Crossfire vs. R520

[imported_X]

Speculate. Which do you think will be faster:

1) 2 X800s or 2 X850s in Crossfire
2) R520

Is this going to be like the 6600s, where it is better just to get the top end card than use mid-level cards in dual configuration?

 

[PrayForDeath]

Why don't you just wait and see? What good does it do to speculate?
Anyway, according to ATI, I think they said an R520 will be faster than two R420s, but am not sure.

 

[imported_Bleh]

Pretty much always gonna be that the latest and greatest from ATI/NVIDIA will be 2x as powerful as the previous generation top of the line so this is where SLI makes no sense what so ever.

 

[imported_X]

It will be interesting to see if lessons learned from SLI apply here. The only real reason to go with Crossfire would be a) if you want the bleeding edge with 2 top cards or b) you have an existing mid-range card and want a slightly cheaper upgrade (since you need a new motherboard and a second mid-range card). Otherwise, you are better off just getting a single top card, rather than using two mid-range cards in Crossfire.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: X
It will be interesting to see if lessons learned from SLI apply here. The only real reason to go with Crossfire would be a) if you want the bleeding edge with 2 top cards or b) you have an existing mid-range card and want a slightly cheaper upgrade (since you need a new motherboard and a second mid-range card). Otherwise, you are better off just getting a single top card, rather than using two mid-range cards in Crossfire.

Which makes me wonder if R520 has hit some bumps. Why release crossfire now at the supposeed end of the 4.xx life cycle? At 550 bucks all it is going to do is either eat into your R520 sales or not sell at all.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: X
It will be interesting to see if lessons learned from SLI apply here. The only real reason to go with Crossfire would be a) if you want the bleeding edge with 2 top cards or b) you have an existing mid-range card and want a slightly cheaper upgrade (since you need a new motherboard and a second mid-range card). Otherwise, you are better off just getting a single top card, rather than using two mid-range cards in Crossfire.

Which makes me wonder if R520 has hit some bumps. Why release crossfire now at the supposeed end of the 4.xx life cycle? At 550 bucks all it is going to do is either eat into your R520 sales or not sell at all.

its definetely possible that the R520 may not be performing according to their standards...although it was surprising they were demoing some games on that silicon at E3. if nvidia gets boards out to consumers before the R520 is released they could be in for some trouble.

 

[ronnn]

Also possible that ATI wants a more traditional launch. So they hint and have demo's for several months and than finally launch.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Bleh
Pretty much always gonna be that the latest and greatest from ATI/NVIDIA will be 2x as powerful as the previous generation top of the line so this is where SLI makes no sense what so ever.

Not totally true.
With Crossfire you will be able to get 12xAA.
Even with the next gen cards, you won't be able to get this unless you also have 2 of them, so 2x current gen will offer some things 1xnext gen won't offer.

 

[NeoV]

hard sell for 12xAA to go the SLI route...

my guess is that the next-gen cards will also have crossfire capabilities, so crossfire is here to stay for a while, even as they introduce new cards.....doesn't make much business sense otherwise

 

[JackBurton]

Will Crossfire let you run multiple displays AND still run games in SLI mode (or whatever ATi is calling their SLI version) without a reboot. Now THAT would be the big selling point for me with Crossfire.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Will Crossfire let you run multiple displays AND still run games in SLI mode (or whatever ATi is calling their SLI version) without a reboot. Now THAT would be the big selling point for me with Crossfire.

Yes, they say you will be able to select multi display or Crossfire mode without a reboot.
Hasn't been totally confirmed yet, but that's what everything I've read has said. No reboots needed.

 

[nitromullet]

I would imagine that neither a single G70 nor r520 will beat either SLI'ed 6800 Ultra's or Crossfired X850 XTPE's. If they would, I don't think that nVidia or ATi would have developed their dual card solutions. Of course, only time will tell.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: X
Speculate. Which do you think will be faster:

1) 2 X800s or 2 X850s in Crossfire
2) R520

Is this going to be like the 6600s, where it is better just to get the top end card than use mid-level cards in dual configuration?

whichever setup yields the higher overall fps.

 

[ronnn]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
I would imagine that neither a single G70 nor r520 will beat either SLI'ed 6800 Ultra's or Crossfired X850 XTPE's. If they would, I don't think that nVidia or ATi would have developed their dual card solutions. Of course, only time will tell.

I think they will make whatever they can sell. Best performance for $'s has nothing to do with it. Still dual gpu is more about winning performance crowns than sales. Also helps the future shop salesman sell an expensive mb and power supply, just in case the sucker ever wants a second card. :beer:

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Its hard to believe there won't be a crossfire R520, so I'd say the Crossfired R520 would be fasest

Otherwise it might not be which one is faster, but which one is more cost effective and/or offers most features. If R520 is 2x faster or more, will it also offer Super AA?

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Will Crossfire let you run multiple displays AND still run games in SLI mode (or whatever ATi is calling their SLI version) without a reboot. Now THAT would be the big selling point for me with Crossfire.

Yes, they say you will be able to select multi display or Crossfire mode without a reboot.
Hasn't been totally confirmed yet, but that's what everything I've read has said. No reboots needed.

Oooo, Crossfire looks REALLY NICE then!

 

[Insomniak]

I speculate that one of them will definitely be faster than the other.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

do we really need 12X AA? sheesh 4X is good enough for me, i usually don't even use AA (although i run at 1920X1200).

 

[stardust]

There will soon be R520 with Crossfire, then what? Price dictates performance in the most general sense.

 

[IamTHEsnake]

At high resolutions past 16x12, the effect Anti-Aliasing is less and less apparent. I read this somewhere, though I forget where....

I think AF will still be good though, haha.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: X
It will be interesting to see if lessons learned from SLI apply here. The only real reason to go with Crossfire would be a) if you want the bleeding edge with 2 top cards or b) you have an existing mid-range card and want a slightly cheaper upgrade (since you need a new motherboard and a second mid-range card). Otherwise, you are better off just getting a single top card, rather than using two mid-range cards in Crossfire.

Which makes me wonder if R520 has hit some bumps. Why release crossfire now at the supposeed end of the 4.xx life cycle? At 550 bucks all it is going to do is either eat into your R520 sales or not sell at all.

its definetely possible that the R520 may not be performing according to their standards...although it was surprising they were demoing some games on that silicon at E3. if nvidia gets boards out to consumers before the R520 is released they could be in for some trouble.

Yeah but from what I can tell they were showing off the decode ability of the thing. I dont know many people who are going to run out and purchase a 500+ dollar decoder for HD DVD especially when you wont see titles show up until the end of the year.

Seems like an odd series of events imo for ATI at Computex IMO.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: ddogg
its definetely possible that the R520 may not be performing according to their standards...although it was surprising they were demoing some games on that silicon at E3. if nvidia gets boards out to consumers before the R520 is released they could be in for some trouble.

Honestly?

I think the most likely scenario is the same old - ATi is having yield problems.

This was the reason NV30 had such a huge delay, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's the reason ATi keeps pushing back R520 and we haven't seen much of it. Some industry "insider" rumblings have even said R520 is going to be ATi's NV30. I don't know if I believe that, but I think it's very possible that yield issues are what's holding them back.

One on hand, that may mean it's a very ambitious GPU design, but on the other hand, if they can't get it on shelves, ambition means squat.

I think if G70 shipes first with no answer from ATi, ATi is going to have a rough go round next generation. That's textbook Nvidia though - they're aggressive like sharks, and if they smell blood in the water, they'll take advantage of the opportunity.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Bleh
Pretty much always gonna be that the latest and greatest from ATI/NVIDIA will be 2x as powerful as the previous generation top of the line so this is where SLI makes no sense what so ever.

Umm to have next gen card a whole year, now 18 months, early?

Sli/crossfire makes perfect sense at the high high end not at the middle IMO.

 

[Zebo]

R520 for me. I don't care if Crossfire/Sli is faster. Too much price premium, too much power required, and too much noise or too much heat introduced into my water loop with two cards.:thumbsdown:

 

[phr0m]

r520 i think will perform maybe a little better in future games becuase of its support of ps 3.0 but with current games i think crossfire will do better