3870X2 on Intel 975X

[pfcvt]

I am currently running two 3870X2 Graphics Cards on a MSI Platinum Powerup Edition which uses the "old" 975X chipset (PCI x16 version 1.1). It is not the best solution, but i have some questions about the performance that is a bit disappointing and i think should be better. So before i need to buy a new motherboard i wanted to check with you.
I ran 3D Mark 2006 (Vista and XP) and received a result of 13595, which i already got using a single 8800GTX i had before.
Also being new to this I first read the general comment about SLI/Crossfire before entering this message. Any ideas or advise ?


System details:
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W
CPU: QX6700
Memory: 4 GB DDR800 Kingston
OS: Vista 64-bit SP1 and XP-64

 

[romulus47plus1]

Quad-crossfireX... ah...
You updated your drivers?
I think the scores is good enough, what's most important are the frame rates in games...

 

[pfcvt]

I have Catalyst driver version 8.4 under XP-64 and 8.3 under Vista (8.4 won't install correctly, no idea why :-( ). I expected somewhat more performance from a quad videocard setup. I tried Crysis on 1650x1580(?) with setting on High (somewhat playable) and very high (no way playable).

 

[romulus47plus1]

Normal, Crysis is a, one-sided game, nVidia plays it good, but the ATI cards just fail to play it good.
What about other games? I'm sure they're better,

 

[stoner133]

Well it looks like your trying to run CrossfireX on a motherboard that only supports Crossfire. That could be the biggest part of your problem. Your board is setup to address two GPU cores not the four your throwing at it.

 

[aevm]

I agree with the above posters.

Buying an X38 motherboard (with PCI-E 2.0 slots) would probably give you 7% more fps or less, depending on game, settings and resolution. That's from articles I've read. Sorry I don't have a clue where I found them, it's been a while, so no links.

Crysis in particular is lousy when it comes to CrossfireX support. For example an article I've read showed Crysis and CoD and other games tested with HD 3870 cards. Adding the 3rd card and the 4th card made no difference in Crysis, but in CoD each of them added a lot of fps. That's the way it is, some game developers care about ATI card owners too, others not so much.

 

[roadrunner197069]

The score seems low to me. It could be low if you are running default speeds.

If you OC your CPU to 3.6-4.0 and max out your video cards thers no reason you cant hit over 20000.

If your stock your probably spot on at 13595.

 

[Mousemonkey]

If Sli'd 8800 GT's and an E8400 @ 3.6ghz gets 16500 3D '06 points, then the OP should get a LOT more with 4 GPU's and a QX6700.

 

[pfcvt]

Thanks for all replies !
I looks like i am better of with or O/C or a new motherboard to enable all 4 Gpu's and get max performance. Problem is that the X38 and X48 use DDR3 instead of DDR2...gonna cost a lot again...