Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: HEXUS.reviews :: CrossFire and SLI dongle-less/bridgeless performance analysis

  1. #1
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,283
    Thanks
    293
    Thanked
    841 times in 476 posts

    HEXUS.reviews :: CrossFire and SLI dongle-less/bridgeless performance analysis

    Bridgeless and dongle-less multi-GPU rendering isn't exactly new. We've seen it on lower-end SLI and CrossFire solutions, but now it's starting to rear its head higher up the product ranges, where the lack of a dedicated inter-card link might have a bigger impact. Shall we see if it does? OK then!
    http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6683
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    2,028
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked
    34 times in 29 posts
    a quick comment...

    afaik ATI when mentioning dongleless crossfire said that a motherboard with 2 16xspeed pci-e slots would be required (not 2 8xspeed slots like the x975 chipset) as this would give enough pci-e lanes for the bandwidth to not be an issue.

    As you tested a board with 2 16xspeed lanes (Nforce590) against one with 2x 8speed lanes surely this test is not totally fair.

    Although I realise Core2Duo does not have any crossfire mobos with dual 16xspeed slots until RD600 arrives, you could have used an amd-based system as although it would have been slower overall it would imo show a fairer comparison.

    e.g. the Asus ASUS M2R32-MVP vrs the Asus M2N32-SLi?

    just my 2 pence, otherwise an interested review

  3. #3
    Anthropomorphic Personification shaithis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    The Last Aerie
    Posts
    10,857
    Thanks
    645
    Thanked
    872 times in 736 posts
    • shaithis's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P8Z77 WS
      • CPU:
      • i7 3770k @ 4.5GHz
      • Memory:
      • 32GB HyperX 1866
      • Storage:
      • Lots!
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire Fury X
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX850
      • Case:
      • Corsair 600T (White)
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2 x Dell 3007
      • Internet:
      • Zen 80Mb Fibre
    If anyone thinks that the merger will force people to pair AMD + ATI and Intel + nVidia, I think they are quite short-sighted.

    It would be killer for the companies to effectively lock people in more then they are now at the same time as narrowing their potential customer base.

    I am sure for now, there are some confused people and that is the reason the RD600 seems up-in-the-air, but give it a couple of months and i think we will be back on track
    Main PC: Asus Rampage IV Extreme / 3960X@4.5GHz / Antec H1200 Pro / 32GB DDR3-1866 Quad Channel / Sapphire Fury X / Areca 1680 / 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Gold 2 / Corsair 600T / 2x Dell 3007 / 4 x 250GB SSD + 2 x 80GB SSD / 4 x 1TB HDD (RAID 10) / Windows 10 Pro, Yosemite & Ubuntu
    HTPC: AsRock Z77 Pro 4 / 3770K@4.2GHz / 24GB / GTX 1080 / SST-LC20 / Antec TP-550 / Hisense 65k5510 4K TV / HTC Vive / 2 x 240GB SSD + 12TB HDD Space / Race Seat / Logitech G29 / Win 10 Pro
    HTPC2: Asus AM1I-A / 5150 / 4GB / Corsair Force 3 240GB / Silverstone SST-ML05B + ST30SF / Samsung UE60H6200 TV / Windows 10 Pro
    Spare/Loaner: Gigabyte EX58-UD5 / i950 / 12GB / HD7870 / Corsair 300R / Silverpower 700W modular
    NAS 1: HP N40L / 12GB ECC RAM / 2 x 3TB Arrays || NAS 2: Dell PowerEdge T110 II / 24GB ECC RAM / 2 x 3TB Hybrid arrays || Network:Buffalo WZR-1166DHP w/DD-WRT + HP ProCurve 1800-24G
    Laptop: Dell Precision 5510 Printer: HP CP1515n || Phone: Huawei P30 || Other: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Pro 10.1 CM14 / Playstation 4 + G29 + 2TB Hybrid drive

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    332
    Thanks
    6
    Thanked
    6 times in 5 posts
    • Elessar_VPR's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP35 Pro
      • CPU:
      • Core 2 Quad - Q6600
      • Memory:
      • 4 Gb Corsair 6400
      • Storage:
      • 2.8Tb
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI HD-6850
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX620
      • Case:
      • Lian Li A-10
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 Home Premium x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • NEC MultiSync - 24WMGX3
    I find it a little odd when looking at the Crossfire Splinter Cell results you suggested the dongle may not be performing as well as it could, despite getting an increase of 97% over the single X1900GT. Seems like it's more a case of the non-dongled version doing well than the dongle doing bad to me.

    Still overall was quite interesting.

  5. #5
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    I completely agree having 8x8 vx 16x16 is unfair, thry it on a RD580 board you will find crossfire improves around 15+%, or so the case was with dual X1600XT cards in 16x16 board then over a 8x8 which people tested a ASUS MPV Vs and ASUS MPV32 sk939. At the moment this is not apples to apples as nvidia have a 100% bandwith peformance increase.

  6. #6
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,283
    Thanks
    293
    Thanked
    841 times in 476 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Elessar_VPR View Post
    I find it a little odd when looking at the Crossfire Splinter Cell results you suggested the dongle may not be performing as well as it could, despite getting an increase of 97% over the single X1900GT. Seems like it's more a case of the non-dongled version doing well than the dongle doing bad to me.
    That's a very good observation, although it somewhat contradicts the argument that 8x8 is a limitation for CrossFire, doesn't it? Problem is, we can't test 16x16 CrossFire on Core 2 right now.
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  7. #7
    Senior Member Rack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    LonDon
    Posts
    775
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Why not use AMD then? Sure it's a slightly slower platform, but at least the whole basis of the tests is even.

  8. #8
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,283
    Thanks
    293
    Thanked
    841 times in 476 posts
    Would we then run into CPU limitations? I expect we could get around it.

    Fact of the matter is we tested on Core 2 because that's the processor around which we base much of our high-end testing now. Our results show you the differences with bridged/dongle-less operation on a Core 2 platform. One of the reasons is, as rightfully stated, the PCIe lane issue.

    Perhaps a look into the same scenario, but on an AMD platform, is worth a look, but I don't think our Core 2 results are invalid. Still, I take it people would quite like to see how this technology fares with an FX-60 at the helm?
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  9. #9
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    31,023
    Thanks
    1,870
    Thanked
    3,381 times in 2,718 posts
    • kalniel's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
      • CPU:
      • Intel i9 9900k
      • Memory:
      • 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Samsung 970Evo+ NVMe
      • Graphics card(s):
      • nVidia GTX 1060 6GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic 600W
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master HAF 912
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell S2721DGF
      • Internet:
      • rubbish
    Sure - would have to crank up the res I guess to put the bottleneck back on the GPU.

    It might also answer a question that's been at the back of my mind for a while - is core2duo actually a more efficient processor in terms of the gpus? IE can it make a difference even when the system is supposedly GPU bottlenecked?

  10. #10
    Moderator chuckskull's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    The Frozen North
    Posts
    7,713
    Thanks
    951
    Thanked
    690 times in 463 posts
    • chuckskull's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z77-D3H
      • CPU:
      • 3570k @ 4.7 - H100i
      • Memory:
      • 32GB XMS3 1600mhz
      • Storage:
      • 256GB Samsung 850 Pro + 3TB Seagate
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GTX 980Ti Classified
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic M12 700W
      • Case:
      • Corsair 500R
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Asus VG278HE
      • Internet:
      • FTTC
    Seeing as you already have C2D results you'd know straight away if you hit the CPU's limit. Then again GPU speed hasn't really gone up much since the FX-60/62 was king. We're still using the G71/R580. So I doubt you'll have a problem.

  11. #11
    Anthropomorphic Personification shaithis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    The Last Aerie
    Posts
    10,857
    Thanks
    645
    Thanked
    872 times in 736 posts
    • shaithis's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P8Z77 WS
      • CPU:
      • i7 3770k @ 4.5GHz
      • Memory:
      • 32GB HyperX 1866
      • Storage:
      • Lots!
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire Fury X
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX850
      • Case:
      • Corsair 600T (White)
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2 x Dell 3007
      • Internet:
      • Zen 80Mb Fibre
    The difference between a Core 2 Duo and a high-end AM2 chip isn't gigantic.

    There MAY be a little bottlenecking.....but I am sure you could get a FX62 and overclock it a bit to get close enough
    Main PC: Asus Rampage IV Extreme / 3960X@4.5GHz / Antec H1200 Pro / 32GB DDR3-1866 Quad Channel / Sapphire Fury X / Areca 1680 / 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Gold 2 / Corsair 600T / 2x Dell 3007 / 4 x 250GB SSD + 2 x 80GB SSD / 4 x 1TB HDD (RAID 10) / Windows 10 Pro, Yosemite & Ubuntu
    HTPC: AsRock Z77 Pro 4 / 3770K@4.2GHz / 24GB / GTX 1080 / SST-LC20 / Antec TP-550 / Hisense 65k5510 4K TV / HTC Vive / 2 x 240GB SSD + 12TB HDD Space / Race Seat / Logitech G29 / Win 10 Pro
    HTPC2: Asus AM1I-A / 5150 / 4GB / Corsair Force 3 240GB / Silverstone SST-ML05B + ST30SF / Samsung UE60H6200 TV / Windows 10 Pro
    Spare/Loaner: Gigabyte EX58-UD5 / i950 / 12GB / HD7870 / Corsair 300R / Silverpower 700W modular
    NAS 1: HP N40L / 12GB ECC RAM / 2 x 3TB Arrays || NAS 2: Dell PowerEdge T110 II / 24GB ECC RAM / 2 x 3TB Hybrid arrays || Network:Buffalo WZR-1166DHP w/DD-WRT + HP ProCurve 1800-24G
    Laptop: Dell Precision 5510 Printer: HP CP1515n || Phone: Huawei P30 || Other: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Pro 10.1 CM14 / Playstation 4 + G29 + 2TB Hybrid drive

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Crossfire on NF4 SLI mobo
    By Ryan.Party in forum Graphics Cards
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 31-05-2006, 11:55 AM
  2. SLI or Crossfire Mobo, HELP MEEEE!! lol
    By DragonStar in forum SHOPPING AND CLASSIFIEDS
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 09-12-2005, 02:46 AM
  3. On SLI mobos (or Crossfire) can the lower PCI-E slot be used as main?
    By unreal in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 28-09-2005, 11:22 PM
  4. 500W is too high for Crossfire and SLI. True or false?
    By grumpycrab in forum HEXUS Reviews
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 20-07-2005, 08:34 PM
  5. CrossFire - ATi's Answer to SLi?
    By Steve in forum HEXUS News
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 20-05-2005, 08:19 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •