that I think many of us would just throw out there is that come the day you may want to get that second card, you'll be looking at a much faster mid-upper range DX10 card instead. Look at crossfire X850XT. Anyone who once bought a master card thinking they will pick up a second card later, probably instead went with a single X1800XT or X1900XT when the single X850XT wasn't cutting it. You also have to worry about supply and pricing down the road.


Anyway, the x1950 pro if priced right is a good card now, so I see no issue with your plan. Whether you ened up with a second X1950 pro, or just a different card later is something to decide at the time you aren't happy with the X1950 pro. An X1950XT for $220 or so would be better if priced close and 8800GTS better than that, but it's your money and your gameplay that has to set the limit. Just don't spend an X1950XT amount of cash on a X1950 pro.

Personally, I never considered crossfire as an option but saw my last upgrade as the card that will take me all the way until I want a DX10 card. But it will take the release of R600 and the game crysis before I'd pick what that card would be, be it NV or ATI.

Yes, very true, but $380 or so might be more than he wants to spend now and he is thinking along the lines of a $190 X1950 pro now and hopefully a $100 on down the road when he needs it and has the cash.

As long as 1 - the 8800GTS is too expensive now, and 2) a single X1950 pro is good enough and priced right now, then his plan seems fine to me. Obviously, the single X1950 pro he will be using is nowhere near the Oblivion expereince he could have with the 8800GTS now.

I get your point about the GF8800GTS, but I've bought way too expensive cards before and I'm trying not to make that mistake again. After all, compared to what I have now, a X1950 pro is going to be quite an improvement wouldn't you say? Besides the cost of this stuff is a bit more expensive here in Denmark - a GF8800GTS cost at least $530 and the X1950 pro that I've been considering costs $267.

Thanks for all your input guys  

Pauldh wrote:



This is true. I have yet to see anyone buy the second card a year later... It just does not happen. You either build your X-Fire or SLI from the start or you'll never build it :wink:




It is not a mistake. If you get an 8800 now it will serve you well for 3 years. If you get your master X1950 now, in a year it will not cut it. During this year you will not be getting the best performance; and you will see that getting the second X1950 in a year makes no sense. You will end up buying a different card and tossing your "master" X1950.

It totally makes sense to get the best and forget about it for 3 years*, unless $200 is a big deal, but do not think that you will add the second card "later". You will not. No one does.

*One exception would be when getting the best video card means that one is forced to build an entirely new PC.

Well, you see, your X1900XT was pretty much *the best* video card last January, so your example is just inappropriate. Getting TWO of the best cards at the same time is way too expensive. So in your case it kind of made sense. He is talking about getting a midrange card and later X-Firing it. This does not make sense.

... and in your case even it you did not get the second card your rig would still very nicely play *anything*, except probably Oblivion at 16x12 with everything maxed out ... So technically, you did not really need to X-Fire anything.

Also, there wasn't any new technology when you bought your second card. You were just adding a second of best card.

That's why I used the X850XT's for example. Since He would be thinking X1950 pro x-fire with DX10 cards/games widely available come time for his second card. Crossfire, X850XT is fast, but who wants such a fast SM2.0 setup. The Oblivion player would rather have a singe X1900XT. Crossfire X1950 pro would still be fast, but wouldn't an equally fast upper-midrange R600 be a better option for Crysis. Anyway, that sums up my thinking when posting above.

Maybe there will be DX10 games I want to play by the time I buy the second card, but the games I've seen and heard of so far aren't of any interest to me. I mainly play rpg and some strategy games (if you can call Settlers and HOMM strategy), so I don't need the best of the best at the moment. And since I'm building a new pc, the money does matter.

Yea, too bad X19 series video cards Do NOT support DX10 technology. Only to a extent, and even then you wont see too good of Eye candy with 2 X1950's compared to 1 8800GTS. The 8800GTS supports DX10, making it more futureproof and a good investment. The X1950 only supports DX9 fully and will support DX10 to a minimal extent like I stated. Like Slava said, getting 1 card, and then X-firing another Later is a bad investment not to mention a little stupid considering it would be outdated by the time you bought the 2nd card. You may not want all the fancy textures and eye candy, but in the long run, the card will last longer than any 2 X1950's period.

I get your point, but I seriously doubt I'll be needing a DX10 card anytime soon. It's probably going to be a while before there are any DX10 games I want to play and I don't intend to get Vista within the next 5 years, so the DX10 thing really doesn't matter to me. I had considered x1950xtx, but it's still way too expensive for my taste, which is why I'm now considering x1950 pro. The only reason I started this thread was to hear if anyone knew approximately where on the VGA charts the x1950 pro crossfire setup would be (only interested in how they do in Oblivion). And thanks Pauldh for the link btw