Why are people so excited about crossfire on HD 4000s?

[OS43]

With all the issues of microstuttering etc, what is the point of Crossfire and SLI? Don't 2 cards often end up running slower than 1, even when CF/SLI are supported? (Talking actual performance, not displayed FPS).

 

[Kari]

4870X2 is supposed to use some 'advanced' tech to make it look like a single chip for the drivers/games so no microstuttering... and I wouldn't call 1,8x scaling seen on the current cards 'running slower than just one'...

 

[4745454b]

The only place that reports actual game play doesn't complain about CF. I haven't heard about anyone complaining about stuttering. Hardocp says that the x2 runs faster then the 3870, not slower. I believe them on this. People are excited because the new 4870 is suspected to be a beast, and the x2 will be faster still. Crysis on a 1680x1050 panel will be playable, even with AA, while the 1920x1080 panels should be playable without AA. (according to rumor that is.)

 

[Guest]

i just wanna be able to play crysis at 1920 by 1200 with AA

doesn't look like this generation of cards can do that though...

 

[lambofgode3x]

The X2's utilize two gpu's on a single pcb where the nvidia GX2's use two separate pcb's with a single gpu on each.

and rely on a crappy bridge for the 2 cards to talk to each other.

on the other hand, i cant wait for dual core gpu's to come out. that should be kick ass

 

[njalterio]

With all the issues of microstuttering etc, what is the point of CF? Don't 2 cards often end up running slower than 1, even when CF is supported? (Talking actual performance, not displayed FPS).

What are you talking about? This sounds like a flame post to me....

Two cards "run" much faster than one card. Based on what you said SLI would have no point either, yet you didn't flame SLI...
Do some more reading from credible sources and don't be such a punk.

 

[OS43]

I realize that the 4870x2 is another story, and might eliminate the issues of 2 cards in CF, due to its shared memory and who knows what else. But people seem extremely excited about 4850 / 4870s in regular old microstuttering CF.

What are you talking about? This sounds like a flame post to me....

Two cards "run" much faster then one card. Based on what you said, then SLI would have no point either, yet you didn't flame SLI.....
Do some more reading from credible sources and don't be such a punk.

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/?article_id=631668 As well as other sources I do not happen to have bookmarked.

You are right, i should have mentioned SLI as well, as it has the exact same problems. I haven't seen many people anxious to put a pair of GTX 280s in SLI however.

Initial post corrected to mention SLI.

 

[aznguy0028]

does anyone know if the CF bridge on the 4870x2 is pci-e 2.0? or is it still 1.1 like the 3870x2?

 

[njalterio]

The article analyzes only one game, Need For Speed pro. You cannot make those kinds of assumptions by only looking at one particular case!

Furthermore I doubt the credibility of that website, there are many grammar and spelling errors, and in addition to this they failed to provide information about which cards were used, what the motherboard was, what RAM, processor, etc. How can this be taken seriously?

Like I said, go find credible sources.

 

[B-Unit]

Considering this is the first Ive ever heard about it, and we've had CF and SLi for several years, I call FUD.

 

[ovaltineplease]

does anyone know if the CF bridge on the 4870x2 is pci-e 2.0? or is it still 1.1 like the 3870x2?

From what i've read it does not use the same style as the 3870 x2, its a new way of bridging the graphics card - try to relate it to the style of an intel core2 quad processor - 2 core 2 duos sandwhiched together

We'll see when its launched, but if this is the methodology they used it could be really excellent - it should actually outperform 2 4870s by a decent margin if this is true.

 

[50bmg]

Considering this is the first Ive ever heard about it, and we've had CF and SLi for several years, I call FUD.

Yeah, the 8.4 catalyst drivers had a stuttering bug. AMD issued a hot fix and 8.5 fixed it.

I put 2 3870 in crossfire last week. I am having no problems and it is amazing the FPS i am getting in COD4.

If i had $600 to blow on tech that will be $300 in a year i would buy 2 4870s.

The 48xx cards are sounding like the second coming. I love my 3870s but we'll see.

My question is why do so many run out to buy tech that will be half price in a year. I waited 6 months and got 2 3870's for the price that one 3870 was last Dec.

 

[OS43]

It wasn't just that one revision of the ATI drivers, because it happens with SLI too. It is generally just only noticeable in sub-30 fps.

The article analyzes only one game, Need For Speed pro. You cannot make those kinds of assumptions by only looking at one particular case!

Furthermore I doubt the credibility of that website, there are many grammar and spelling errors, and in addition to this they failed to provide information about which cards were used, what the motherboard was, what RAM, processor, etc. How can this be taken seriously?

Like I said, go find credible sources.

Use google? I just happened to have that one bookmarked.

It is translated from german, blame the translator.

 

[turboflame]

i cant wait for dual core gpu's to come out. that should be kick ass

What?

GPU's are highly parallel as of now. A G92 has 128 "cores".

If you mean making a chip with 2 GPUs on the same die, it would likely cause huge yield issues. It would be far more practical to make a single faster GPU.

 

[ovaltineplease]

What?

GPU's are highly parallel as of now. A G92 has 128 "cores".

If you mean making a chip with 2 GPUs on the same die, it would likely cause huge yield issues. It would be far more practical to make a single faster GPU.

thermal and power wall...?

 

[Guest]

aka gtx 280 lol

 

[turboflame]

thermal and power wall...?

This isn't the same as the GHz race that caused the transition from single core to multi-core CPUs.

Slapping another GPU on the same die would increase power / thermal issues far more than adding more stream processors, for example.

 

[4745454b]

You guys missed a big part of that article. Let me quote some things that jumped out at me.

Although SLI allows higher frame rates, the perceived outcome is often not better than the lower framerates of a solo graphics card....It's a personal matter when a movement for the human eye appears to be "smooth"...The result is disastrous: The subjective frame rate of a multi-GPU system is in this extreme case below a single card...

I consider this to be something like page tearing. Some people can see it, or are sensitive to it, while others have no idea WTF we are talking about. My best friend can't even tell when his CRT monitor is on 60Hz. (I need at least 72Hz, but I can't tell the difference between 72Hz and anything higher.) In addition, as they mentioned in the article, not all games seem to be affected. This means we don't even know if its a problem with the cards, drivers, OR EVEN THESE FEW GAMES THEMSELVES! It could be a coding issue with the games they listed.

I'm going to go with HardOCP on this. They've never mentioned it at all. So either they never bothered to tell us, or its not something to get worked up over. I wouldn't let something like this stop me from getting either setup. They even said it gets worse the closer you get to 30FPS, so get the setup that has the best chance of exceeding that.

 

[THE_Ted]

I'd think that the point of using two graphics cards in an SLI or corssfire situation is to achieve high frame rates at high resolutions. If these people are managing to get FPS readings at or below 30 with two 3870's, it sounds like they're running newer games at AA and shader settings that just aren't feasible. For example:

2 cards without AA + high settings: 60 fps
2 cards with AA + high settings: 30 fps
1 card without AA + high settings: 30 fps

If microstuttering is a marginal effect caused by pushing 2 graphics cards higher than they are capable (even though they are technically still at the always defended 30 fps), oh well? I use a 42" LCD as my display, getting 50-60fps at 1920x1080 is my main concern, if I have to turn off AA and other settings, fine. If you're taking the time and money to crossfire two cards, you should be shooting for a configuration with 60fps; whereas 30 fps issues would be bunk.

Sometimes its more important to people to be able to drag that little settings bar all the way down, and still have it 'run'. Micro stuttering sounds like that kind of problem.