Looking for a Crossfire motherboard

[TonyStark]

I'm thinking about setting up a crossfire system but don't know which motherboard I should buy.


Requirements:
# Both PCI-express slots must be 16x.
# Compatible with Intel processor core2 duo/quad.
# Decent overclocking abilities but nothing crazy like 2000MHz FSB.
# Not too expensive. Around $200-250 AUD.

 

[Mussels]

the one in my specs is closest you'll get. dual 16x slots are pretty non existent on crossfire boards.

 

[Tatty_Two]

All x38 chipset boards without exception are 16 x 16 so there is your answer.....downside is that none of them are cheap! So actually the one in my specs is the one....it's not closest....it is!

 

[Tatty_Two]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/13351

 

[Mussels]

my bad on the X38, i thought they were 8x/8x

 

[Tatty_Two]

my bad on the X38, i thought they were 8x/8x

Well they are pretty new so thats understandable....I only know cause I got one at the weekend!

 

[TonyStark]

What do you think of the Gigabyte P35-DQ6?

 

[btarunr]

DFI LanParty ICFX3200 T2R

What do you think of the Gigabyte P35-DQ6?

Absolutely no Intel P35 based board can give you two PCIe X16 slots running x16 + x16.

 

[Tatty_Two]

DFI LanParty ICFX3200 T2R



Absolutely no Intel P35 based board can give you two PCIe X16 slots running x16 + x16.

I think you will find that the RD600 chipset only supports 8 x 8 in crossfire..........

http://techgage.com/article/dfi_lanparty_icfx3200-t2rg/

 

[btarunr]

What do you think of the Gigabyte P35-DQ6?

Absolutely NO Intel P35 based board can give you two slots running lanes each.

My recommendation:

DFI ICFX3200-T2R/G, priced at USD 130, 3x PCIe X16. (First two slots give X16 + X16 with the third one disabled OR First two give X8 + X8 with the third one running X2 for "physics")

Beats me man! Whatever happened to ATI Physics and NVIDIA Quantum Physics.

I think you will find that the RD600 chipset only supports 8 x 8 in crossfire..........

Hate to disagree, Tatty boy! The first two slots DO give X16 width with the third slot disabled. There's a jumper above the trird slot that makes the switch. When the third slot is enabled, the first two slots go X8 mode, third one gives X2. DFI just missed out this point in their manual and the site as well. Look at the board name.... I (Intel) CF (CrossFire) X (Lanes) 3200 (Well...32 lanes in all) T2 (rev. 2) R/G (Second RAID controller).

So with no other PCIe device in place, the board feeds 16 lanes each to the first two slots, with the third one disabled with the jumper.

 

[Tatty_Two]

What do you think of the Gigabyte P35-DQ6?

Absolutely awesome, have not got to grips with it yet though but the build quality far surpasses any board I have ever owned, the overclocking options are like, unbeleivable, it supports just about everything out there, has more features than I will ever use, the cooling is more elaborate than on a friggin F18 etc etc.

There is not yet the "perfect" BIOS, some are particularily good for CPU overclocking, some better for memory performance but not quite as good for the CPU, there is one that is a balance between the 2 but it is early days yet. It support all 45nm forthcoming CPU's (as does the P35), it also supports forthcoming 1600FSB CPU's, it supports forthcoming 6 core Intel CPU's, has 12 phase power supposidly!! blah blah blah and it is one of the cheaper x38's but top of the range for Gigabyte.

I doubt that once I have got to grips with it my opinion wont have changed, I have got the CPU to 4.3Gig already (in the first hour) but I have not sorted memory speed or Sata yet but I have only had it in the PC for a day.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Sorry I was talking about MY board....the x38 DQ6 which IS 16 x 16, the P35 is only 16 x 4 but according to the link I posted, the DFI board with 2 or 3 slots enabled can ONLY do 8 x 8....look at the diagram.

 

[allen337]

At this point the X38 and the 975x chipset is about your best bet. Personally I wouldnt buy 2 $400 video cards to get 11000 3dmark with 1 and 13500 with 2 @ stock. ALLEN

 

[TonyStark]

Absolutely no Intel P35 based board can give you two PCIe X16 slots running x16 + x16.

Thanks. Gigabyte website must be wrong then.


"Ultimate graphics performance with dual PCI-E x16 interface"
source: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2532

At this point the X38 and the 975x chipset is about your best bet. Personally I wouldnt buy 2 $400 video cards to get 11000 3dmark with 1 and 13500 with 2 @ stock. ALLEN

CPU plays a big part in 3DMark06 score. I'm more interested in game performance, and the recent HD3870 Crossfire vs. 8800GT SLI review shows crossfire scaling better than SLI.

 

[Mussels]

is dual 16x really a must? dual 8x should be good enough for modern cards.

Thanks. Gigabyte website must be wrong then.

yes it is. its physically a 16x slot, but electrically they are less.

 

[btarunr]

Thanks. Gigabyte website must be wrong then.


"Ultimate graphics performance with dual PCI-E x16 interface"
source: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2532




CPU plays a big part in 3DMark06 score. I'm more interested in game performance, and the recent HD3870 Crossfire vs. 8800GT SLI review shows crossfire scaling better than SLI.

It is, mate. Those board makers sitting in Taiwan are just human factory-robots, they just work on what the 'cream-crop' designers sitting in Sunnyvale, USA do. When these Taiwanese guys take up marketing, you get to see disproportionate facts neatly envelped in chinglish. Come on! Don't outsource just everything!

Tatty was right. Tatty's always right. The DFI board is a 2x X8 lane thing. Leaves you with only one board that gets into your criteria of (2x X16 slots + OC + cheap)

Drums please....

Foxconn X38A...all you want + support for both DDR2 and DDR3.

 

[Tatty_Two]

is dual 16x really a must? dual 8x should be good enough for modern cards.





yes it is. its physically a 16x slot, but electrically they are less.

No IMO it is not a must, if anyone truly wants a 16 x 16 then the x38 is the only way to go, the DFi board with the RD600 chipset does not support 16 x 16, I have just read ATi's product spec for RD600 and read 4 reviews of the board, it is 8 x 8.

Problem is marketing in my opinion, if you read reviews of the x38 chipset it quotes that with a 2900 or 3870 you could see as much as a 15% performance increase using 16 x 16 as opposed the the P35's 16 x 4 but TBH I think for everyday use in most games we will probably see only a 5 - 10% difference in speed. I did not get the x38 for the 16 x 16 by the way, I got it for it's cpu futureproofing

 

[Tatty_Two]

Quote:

"Tatty was right. Tatty's always right"

Is actually not very often right! especially on Mondays

 

[btarunr]

Quote:

"Tatty was right. Tatty's always right"

Is actually not very often right! especially on Mondays

All this time I was thinking the RD600 is a "Intel processor version" of the ATI chipset that drove the ASUS A2R32 MVP. 32 lanes. AMD acquired the chipset division of ATI too, but after renaming all the exisiting chipset products from ATI, it left behind the ATI RD600 from the rename spree. Else imagine a collision of worlds with an Intel processor running on an AMD chipset.

 

[Pinchy]

Unless its for future cards, you really dont need dual 16x .

My guess is that the 2900XT wouldnt even make full use of an 8x slot.

 

[btarunr]

Unless its for future cards, you really dont need dual 16x .

My guess is that the 2900XT wouldnt even make full use of an 8x slot.

Wrong, mate.

Take your time reading this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/27/pci_express_scaling_analysis/

 

[Tatty_Two]

Wrong, mate.

Take your time reading this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/27/pci_express_scaling_analysis/

Yeah there is a similar review on the 3870 in crossfire, one rig on a P35 @ 16 x 4, the other on a x38 @ 16 x 16 and as I said earlier, just on the 3870 there was around a 15% performance difference across the board but in some games upto 20%

 

[btarunr]

On second thought, I feel sad for AMD, for all the effort they would've put into making the HD 2900 XT, it didn't really pay off. When I first read its specs, I thought it's RIP 8800. But I choose to think that most ATI products underperform to their potential for some very trivial reasons like the PC game industry being polarised, and a vast majority of games have been developed under the shadow of developer-relations programmes.

 

[Tatty_Two]

On second thought, I feel sad for AMD, for all the effort they would've put into making the HD 2900 XT, it didn't really pay off. When I first read its specs, I thought it's RIP 8800. But I choose to think that most ATI products underperform to their potential for some very trivial reasons like the PC game industry being polarised, and a vast majority of games have been developed under the shadow of developer-relations programmes.

To be fair to the 2900XT, it's a good card price > performance BEFORE the 3870 and 8800GT came along. It manages to match and beat in many benches the 8800GTS 640MB for a lower price so it cant be all bad.

 

[Tatty_Two]

And does this pic look much prettier than the Foxconn x38?.............................