How good is crossfire?

[Dreaming]

Well, I've got a crossfire motherboard, bought it *for* crossfire, have the one x1950pro which doesn't need any special cables or ought, just plug in and attatch a bridge... and my new sexy 22" monitor is lovely, but I haven't run any intensive games, and I'm not sure how it will react if I try to run stalker at max settings at 1680 x 1050. So thinking, might pop another x1950pro in there. But with dx10 cards round the corner, it doesn't seem worth it. I guess I could re-sell them...

For that matter, what would be better. Two medium range cards, or one high end card? I mean, with hard drives, you could say 2 250gb hard drives (if you have the space) are better than 1 500gb, because they'll be much much cheaper. And I am on quite a strict budget .

My only concern is that when dx10 comes out, dx9 cards might plummet in value so I won't be able to flog it (or them, if I get another)

[chuckskull]

2 1950pros aren't going to stand up to a 8800GTS or a R600. Seeing as you can get a 8800GTS for less than £200 now, I know that'd be my choice.

[Biscuit]

although toms hardware isnt the best on the web, this guid is pretty useful.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics/charts.html

i agree with chuckskull, your better off with one dx10 card. If you have a crossfire motherboard then i would keep with the x1950 pro until the R600 is released. X1950 is a decent enough card to play any games that are around now with settings turned fairly high.

[Dreaming]

I don't need to upgrade straight away, just thought it could be an interim measure. I'm hoping to get two 'cut down' versions of the r600, like x2600 or x2800 'pro', as hopefully they'll be a bit more forgiving with the power consumption. I'm on the fence with the 8800s, because they're not 'true' dx10 are they?

[Biscuit]

where have you read this? they are to my knowledge

[chuckskull]

2 Cards gives you about 40% extra performance on average. considering this costs more than twice as much it really isn't worth it.

Your two real options;

Sell the X1950pro now, while it still has a decent amount of value left in it and pop into the bargains forum to find a 8800GTS 320mb(seen a couple for £170). Which will perform brilliantly in in everything you throw at it.

Or keep the x1950 for now, as its still a decent card, wait for R600 and the 8900 series, then take your pick.

and as far as i know, 8800 is totally DX10 capable.

[Dreaming]

where have you read this? they are to my knowledge

Ages ago when they were doing an analysis of dx10. Can't find it now, will have a look. They said nvidia were close to bringing out a dx10 compatible card, but it wasn't '100%' dx10 for some reason or another, not pure etc. and that ati were being much stricter and their card that was due to arrive sometime after nvidia's offering would be 'pure' DX10.

Will try and find some info for you.