Specific cards needed for ATI Hybrid graphics?

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Trocon

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I bought a Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H, which has an integrated ATI HD4290 with 128MB SidePort memory. This motherboard is said to support "Hybrid CrossFireX" -- whereby the existing IGP can mate with an add-in PCIe card for more performance.

Most documents I've read state that only specific cards can be used in my scenario, and reach no consensus as to which model(s) I should use.

My question is this. Which video card(s) can I add to my rig for Hybrid CrossFireX? Must it be one certain card, say, a 5750... or a particular chipset family, like Cypress... or a card with specific features, like floating point... and so on?

And BTW, thanks for reading all the way through this question. :)
 
^ that table doesn't help in this case mactronix

Anyway, you simply need a card with the same number of shaders, which is 40. So for hybrid crossfire you would need a 2400 or 3400 series card, and the result would be alot slower than just using a single 4670 or 5570. It might be a little faster than an 80 shader 5450, but that's not saying much.
 

mactronix's link demonstrates some of my confusion, in that AMD doesn't even list the 4290 in that matrix. and then other sites I found correlate with your having said it needs a 2400/3400 series -- if that's the case, why not just bypass it completely with a newer card?

[strike]in the end, it's okay, because this helps me decide to take the entire Hybrid consideration off the table. now, I just need to decide between a 5770 (friendlier to my budget) or a 58xx, which introduces floating point. etc, etc. but that's another forum question. :)

thx guys.[/strike]

EDIT: Okay, I was wrong... his (AMD's) chart does show which cards are suitable. See my later messages below.
 
Unless I'm mistaken, the chart mactronix provided does indeed help. The motherboard, in question (Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H) has the 890GX north bridge. The bottom chart shows that the 890GX north bridge has the Hybrid CrossfireX compatibility with the HD 5670, HD 5570, HD 5550, and HD 5450.

-Wolf sends
 



Correct. I did consider pointing the above facts out but assumed it would be condescending and that the chart was obvious enough. My bad.

Mactronix :)
 

fsck. I didn't intend to dig a trench on my very first post. :sweat:

You're right. I've seen that chart before, and I guess I didn't carry the understanding down to the chipsets. I'm new, remember?

Honestly, trying to select a card from dozens of brand iterations, scores of combinations involving generation, performance class, and whatever the last two numbers are supposed to be... it's starting to take its toll on me. I shall award you Best Answer, but don't expect me to figure out how to do a strikethrough edit of my first reply. :)

 

Sorry, I think I dismissed that chart -- the first time -- because I didn't see the newer 6xxx generation on it, and assumed it was outdated. See also my mea culpa above. 😀
 
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