SLI / CrossFire FAQs - Page 11 - Graphics-Cards

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This is always a confusing thing as it is game specific.

However, take a photo using a low res format, look at how much space is needed, take a higher res photo and look at the increase, higher res means more storage space.

With AA depending on the type, you will need additional samples of that image stored or indeed a higher resolution sample of the original image stored as well, this take space.

Combined with varying texture resolutions to be stored means modern games can take up alot of space when eye candy comes into play.

I think that is a rough explanation.

An article on it http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 958,00.asp

------------------------------ I'm a git, deal with it.

Antec 1200,PC Power & Cooling 750,Gigabyte DS4-x48,Intel Q9550@3.4 W/Xigmatek S1283,8GB OCZ DDR2 800,ATI 4870X2,X-FI>CA 640C amp>Tannoy R300/Senn 595's
Reply to strangestranger

Register or log in to remove.

I play most games at 1920 x 1200 with a 512MB 4870 and it is generally fine(And still faster then my 8800GTX was). I do wish I had a bit more memory for more AA,AF ect, but its playable for sure on most games.

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http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

Here's a question about my 4870x2. Is there a setting that I need to enable in Catalyst for both GPUs to run? Like enabling an internal crossfire? Because right now, I'm getting 15 frames per second on Crysis at 1920x1080, High, 0xAA and I KNOW my card is supposed to do much better than this. I've seen benchmarks of a 4850x2 doing 50 fps at these settings.

Reply to mortonww

I am sure this has been answered already in this thread and mutliple others but what the hey.

Set catalyst A.I to advanced, that is all you can do, you should be get double that at least.

------------------------------ I'm a git, deal with it.

Antec 1200,PC Power & Cooling 750,Gigabyte DS4-x48,Intel Q9550@3.4 W/Xigmatek S1283,8GB OCZ DDR2 800,ATI 4870X2,X-FI>CA 640C amp>Tannoy R300/Senn 595's
Reply to strangestranger

Sorry for the repeat question, but this is a huge thread. I was guessing there might have been an answer in this thread already, but using search for "4870x2 crossfire" probably would've yielded too many results unrelated to my question. (and I'm at work, lol. trying to be quick).

Thanks!

Reply to mortonww

meodowla wrote :

"4745454b" at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] 33_12.html

I think you didn't get what he said he said this :
"No, but if you game at that small of a resolution, then I would get the 512MB card. No point with the 1GB cards unless your at least at 19x10. (unless you have $$$ to burn that is.) "

He didn't mean that a 1GB card is required for a monitor which supports 1920x1200 resolution,he meant that there is no need to get a 1GB card over a 512MB one unless you GAME at 1920x1200.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Maziar

Download GPU-Z and run 2 copies of it and select the "Sensor" tab in both,then open a game like Crysis and play for some minutes,then press ALT+Enter (Don't quit the game)and check the Fan speed and GPU load of both.

And by the way make sure you have the latest catalyst driver installed,there is something wrong here because i have a 4870X2 too and i don't have this problem.

Hope this helps

Reply to Maziar

Maziar wrote :

He didn't mean that a 1GB card is required for a monitor which supports 1920x1200 resolution,he meant that there is no need to get a 1GB card over a 512MB one unless you GAME at 1920x1200.

Point in case

Image stored on freeimagehosting.net

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by nukemaster on 06-19-2009 at 02:50:57 PM

------------------------------

http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

But can it play crysis :lol:

------------------------------ I'm a git, deal with it.

Antec 1200,PC Power & Cooling 750,Gigabyte DS4-x48,Intel Q9550@3.4 W/Xigmatek S1283,8GB OCZ DDR2 800,ATI 4870X2,X-FI>CA 640C amp>Tannoy R300/Senn 595's
Reply to strangestranger

I think it will handle the intro screen then crash.

------------------------------

http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

Interesting...

Reply to meodowla

nukemaster wrote :

Point in case
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9749/1920b.png

Sorry nuke can you upload this pic in www.xs.to or www.freeimagehosting.net ?
thanks

Reply to Maziar

done and edited my other post.

Message edited by nukemaster on 06-19-2009 at 02:51:39 PM

------------------------------

http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

thanks but i think you misunderstood something nuke i didn't mean you can't game with a 512MB card and a 1GB card is needed, i was talking about what 4745454b told,which he said get a 1GB card if you play at 1920x1200.

Reply to Maziar

First post
Anyways, this is the first thing I ever read on Tom's Hardware (as a member) and have to thank you because of how informative it was. Just wanted to tell you, your work does help people and new people do read it!

Thanks

Reply to ryanhmusic

Hello and welcome to the forums ryanhmusic
I'm glad you fond it useful

Reply to Maziar

As a nooB to Tom's I appreciate any info I can get and I found your post very informative...
One piece of information I found confusing is in your article...

Quote :

List of NVIDIA and AMD/ATI CrossFire compatible Graphic Card

This appears to me to mean that these NVIDIA cards are Crossfire compatible...
Do you really mean to say that the list is of NVIDIA SLI and AMD/ATI CrossFire compatible?

My question to you is this:
My mobo does NOT support SLI which I didn't realize until I bought a second card.
I don't play games as much as I want to use more monitors...
can I use the second card without bridging them without hurting my mobo or anything else for that matter.
And I have to assume that I would NOT want to use the SLI bridge.

Message edited by BF Texan on 07-06-2009 at 01:11:31 PM

Reply to BF Texan

Thanks for pointing that NVIDIA supports SLI and AMD/ATI cards support CrossFire only,i'll edit the post thanks again

Well if your motherboard has another PCI-Express slot then you can bring the other card in your motherboard.

Fixed now

Message edited by Maziar on 07-07-2009 at 08:22:19 AM

Reply to Maziar

Please someone help me... the six pin power connector connects to the graphic card and where else? on the motherboard or the power suply?

please need help fast

Reply to Anonymous

Power supply.

If you do not have one on your PSU(most new ones have at least 2) there are adapters, but make sure your PSU has the power.

Message edited by nukemaster on 07-18-2009 at 03:41:46 AM

Reply to nukemaster

There are some MOBO's, in fact, Gigabyte MOBO's series AMD 780G and new AMD 785G (these are for Hybrid Crossfire), I was wondering, if they came with two PCI Express X 16 slots, is vailable do Crossfire X?, my question is because are not specified in user's manual

Reply to carlos alcantara

From that link:
"(Note 4) If you are installing a PCI Express graphics card, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot."

The first PCI-E slot is 16x and the second model which is for Hybird CrossFire is 4x.
But if u want to use normal crossfire u will get performance hit,because the second card will operate at 4x and that's not good for gaming, 16x4x mode doesn't perform well compared to dual 8x or dual 16x.

Reply to Maziar

I suspect that, thanx for answer, 'cause I've been plained to arm a system with this MOBO, first with no aditional video card, only with one for capture and edition of videos, but later maybe with one or two 4850, but if this doesn't apply to games, then I choose one MOBO 790GX, diferences in cost of this Motherboards in México is about $1400 pesos, almost $110 dollar. Thanx again Maziar.

Later I bother you with more questions.

Reply to carlos alcantara

No problem ask and i will help if i can

Reply to Maziar

hey im just woundering if u can take a crossfire card and put it on another mother board that doesnt require crossfire ready like i have a gateway dx 4200 good computer the on board hd3200 isent so great i was just woundering if i can by a crossfire ready card and put it in there with out no problems e-mail me back at
thanks

Message edited by mathewbutterfield on 08-21-2009 at 08:44:21 AM

Reply to mathewbutterfield

matthew, Id remove your email, just in case theres bots here, and you wont get spammed to death
Any card made today can run on any motherboard made recently with no problems, tho theres power issues to consider

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
Reply to jaydeejohn

Yes as jaydee said,u can put a "CrossFire-ready" card in a non-CrossFire motherboard.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Maziar

Maziar wrote :

Yes as jaydee said,u can put a "CrossFire-ready" card in a non-CrossFire motherboard.

thanks i have a gateway dx4200 i dont know what card i should get i plan on changing to crossfire but im gonna do a lil at a time i want to know is there any software i can bypass the bios to overclock my amd phnome i know i need to becareful i know i wouldnt mess anything up just have to take a chance ill just get a new one if something goes wrong thanks for the help

Reply to mathewbutterfield

Well please post your system specs and games and the resolution you play,so we can help you choosing your VGA.
Also because your machine is a pre-built model so as you mentioned too,its BIOS is locked,i don't know if there is a way to unlock it,so do it at your own risk.

Reply to Maziar

Eh Ah! What's new boss? , is me again, actually I use a PSU Delta Electronics 700 watts, with 4 12v rails and 50A (not a 80+ certified in fact its efficiency is only 67% reported), my question is, this PSU is recomended for a HD4890 (near future) or I have to changed for a better PSU?, so I think maybe can upgrade my GPU to a 5xxx series, I hope this will come in mid september or october.

Reply to carlos alcantara

It will support a HD 4890,not sure about the future 5xxx series though since they are not out yet

Reply to Maziar

Yeah! I know it will support, by the power, but really my question is, if this is not 80+, no PFC, no voltage regulation and none surge protection, graphics cards and other devices are under some risk?.
Mine is reasonable doubt because with only one HD4830 i can't get any stable OC and same problem is with my procesor a X2 7750BE, my devices are well cooled and temperatures are GPU: 52-54 ºC under load; and CPU: never goes over 42 ºC, average is 37 ºC.

In the other hand even here in México some vendors says series 5xxx in some places are under test and they hope these cards come probably in next week ???.
Really I believe this is an oasis and I guess maybe come in october or september if good.

Message edited by carlos alcantara on 08-27-2009 at 05:49:36 AM

Reply to carlos alcantara

Well if you can get a better PSU then go for it,because you want to some OverClocking too.

Reply to Maziar

im new to this forum, hope you guys san help me.
right now i have a radeon hd 4870 1gb, and im planning to buy another one to CF.
but, will my mobo bottleneck my GPU? coz im using gigabyte ep45-extreme mobo, and it have 1 pci-e x16 and 1 pci-e x8.
monitor res, 1680x1050. actually, i can afford a whole new core i7 rig, if i want to. but i don't think its worth it. im using C2D e8400@3.6. i always play using the highest possible setting, and just for information, im a hardcore gamer.

Message edited by bujinyun on 08-28-2009 at 01:58:30 PM

Reply to bujinyun

Well for that resolution a single HD 4870 would suffice,but if u want to go CrossFire then it will be fine,since P45 supports CrossFire at dual 8x mode which is good(not a noticeable performance loss compared to dual 16x)

Reply to Maziar

thanks for the quick reply maziar! good luck in ur life.

Reply to bujinyun

Thanks you too

Reply to Maziar

Edited with some information regrading Intel P55 chipset.

Reply to Maziar

Thanks for the information.
Interesting to hear about Hybrid SLIs or crossfires graphic card configurations. I have been using ATI/Radeon since then, not that I dislike NVIDIA but because you could get the same NVIDIA graphic card spec on ATI at a cheaper price, sometimes even better. Just need to make your homework first before buying.

Reply to nashlofer

No problem glad you find it useful

Reply to Maziar

hy guys i wanna build a new pc (for gaming) and i need help , i wanna buy a best processor and a better video card , about ram i think will be ddr2 4gb max mhz possible (if u think will be better buy ddr3 plz tell me) buget is 500 Euro, i whant this pc to handle games in the future 2/3years so...i was think about :
procesor: AMD Phenom X4 9850 / Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 to Q9650
video card: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB
rest it doesnt matter to me , just a v good power suply plz help me with ur's idees if u know a better video card on proceesor plz tell me tnx for help i will w8 ur reply or plz contacte me on ady_jl@yahoo.com tnx again guys

Reply to Anonymous

You posted in the wrong section,please post in here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum-13.html

Reply to Maziar

Fans and Power:

Hi guys,
(my first post here)
I have a quick question, which should have a quick answer.

Let's pretend I was about to buy the 4870 or two 4850s in CF:
Assuming that each card's power use and fan noise are similar:

- will the CF solution always sound twice a loud?
- use twice the power?
- in normal web browsing does one of the cards switch off (like a low power state found on multi-core processors)?

According to the GPU charts there are some cheap SLi/CF configurations out there, but I am wondering if they complicate things.

On another note, where is a good place to sell an old AGP card?
I have an BFG 7800GS OC which is way too powerful for my XP 2800+ (Barton) CPU unless I am work out a way to better o/c it

Reply to icstm

Hello and welcome to the forums
2x4850s will be louder than a single 4870 and requires more power.
And no none of the cards switch off

Reply to Maziar

icstm,

Check out the link below for info on video card power usage both at idle and load.

http://archive.atomicmpc.com.au/fo [...] c=7&t=9354

------------------------------

http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

Good link with useful information,thanks nuke

Reply to Maziar

I have a question and yes I am a Noob so please don't flame me.

I understand that in SLI/Crossfire mode the ram from the second card is not being used.

What's holding Nvidia/AMD from accessing that extra ram on the second card?

Kind Regards

Moe

Reply to moe2freaky

Do you mean that why for example when you CrossFire 2 512MB cards,the memory won't be 1GB?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Maziar

Maziar wrote :

Do you mean that why for example when you CrossFire 2 512MB cards,the memory won't be 1GB?

Exactly. Cheers

Reply to moe2freaky

Well it's because both cards work separately,so for example when you CrossFire/SLI 2 512MB cards,each card works with 512MB of memory,and the memory doesn't double.(You won't have 1GB memory)

Reply to Maziar

Mazier:

Will the following setup work? -

3 24" monitors, 2 plugged into 1 card and the 3rd plugged into another that will be the primary (both 5850 graphics cards).

I'll keep Crossfire off so I can use all 3 screens, but if I want to game will it be possible to have both cards in Crossfire mode to game on my primary display (i.e. the monitor plugged into the primary card only). I think the 2 other monitors wont work w/ Crossfire enabled but that's totally fine.

Also, if this is possible can I just switch Crossfire off through CCC or does it require a reboot? Thanks a ton.

Reply to blotkis

Focus On

SLI / CrossFire FAQs - Page 11

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - SLI / CrossFire FAQs