Hybrid CrossfireX

[alohascott]

Is there any advantage to Hybrid CrossfireX.
Or is it just a marketing gimmick.

Would it help if i was using it in combination with a cheap video card.
like say this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127596


would it have any benefit if was using with an top of the line video card.
pick any one, I am guessing the answer is no.

 

[megamanx00]

No, you can't do hybrid crossfire with an nVidia card. The last cards that did hybrid crossfire were the old 40 shader 3450s and you could hybrid crossfire those with the 760 and up IGPs. No point though, since even a cheap 4650 or 9500GT is alot faster.

 

[alohascott]

are you talking about the agp or the pci 3450's

those pci 3450 cards are quite expensive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=3450&x=7&y=31



and you say either of these would be better then a 3450 hybrid crossfire?
4650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=4650&x=16&y=30

9500gt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=9500GT&x=19&y=37

 

[megamanx00]

You would hybrid crossfire with the PCI-E versions of the card of course. PCI cards are too slow and there aren't any hybrid crossfire AGP chipsets so you can't hybrid crossfire with an AGP version.

Get the DDR3 version of the 4650 if you get a 4650. It's worth it to spend a little more on a 4670, 5570 or 5670. What's your budget?

 

[alohascott]

the 5670 seems to be the best value. at that price range.
I will probably just use the built in video for now to keep costs down on this particular system.
I am actually just trying to build a really inexpensive system that still performs well.
I am helping my friends by building systems for them while I go to school for computers.

it would be nice to be able to do something in the low $200's but i know that's tough.

 

[jyjjy]

What are the rest of the components? Have you considered using one of the new Llano processors? They have built in graphics processors that are rather competent for gaming at low resolutions and they also allow for hybrid crossfire that is actually worth using if you get a low end HD6000 card later on.

EDIT: BTW, outside of what I just suggested above hybrid crossfire is basically useless and not something worth thinking about.

 

[alohascott]

I looked at those briefly but isn't the 3850 going to be their top model for the near future?
2.9 mhz is not very fast.


I don't know what kind of processing power is behind that 2.9 mhz.

the passmark site puts that processors power up there between.

1100t and 1090T
which would be very impressive considering its a 4 core cpu that is running slower then both of those cpu's with 6 cores.


but another site
http://pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-3850-Llano-Desktop-Processor-Review-Can-AMD-compete-Sandy-Bridge/Conclusi

puts it below the i3-2100 for processing power.

I tend to believe the second site since they ran more then just one test, and because its a 4 core to 4 core comparison.

I read another site that tried to overclock that cpu without much luck because it caused problems with SSD's

I am a big ssd fan so thats a problem for me.

anyway which models would crossfire with that cpu and what kind of performance could you expect with that kind of set up?

because it looks like the onboard video on that cpu can be had with a discrete card for around $50

something like
Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681415052

or

XFX GT-240X-YAFA GeForce GT 240 512MB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150553


thanks for the info.

 

[alohascott]

one other thing i noticed was that their is a wide range of memory speeds for most of the motherboards.

When I was asking about sandy bridge processors I was told that even if I doubled memory speeds on that processor it still won't make much difference at all.

Is that the same case for the 3850?
thanks

 

[jyjjy]

The Llano chips are basically Athlon II x4 processors with the added video processing power. I haven't read much about their overclocking ability or this SSD problem you mentioned. An HD6670 or HD6570 is what you would want to use with one for hybrid crossfire if you find the built-in graphics unacceptable. If I remember properly it would add roughly 25% extra performance to either of those cards.

 

[alohascott]

ok

i thought i read somewhere that the chip was a completly new design
but you are saying its based on an athlon chip?

that would explain why they are cheap?

can you OC an athlon?

 

[technoviceguy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127601

 

[alohascott]

what's up with the 5450?

 

[technoviceguy]

what's up with the 5450?

nice entry level DX11 card...