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So, guys..... I've read up plenty on the SLI Nforce 4's and have now built one.
But is Xfire worthy of looking at for my new PC?
I wil be running a 165 or 170, as I fancy a dual core CPU, and will start with 1 gig (2x512) and will move to 2gig later on.
Will prolly be getting a 7600 GT though it pains me to leave ATI behind, I can't see another way for good value and performance.
So....(and this applies to several friends too, including Dak here at Hexus): Should we look at XFire?
better add in further detail ;)
1 PCI express card to start with....maybe another one day, more likely to upgrade siblge card tho.
Currently on SCSI.....will look into SATA Raptor drive as boot drive.
Sorry forget this post, I read your's as X-Fi (thought you were comparing onboard audio v x-fi).
In my honest opinion no one should buy crossfire or SLI. It's just ugly. Put both the cores on the same GPU.
Nutsy...mate...lets pretend we have a choice here ;)
Lets pretend that we dont have the dough for twin core GPU's....or the availability. AND as I've ever-so-subtly mentioned...its a one card system to begin with, and likey forever.
What's best and why?
Well, if we're pretending you have a choice, choose neither and just go for a single x16 lane mobo and an nvidia card cos ATi are rubbish with crappy windows "control" software and crappy Unix support :D
seriously....I did think nforce 4 non SLI. But is there not a chipset difference? one that makes the entire mobo slightly less efficient?
Would not have though so? Don't quote me but I see no reason why that would be the case.
I suppose a non-Ultra vs. an Ultra nf4 single PCI-E 16 board could seem less efficient, however the real world difference is negligible. An nf4 single slot Ultra board is the same as an SLI board, minus the second PCI-E 16 slot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zak33
One of the reason I went Crossfire (but stuck with single card), is that it offers the motherboard offered the features (e-SATA among other things) of the flagship nVidia motherboard by the same manufacturer (Asus), while using less power: despite not being 4+4 phase like the A8N32, the AR32 still consumes less power. You may or may not care, but I think of that as a nice touch :)
No, they are the same chipset silicon (excluding C51D) with features turned on/off by bridges.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zak33
pity that the X1900s don't ...:pQuote:
Originally Posted by TooNice
good data guys :)
Bearing in mind I have a very lovely PCI sound card , and wont be using onboard at all, and bearing in mind single card graphics is 99% likely....
which mobo for a 165, moderately overlclocked, with 2x512 PC3200 straight away, with a further 2x512 PC3200 to follow in a few short months?
RAID possible but likely I'll stick with my SCSI for now. SATA 2 seems meaningless as the fastest Raptor drives are still SATA1.
Would like lots of nice USB headers, and anything else on offer. The nVidia firewall means nowt to me as the Vigor does that job.
Get in the graphics forum, your not THAT special ;)
In a word, no, stick to single cards.
Your going for a 7600GT - then don’t buy another one later on to SLI it, just sell the 7600GT and go with one of the higher 7900 series based cards :)
Unless your talking about buying the top 2 cards at any given time (remember that double cards does not mean double performance), then either solutions aint really worth it (imo). More power consumption, more heat, most hassle, its just not worth it.
I mean, honestly mate, why do you need either solutions ?
Whats the most powerful thing you run on your system? Are you really willing to spend all that money, time and effect setting up a dual cards based graphics system, just to have it out dated in 6 months time by a single card from either company? :)
One last thing : If you want to go crossfire, then you need a new motherboard to support it. A NF4 wont work with it.
Well. NForce4 ULTRA is what you're going to want. They are all pretty much the same IMHO. I picked mine due to wanting an onboard firewire solution (it was the only nForce4 ULTRA platform at the time that had firewire onboard, its 1394b too).Quote:
Originally Posted by Zak33
It's bloody good tbh. It has a passivly cooled chipset too, so no noisy 40mm chipset fan. Comes with 8 USB, 4 on backplate, 4 on PCI, plus another 2, 2 port front panel USB connectors (so 12 total). One of the USB backplates also has 2 firewire ports on it (small and large). Plus there's room for 2 more firewire front panel.
also have a gander at the DFI ultra-D. great board with plenty of overclocking features, 8 usb, firewire, 2 lan, 4 sata, 2 ide can be easily modded to sli should you choose to do so in future and is uv reactive if that floats your boat :lol:
if he's not bothered by SATA300 or firewall as he says then he doesn't need an Ultra even the basic nF4 will do.Quote:
Originally Posted by yamangman