SLI / CrossFire FAQs

[Maziar]

Yeah sorry i meant they will run @8x.
Instead of P5E go for ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA the price difference isnt much and u get solid capacitors and some extra features too.

 

[xizel]

Ok thanks for the tip, Maximus Formula is a hard to find here, can find it from 190€ to 250€.

Im not to aware of what capacitators are and what they do?

I also stumbled apon the ASUS P5E DELUXE, its x48 board. what u think about that? its at an afordable 215€.

Also noticed that all these cards have SupremeFX II Audio Card is this card any good? is it onboard or does it take up one of the PCIe slots?

And you havent answered my other question about eventualy
pairing a HD4870 1Gig with a HD4870X2 ? (which is the most on topic question 😛 )

 

[Maziar]

Well if u can afford the P5E DELUXE go for it,what is the price difference between RAMPAGE FORMULA and P5E DELUXE ?

The onboard sound card is pretty good i like mine it takes on of the PCI-E slots.

I dont recommend u pairing a HD 4870 with HD 4870X2,i recommend u getting 1 HD 4870X2.

 

[xizel]

i can get the P5E Delux for 214€ and the RAMPAGE FORMULA is 241€.
I didnt want to pass the 200€ margin on my board, i got to see what kind of prices i can get ton the MAXIMUS FORMULA.

The HD4870X2 is way over budget for me at the moment, why dont you recomend puting a 4870 with a 4870X2?

Edit:
Just found a
ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA for 185€
and a
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA for 219€

what do you think is the best deal?

Also i have a doubt about my HD4870 1Gb
I can get a Sapphire for 256€
or
POWERCOLOR OC version for 264€
problem is that im not to familiar with POWERCOLOR but i know the OC version has improved cooling
And i know Sapphire is a good reliable brand

 

[Maziar]

Go for MAXIMUS FORMULA because as i said the difference isnt much and it will save you some bucks.

I dont recommend you putting a HD 4870 with HD 4870X2 because if you want to CrossFire just get 2 same cards in my opinnion.

If the OC verion has better cooling go for it,i have a SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2 and its performing very well.

 

[xizel]

Thank you verry much man you were a big help, i will go for the MAXIMUS FORMULA, its the best option. For the Graphics card im not shure yet... i would love to get a HD4870X2 but its way over budget for me.

once again contrats for the topic, real helpfull i will defenatly be cheking it out again when i upgrade my Rig

thanks again
XiZeL

 

[Maziar]

No problem mate glad i could help you
Get a HD 4870 its a solid card and when you wanted to upgrade your monitor,CrossFire it or get a HD 4870X2
Good luck

 

[xizel]

Thanks its what i intend to do
today i went with a firiend and he bought a Sapphire HD 4870X2, Im jeaolus 😛.
But i told him it was a mistake because his LDC is 1680 max resolution, so he wont be taking full advantage of it 😛

 

[Maziar]

It isnt a mistake i have a HD 4870X2 with a 22" monitor(1680x1050) resolution,yeah i cant take the full advantage of it with 22" but it performs awesome

 

[rmstep]

I have two separate HD4870s which have been in use in separate computers. Now one of the machines is upgraded to a 4870x2, and I want to do Crossfire with the two single 4870s. The problem is that I think I've lost my ribbon cables. I may be able to find one of them, but I think finding both may be impossible.

My question, Will full blown Crossfire work with 1 cable and not have a performance degradation ? I ask because all the crossfire setups I see use 2 cables. Also, if all else fails can I buy the crossfire ribbon cables anywhere?... I have upgraded to an X48 mobo so I will have full x16 crossfire support

Thanks in advance

 

[xizel]

to crossfire the 2 HD4870s i think you only need one ribbon cable

 

[Maziar]

Do you want to CrossFire 2xHD 4870s ? or do you want to CrossFire
2xHD 4870 with your HD 4870X2?

 

[rmstep]

Do you want to CrossFire 2xHD 4870s ? or do you want to CrossFire
2xHD 4870 with your HD 4870X2?

I will be using Two (single chip) HD4870s... Most of the time I see them, people are using two ribbon cables between the cards. The 4870x2 is in a totally different computer. (it gets confusing talking about two 4870s and the 4870x2 )

All the pics I see of the 4870 cards crossfired have 2 ribbon cables... like this:

 

[Maziar]

Yes i think you need both

 

[xizel]

hey Maziar, remeber you recommended me to buy a MAXIMUS FORMULA Mobo? just like yours. seems ASUS doesnt build it any more 🙁 and the guys from the shop recommend the ASUS P5E WS PRO. what do you think.
Seems all the same as maximus formula just without the good Sound card.

 

[Maziar]

Thats bad,so take a look @ ASUS P5E its exactly the same like MAXIMUS but doesnt have solid capcitors.

 

[xizel]

ASUS P5E WS PRO has the solid Capacitors, but doesnt have the SupremeFX II. bothe are the same price, and in same price range is also the ASUS P5E DELUXE.
What to doo what to doo?

 

[Maziar]

P5E DELUXE is a X48 board which i dont recommmend over X38 because the difference isnt much.
Between P5E and P5E WS PRO,both are good,P5E has a little better cooling and P5E WS PRO has solid capacitors.

 

[krisna159]

sticky!!!


good job

n thanx to maziar..
this post realy help full for me..n another 😀

..great job..

i can wait for your next post 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

 

[Maziar]

thanks mate glad u found it useful
I have made another sticky for laptops too,its not informative,its 13 questions

 

[omar954]

Ok I'm still confused about x8 and x16 xfire - Will it make a big diff if i get 4850 xfire on x8 link rather than x16? Would the xfire bottleneck my e8400 3.4ghz?

 

[Maziar]

omar,plz read this FAQ completely,i have clearly stated in it,also other have asked the same question,so please read before asking

 

[djthewizz]

is it possible to SLI 8800 GTX with 8800 Ultra ???
both cards are detected and use the same clocking (clock of the GTX) but with nHancer, its said SLI detected but i cant Enable it!!!!

Plz help!!! need an answer fast cause if it dont work with GTX-Ultra, i wanna get another Ultra before they're sold out!!

 

[Maziar]

What is GPU-Z reporting ?
Also you can't enable SLI in Nvidia Control Panel ?

 

[djthewizz]

What is GPU-Z reporting ?
Also you can't enable SLI in Nvidia Control Panel ?

I didnt try GPU-Z and no i cant enable SLI in Nvidia Control Panel.

I read alot last night on somes forums and it's look like u cant SLI GTX with Ultra.
So i ordered another Ultra 😀