Quick question about CrossFire
- Thread starter Shizu
- Start date
Well I'm not a total expert in hardware specs, but this is from what I'm familiar with, anyhow.
Does the mobo ONLY support Crossfire, or is it also SLI-enabled?
"Crossfire" is ... Well, it's like ATI's version of SLI. So you can only use ATI boards with Crossfire. At this point, NVIDIA is the leader in video cards (8800GTX is still the industry's best, despite the late-entry competition from the worse-yet-newer X1950XTX) so of course I would only recommend SLI-supported mobos, but it sounds like you already got the motherboard.
So far as I know you can't have your cake and eat it too here, you have to choose one company and stick with it. Kinda sucks.
Like I said though I may be wrong but that's my common knowledge on the subject, anyway.
Does the mobo ONLY support Crossfire, or is it also SLI-enabled?
"Crossfire" is ... Well, it's like ATI's version of SLI. So you can only use ATI boards with Crossfire. At this point, NVIDIA is the leader in video cards (8800GTX is still the industry's best, despite the late-entry competition from the worse-yet-newer X1950XTX) so of course I would only recommend SLI-supported mobos, but it sounds like you already got the motherboard.
So far as I know you can't have your cake and eat it too here, you have to choose one company and stick with it. Kinda sucks.
Like I said though I may be wrong but that's my common knowledge on the subject, anyway.
Well, fortunately I haven't bought it yet. It's the first time in 4/5 years that I'm getting my hands on a new computer, so I'm being veerry picky. 
The motherboard is only CrossFire (would be crazy to put both on one mobo though), and it seems that those type of motherboards are the only ones that currently support AMD Phenom. Most of the other ones are a bit iffy about its 100% support.
The motherboard is only CrossFire (would be crazy to put both on one mobo though), and it seems that those type of motherboards are the only ones that currently support AMD Phenom. Most of the other ones are a bit iffy about its 100% support.May I ask what mobo it is?
I got a EVGA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard and I gotta say it's freaking fantastic.
AMD Phenom huh? Pretty f'ing slick. I've heard the new AMD Phenom 9600 can go toe-to-toe with Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600 ... Almost. It's a liiiittle faster, but I've heard it falls short in a few areas, and ... Hey! Found a good link with comparisons.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10427&page=3
Our older comp was AMD/ATI, and it performed very well for a long while. But if you're going for best-of-the-best, my own personal experiences say to go Intel/NVIDIA, atleast for now. Just personal opinion though :grin:
The 8800GTX VC is just so ... Awesome ... Gah
I got a EVGA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard and I gotta say it's freaking fantastic.
AMD Phenom huh? Pretty f'ing slick. I've heard the new AMD Phenom 9600 can go toe-to-toe with Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600 ... Almost. It's a liiiittle faster, but I've heard it falls short in a few areas, and ... Hey! Found a good link with comparisons.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10427&page=3
Our older comp was AMD/ATI, and it performed very well for a long while. But if you're going for best-of-the-best, my own personal experiences say to go Intel/NVIDIA, atleast for now. Just personal opinion though :grin:
The 8800GTX VC is just so ... Awesome ... Gah
I've seen quite a few motherboards that support Phenom's 100% that are SLI compatable, and generally about the phenom, i've heard they arn't as stable as the Q6600 (Intel Core 2 Quad) and not as fast, and as its only around a £10 difference between the two processors, i'd rather pay the extra money and not run the risk of the processor hanging in the middle of a large process (it has been said to do this). Thats my opinion because if you do choose the socket 775 you can get the Asus Striker Extreme, which is an awesome board, in my opinion.Shizu":2my2eh7s said:
It just comes down to what you want, because both processors are so close to being the same, the choice could hang on the motherboards available for it.
Back to the CrossFire SLI discussion, they arn't compatable, because they are completely different brands, which is a shame, as it can be very inconvenient to get a CrossFire system to then upgrade to 2 NVIDIA cards, but thats how companies work.
Generally I think NVIDIA are a much better graphics card, when looking for a card I don't even try to look at ATI, as they just arn't as good, and if you want the best you want NVIDIA.
Finally you can go to a site: www.tomshardware.com
It's a really useful site that has benchmarking charts where you can directly compare graphics cards or processors, so you can see for yourself the FPS you get with 2 different cards, or the speed in which it takes to encrypt a large file with different processors or something.
Hope the information helps you :smile:
J250
I'm sure you already know this link, but I found the best prices and customer service (arrived SUPER fast, perfect condition, and they helped me right away when my OS wouldn't initialize) at NewEgg. That has nothing to do with the question, but I figured I'd pass the good word along. TigerDirect sux!
Thanks for the support J, Vene. ^^ I think the reason why I wasn't able to find a good mobo for a Phenom was due to being on a very tight budget - I could only go a little over $800, which leaves me very little options for a good motherboard, but I dropped the Sli capability and going for a XFX 8800 GT, that will deliver the graphic goods on its own. As for the processor, I think seeing the state Phenom is in I would rather wait and see how this processor evolves and if in the future it ends up to be cheaper/faster/better, I'd consider getting it. AMD's Athlon X2 6400+ Black Edition will be my final choice. Oh, and thanks for the heads up, Vene. x_x *scoots slowly away from Tiger direct*
my new mobo is the Biostar T-series TF560 A2+, btw.
my new mobo is the Biostar T-series TF560 A2+, btw.
I ordered my monitor from TigerDirect (since they had the best price by about $10, woo hoo, I know). The monitor itself works alright (which is NEC's deal), but TigerDirect charged me for Expedited Shipping when I wanted Ground (that I had to call in and fix), but they still shipped Ground anyway, and it took 6 [business] days. That wouldn't have been so bad, but good lord, it was such a pain in the ass to get ahold of anyone on the phone (all I wanted was the Accounting dept to refund the shipping difference!) and I got transferred like 3 times and was on hold for like 30 minutes. Ugh
A friend of mine got an entire pre-built comp from there and when it arrived, none of the cables were hooked up and the OS wasn't installed (which is why she got pre-built in the first place--she didn't want to have to numbskull through the hook-up/load-up, troubleshoot process!).
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ANYWAY,
If you're on a tight budget then yeah, you're totally going in the right direction. I blew like 3K on my rig, but you should be able to get something very good for $800. AMD is way cheaper than Intel, and the 8800 GT is nearly as good as the GTX, with the bonus of being half as expensive, which is huge.
That Biostar is a good board, for the price. If you're into overclocking, it may be easier with an ASUS board, but it still offers customization options in the BIOS. I read that it doesn't offer a GPU Optimization for that VC, but if you can figure out the GPU limits to put on it yourself you should be fine.
Good luck on the new rig!!! Enjoy!!
A friend of mine got an entire pre-built comp from there and when it arrived, none of the cables were hooked up and the OS wasn't installed (which is why she got pre-built in the first place--she didn't want to have to numbskull through the hook-up/load-up, troubleshoot process!).
---
ANYWAY,
If you're on a tight budget then yeah, you're totally going in the right direction. I blew like 3K on my rig, but you should be able to get something very good for $800. AMD is way cheaper than Intel, and the 8800 GT is nearly as good as the GTX, with the bonus of being half as expensive, which is huge.
That Biostar is a good board, for the price. If you're into overclocking, it may be easier with an ASUS board, but it still offers customization options in the BIOS. I read that it doesn't offer a GPU Optimization for that VC, but if you can figure out the GPU limits to put on it yourself you should be fine.
Good luck on the new rig!!! Enjoy!!