Looking for a Crossfire motherboard

[Judas]

Well my GA-P35-DQ6 should be here any day now, picked up the Intel last Sunday
I had noticed the crossfire issue.
If one slot is running at 4 is it really worth paying for an extra card?

 

[DrunkenMafia]

The DFI ICFX board is getting old. The ATI3200 chipset is much MUCH slower than the newer P35 and even P965 chipsets... So I wouldn't go for it. Your only choice atm is an X38 mb. Gigabyte is your best bet like tatty says and they do have em here in aussie.

I have found a couple around the $350 mark.

http://www.itestate.com.au/products_detail.asp?code=PD00005073

Here is the GA-X38-DS5 for $290

http://www.computertarget.com.au/oscom/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_42&products_id=1276

I cant see much difference between them both..

There is also the ASUS p5e... they are around the same price.. I think Umart has them in stock atm..

 

[Tatty_Two]

The DFI ICFX board is getting old. The ATI3200 chipset is much MUCH slower than the newer P35 and even P965 chipsets... So I wouldn't go for it. Your only choice atm is an X38 mb. Gigabyte is your best bet like tatty says and they do have em here in aussie.

I have found a couple around the $350 mark.

http://www.itestate.com.au/products_detail.asp?code=PD00005073

Here is the GA-X38-DS5 for $290

http://www.computertarget.com.au/oscom/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_42&products_id=1276

I cant see much difference between them both..

There is also the ASUS p5e... they are around the same price.. I think Umart has them in stock atm..

Yep, I looked at the DS5 also before getting the DQ6, the only real differences as far as I was concerned was better phase power and better conductors with a few more overclocking options (the DS5 has more limited memory divider options). In the UK the price difference between the 2 was about £25 so no real big issue in me going for the DQ6.....if the difference had been greater would prob taken the DS5.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Well my GA-P35-DQ6 should be here any day now, picked up the Intel last Sunday
I had noticed the crossfire issue.
If one slot is running at 4 is it really worth paying for an extra card?

You will still get a good boost from Xfire just not quite as quick but that should not really put you off. One of the great strengths of the x38 boards I have failed to mention here, especially to the OP is that with the x38 @ 16 x 16, you can also have 2 different cards running in XFire, for example, a 3870 in the one slot and a 3850 in the other, that in many respects makes up for the cost difference in the boards as one 3870 + one 3850 at 16 x 16 is not going to be far short of 2 3870's at 16 x 4.

You still getting a E6750? That is going to be an awesome combination, easily 4 Gig+!! Do you want a 3870? I have one boxed, sealed and un-opened that I am just about to put on fleabay on "buy it now" at cost price as I have an Asus 8800GT on the way, I was starting to break out in a rash having bought an ATi card so it's gotta go!

 

[btarunr]

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

Prettier, but beauty comes at a price

 

[btarunr]

Well my GA-P35-DQ6 should be here any day now, picked up the Intel last Sunday
I had noticed the crossfire issue.
If one slot is running at 4 is it really worth paying for an extra card?

No, it's certainly not worth buying an extra card, esp. if it has to be a high-end card. PCIe x4 is a measly 2133 MB/s and most of today's cards would underperform. You'd be scripting a disaster if you made the Crossfire setup do load-balancing as that would slow-down even the primary card that runs at x16. The whole setup could then be beaten by a simgle card.

Read this: on how some high-end cards perform at PCIe x4 bandwidth

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/27/pci_express_scaling_analysis/

 

[Judas]

You will still get a good boost from Xfire just not quite as quick but that should not really put you off. One of the great strengths of the x38 boards I have failed to mention here, especially to the OP is that with the x38 @ 16 x 16, you can also have 2 different cards running in XFire, for example, a 3870 in the one slot and a 3850 in the other, that in many respects makes up for the cost difference in the boards as one 3870 + one 3850 at 16 x 16 is not going to be far short of 2 3870's at 16 x 4.

You still getting a E6750? That is going to be an awesome combination, easily 4 Gig+!! Do you want a 3870? I have one boxed, sealed and un-opened that I am just about to put on fleabay on "buy it now" at cost price as I have an Asus 8800GT on the way, I was starting to break out in a rash having bought an ATi card so it's gotta go!

Yup i got the E6750 sitting here waiting for the GA-P35-DQ6. Still have not decided fully on which root to take ATi or nvidia

 

[Judas]

No, it's certainly not worth buying an extra card, esp. if it has to be a high-end card. PCIe x4 is a measly 2133 MB/s and most of today's cards would underperform. You'd be scripting a disaster if you made the Crossfire setup do load-balancing as that would slow-down even the primary card that runs at x16. The whole setup could then be beaten by a simgle card.

Read this: on how some high-end cards perform at PCIe x4 bandwidth

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/27/pci_express_scaling_analysis/

Nice read , i thought as much PCIe x4 is rather inadequate for today's cards, but no worries ill just be using one card.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Prettier, but beauty comes at a price

Lol, at the site in the UK I bought the board from the DQ6 was £5 more only than the Foxconn......thats £5 well spent IMO

 

[Tatty_Two]

Nice read , i thought as much PCIe x4 is rather inadequate for today's cards, but no worries ill just be using one card.

TBH I am not a great supporter of dual card setups personally. I am aware of the benefits but there are compatibility issues also and rarely do you (if ever) get a full 2 cards worth of performance outta the 2, to me thats not cost effective gaming when a good single card can handle everything most games throw at it in "normal" resolutions. Yes I am aware of the performance increases but when you factor in the cost of the 2nd card, maybe the cost of a very expensive x38 mobo if you want 16 x 16 or a good quality 680i mobo, possible the cost of a decent PSU upgrade etc etc, it just does not pull me enuff in that direction.

 

[Disparia]

Anyone with ABIT IX38 QuadGT hands-on experience?

It's right now my pick for next board, if nothing more than I like the layout and currently own an Abit. Two double-slot cards will only cover a PCI slot, leaving the x1, x16(x4), and another PCI slot open. The 6 angled SATA ports are nice and the DDR2 support is great as I already have 4GB of it.

 

[Pinchy]

Wrong, mate.

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

Lol...Okay I was wrong when saying a 2900XT wasnt using the full 8x slot...but the 8x slot isn't obsolete. The X1950XTX, for example, shows that there isnt much of a difference in the 8x - 16x slots, gaming wise. Now, compared to most ATi cards... the only things faster than the X1950XTX are the 2900 series and 3800 series...3850 being pretty close to the X1950XTX performance wise. Now, with current GPU prices, and saying he only has $250 on the motherboard, one would assume that he isnt going to spend $700-1000 on graphics...

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%

Yeah, but the second card is only at 4x in one of those setups. The gap would be a lot smaller testing on 8 x 8 than 16 x 4.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Lol...Okay I was wrong when saying a 2900XT wasnt using the full 8x slot...but the 8x slot isn't obsolete. The X1950XTX, for example, shows that there isnt much of a difference in the 8x - 16x slots, gaming wise. Now, compared to most ATi cards... the only things faster than the X1950XTX are the 2900 series and 3800 series...3850 being pretty close to the X1950XTX performance wise. Now, with current GPU prices, and saying he only has $250 on the motherboard, one would assume that he isnt going to spend $700-1000 on graphics...




Yeah, but the second card is only at 4x in one of those setups. The gap would be a lot smaller testing on 8 x 8 than 16 x 4.

Fair point, but if you are an Intel owner and you want futureproofing the only way to go is P35/x38 so the choice is only 16 x 4 or 16 x 16.

 

[Pinchy]

Fair point, but if you are an Intel owner and you want futureproofing the only way to go is P35/x38 so the choice is only 16 x 4 or 16 x 16.

I don't see the harm in getting a 975x board . It will probably fit into the budget a lot better too.


But yeah, as you said...its all about futureproofing.


I, personally, think its just better to go all out with the motherboard, so if you want to upgrade later, you dont have problems. Only buy one graphics card for now and get a decent X38 motherboard with it. Then, get the 2nd graphics later . Obviously, I don't know your situation, so it may not be that simple...

Well, my recommendation is the 975x chipset, IF you dont intend on getting a better CPU anytime soon. Otherwise, get the P35 chipset with only one graphics card.


OH and just for the record: I thought the P35 was 8 x 8...or were they just the pre-release rumours?

 

[Tatty_Two]

I don't see the harm in getting a 975x board . It will probably fit into the budget a lot better too.


But yeah, as you said...its all about futureproofing.


I, personally, think its just better to go all out with the motherboard, so if you want to upgrade later, you dont have problems. Only buy one graphics card for now and get a decent X38 motherboard with it. Then, get the 2nd graphics later . Obviously, I don't know your situation, so it may not be that simple...

Well, my recommendation is the 975x chipset, IF you dont intend on getting a better CPU anytime soon. Otherwise, get the P35 chipset with only one graphics card.

OH and just for the record: I thought the P35 was 8 x 8...or were they just the pre-release rumours?

Pre release rumours, it is 16 x 4, the only reason I went x38 was not for the 16 x 16 or even the fact that you can XFire 2 completely different cards but for the future proofing.......I want a 45nm Yorkfield Quad in the new year but it will take me until then to get a hang of all the options in this friggin BIOS!

 

[btarunr]

Lol, at the site in the UK I bought the board from the DQ6 was £5 more only than the Foxconn......thats £5 well spent IMO

The Foxconn board is a super-cheap X38 board. I didn't know Gigabyte came this close.

 

[btarunr]

Well, my recommendation is the 975x chipset, IF you dont intend on getting a better CPU anytime soon. Otherwise, get the P35 chipset with only one graphics card.


OH and just for the record: I thought the P35 was 8 x 8...or were they just the pre-release rumours?

975X ? hahaha. Most 975X boards don't even support the Core micro-architecture out-of-box unless flashed with an update. Compare the prices of the 1066 MHz FSB Core processors with the 1333 MHz Core processors and you'll know that the 1333 MHz ones are cheaper, which the 975X boards don't support.

Most 975X boards don't support DDR2 800 and refuse to go beyond DDR2 667. Even if they do go on and support DDR2 800, they won't support CAS-latency 4 and will stick to 5.

There is a certain P35 board which has a 3rd party PCIe hub from IDT. This gives 8 x 8. I'll let you know more soon.

Now would you compromise on all these for the 8 x 8?

 

[PaulieG]

TBH I am not a great supporter of dual card setups personally. I am aware of the benefits but there are compatibility issues also and rarely do you (if ever) get a full 2 cards worth of performance outta the 2, to me thats not cost effective gaming when a good single card can handle everything most games throw at it in "normal" resolutions. Yes I am aware of the performance increases but when you factor in the cost of the 2nd card, maybe the cost of a very expensive x38 mobo if you want 16 x 16 or a good quality 680i mobo, possible the cost of a decent PSU upgrade etc etc, it just does not pull me enuff in that direction.

This is exactly why I'll never do crossfire or SLI. It just doesn't seem worth it to me. How important is that extra 2000 pts in 3dmark06? Can you really see any real world performance in games? Is it really worth another $300? Single high end cards of today already give crazy performance. Just seems kinda excessive...

 

[DrunkenMafia]

This is exactly why I'll never do crossfire or SLI. It just doesn't seem worth it to me. How important is that extra 2000 pts in 3dmark06? Can you really see any real world performance in games? Is it really worth another $300? Single high end cards of today already give crazy performance. Just seems kinda excessive...

I love 2 card setups. . There is just something about it.....

Anyways, with the price of mid-high end cards these days why wouldn't you.. 2 x 3850's is only around $500... FTW

 

[FatForester]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/10/12/crossfire_comparison_intel_x38_versus_p35/1
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2990

For your budget, go with a P35... it'll give you great overclocking and stability, and not hurt you terribly in Crossfire performance.

 

[btarunr]

I love 2 card setups. . There is just something about it.....

Anyways, with the price of mid-high end cards these days why wouldn't you.. 2 x 3850's is only around $500... FTW

2 x HD 3850 = 2 x $170. Not 500

 

[btarunr]

Oh almost forgot, you're Aussie. You talk in AUD

Sorry mate!

 

[Tatty_Two]

I love 2 card setups. . There is just something about it.....

Anyways, with the price of mid-high end cards these days why wouldn't you.. 2 x 3850's is only around $500... FTW

And probably not as quick as a single forthcoming 8800GTS 512MB for considerably less than 2 3850's????? The answer is there for all to see

 

[btarunr]

And probably not as quick as a single forthcoming 8800GTS 512MB for considerably less than 2 3850's????? The answer is there for all to see

Technology is like a girlfriend. You get into commit now, you'll regret later on finding something better (and cheaper)

 

[Tatty_Two]

The Foxconn board is a super-cheap X38 board. I didn't know Gigabyte came this close.

Maybe it was a different Foxconn.....do they have more than one x38 board, this one came in at around £150. Actually just checking the site.....your Foxconn is more expensive!....check here:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...GA-X38-DQ6+Intel+X38+Chipset+?productId=28440

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...conn+Intel+X38A+775+Mainboard?productId=28888