AM2 Crossfire?

[familyman1]

OK gents, although it's slightly off topic I wanted to pass along one last thing on the upcoming crossfire stuff (http://www.digit-life.com/news.html). This is rather old news now but it's the first diagram I've seen of the dongleless crossfire. It basically looks similar to SLI with an internal cable and internal compositing engines on the cards - so no more external dongles or master cards. Not exactly shocking news but at least it's in print.

"Radeon X1650 is composed by RV560, RV530 and RV535 chipset, where RV560 is correspond to the top model 1650XT. They are manufactured by TSMC with 80nm process, featured 8 Pixel Shader Pipelines, 24 Pixel Shader Processors (12 for RV530), 128Bit memory controller with 1.4GHz DDR support, 600MHz clock speed and built-in Compositing CrossFire Engine. There is no more master/slave card for CrossFire. Expected to be available in October, its price is set between $149 and $199."

I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be backwards compatable with current master/slave crossfire set-ups but it may have caused bios problems (delays) in the new boards. I wanted to pass this along so we could all keep an eye on the bios', drivers, etc that will support this. It shouldn't be a big deal though (LOL).

Keep the faith! Xfire with the R600 cards is going to be awesome...

 

[OBCT]

The review of the MSI board will be up Monday according to Gary. MSI hasn't delayed the release of the board though.

 

[OBCT]

Found another review of the MSI board, but it's in Spanish! Google to the rescue:

Translated review

If that doesn't work, google http://www.madboxpc.com/contenido.php?id=2603 and translate it.

 

[Nagurski]

Thanks for the update, OBCT. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Alter]

Thanks OBCT, I'm lucky I can read spanish. Dam that Crossfire setup did look sexy though! And the board isn't as bad as I feared, just flash the BIOS and OC'ing heaven

 

[The Mailman]

Originally posted by: Jibboom
My brother wants me to build a gaming computer for him before he goes away to uni (well, before I go back to uni too). I was hoping to use an am2 / crossfire build, but the boards are taking way too long to come out so I think i'm just going to go with a conroe build.

conroe has nothing to do with crossfire buddy

 

[The Mailman]

Originally posted by: familyman1
OK gents, although it's slightly off topic I wanted to pass along one last thing on the upcoming crossfire stuff (http://www.digit-life.com/news.html). This is rather old news now but it's the first diagram I've seen of the dongleless crossfire. It basically looks similar to SLI with an internal cable and internal compositing engines on the cards - so no more external dongles or master cards. Not exactly shocking news but at least it's in print.

"Radeon X1650 is composed by RV560, RV530 and RV535 chipset, where RV560 is correspond to the top model 1650XT. They are manufactured by TSMC with 80nm process, featured 8 Pixel Shader Pipelines, 24 Pixel Shader Processors (12 for RV530), 128Bit memory controller with 1.4GHz DDR support, 600MHz clock speed and built-in Compositing CrossFire Engine. There is no more master/slave card for CrossFire. Expected to be available in October, its price is set between $149 and $199."

I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be backwards compatable with current master/slave crossfire set-ups but it may have caused bios problems (delays) in the new boards. I wanted to pass this along so we could all keep an eye on the bios', drivers, etc that will support this. It shouldn't be a big deal though (LOL).

Keep the faith! Xfire with the R600 cards is going to be awesome...

i dont understand what this means

it doesnt mention the chipset 3200 or crossfire, just the new cards

so should i hold off buying the board till october? just tell me what to do so i know hwat to buy when stuff comes out. i have no problem waiting a month and a half for crossfire cuz i wont even use crossfire until the new cards are at least out anyway.

 

[Brbnboy13]

Just found this: About the RD 600

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33148

 

[OBCT]

Old news. And it's theInq, so take it lightly. They say late August too, and you know that isn't happening.

 

[familyman1]

Originally posted by: The Mailman

Originally posted by: familyman1
OK gents, although it's slightly off topic I wanted to pass along one last thing on the upcoming crossfire stuff (http://www.digit-life.com/news.html). This is rather old news now but it's the first diagram I've seen of the dongleless crossfire. It basically looks similar to SLI with an internal cable and internal compositing engines on the cards - so no more external dongles or master cards. Not exactly shocking news but at least it's in print.

"Radeon X1650 is composed by RV560, RV530 and RV535 chipset, where RV560 is correspond to the top model 1650XT. They are manufactured by TSMC with 80nm process, featured 8 Pixel Shader Pipelines, 24 Pixel Shader Processors (12 for RV530), 128Bit memory controller with 1.4GHz DDR support, 600MHz clock speed and built-in Compositing CrossFire Engine. There is no more master/slave card for CrossFire. Expected to be available in October, its price is set between $149 and $199."

I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be backwards compatable with current master/slave crossfire set-ups but it may have caused bios problems (delays) in the new boards. I wanted to pass this along so we could all keep an eye on the bios', drivers, etc that will support this. It shouldn't be a big deal though (LOL).

Keep the faith! Xfire with the R600 cards is going to be awesome...

i dont understand what this means

it doesnt mention the chipset 3200 or crossfire, just the new cards

so should i hold off buying the board till october? just tell me what to do so i know hwat to buy when stuff comes out. i have no problem waiting a month and a half for crossfire cuz i wont even use crossfire until the new cards are at least out anyway.

I wouldn't hold off getting your mobo if you need/want one now. The improvements to the crossfire set-up should be invisibile to us except for possible driver or bios updates. I just posted it as something to be aware of. Shouldn't be a problem, particularly with a new mobo, just something to keep an eye on it in reviews, etc.

OBCT, thanks for the post. I'm glad to see that MSI board. I'll look for the review next week. Should be a good board. Layout is similar to the the Asus M2R32-MVP. Both have SB600 south bridge and 2 PCI slots. All I need is a sound card so I'm good with either of these.

Regarding shipsets, the ATI RD600 is a new north bridge to compete with Intel's i975. I'm currently of the mind to stick with AM2, probably a 4600, but if I was going to build a C2D system I would want this north bridge on the board since it's got the auto OC for crossfire.

ATI chips for mobos: the RD600 north bridge (Intel/crossfire), RD580 (AMD/crossfire), SB600 south bridge (out now), and SB650 south bridge (out soon). For graphics cards they have the R580+ which will be on the X1950XTX (launched next week I believe) and then the R600 due out late this quarter. The R600 cards will be DX10 ready (VISTA) but are supposed to run well on DX9 too. I suspect that just one of the R600 cards will be enough for most gamers, let alone a crossfire set-up. I'm sure they will be $$$ when they first come out so I'm probably going to run a pair of X1900XTX (after price drop from X1950XTX release) then upgrade next year some time.

I'm thinking (hoping) that mobos with the SB650 south bridge will be be coming out in Q4 06. These boards will likely be the higher end ones with 3 PCI slots and will probably be marketing as DX10, VISTA ready, etc. I don't know this, just speculating based on chipset features and what I'm seeing coming out around the SB600.

 

[Tsuwamono]

Originally posted by: familyman1

Regarding shipsets, the ATI RD600 is a new north bridge to compete with Intel's i975. I'm currently of the mind to stick with AM2, probably a 4600, but if I was going to build a C2D system I would want this north bridge on the board since it's got the auto OC for crossfire.

Go with the 5000 X2, it will be available again within the next few days so TD says. Its cheap and you get an FX60 for the price basicly.

 

[Jibboom]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
conroe has nothing to do with crossfire buddy

Yes, I know. I was going with AM2 originally because the crossfire 3200 AM2 boards were supposed to be out in time. Now they won't be out in time for either AM2 or C2D I am going with C2D because they currently have the edge on performance.

 

[Tsuwamono]

there are C2D crossfire boards and there is a few ATI AM2 boards. We are all mostly waiting for the Asus one though. The ECS one isnt bad its just not the one i want

 

[Jibboom]

That was my problem too, none that I want (even though the PC isn't for me, but you get what I mean).

 

[familyman1]

Originally posted by: Tsuwamono

Go with the 5000 X2, it will be available again within the next few days so TD says. Its cheap and you get an FX60 for the price basicly.[/quote]

Well, I'm considering it. I was planning on the 4600 for now and then upgrade to 5400/5600 or quad in about 18 months because I'm using 800MHz DDR2 and wanted to avoid the auto downclocking from a non-400 multiple CPU speed. One could OC to compensate but it depends on how much headroom there is on the CPU clock and I definitely don't want a hot running CPU (currently running a 3400+ XP) :|.

MSI board: it's not in stock yet but should be soon since it's listed. ZZP is usually pretty good about this. www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=249621

 

[Alter]

Yeah the glitch with uneven clock multipliers is retarded, it narrows down your choice of Dual cores to 3600+, 3800+, 4000+, 4600+, 5400+, and the 5600+ (unless they brought back the 4800+) I don't really care much about the cache size anymore though. I might be wrong about the 5400+ and the 5600+ cause they will be running on HT 3.0 and have a different architecture that would affect the clocks (probably a drastic difference)

 

[Tsuwamono]

Originally posted by: Alter
Yeah the glitch with uneven clock multipliers is retarded, it narrows down your choice of Dual cores to 3600+, 3800+, 4000+, 4600+, 5400+, and the 5600+ (unless they brought back the 4800+) I don't really care much about the cache size anymore though. I might be wrong about the 5400+ and the 5600+ cause they will be running on HT 3.0 and have a different architecture that would affect the clocks (probably a drastic difference)

I didnt even know about that. Sheet that sucks. Maybe i will go with the 4600 and wait for the 5400+. Anyone have a roadmap for when the 5400 is out?

 

[Willardjuice]

Does Gary know the ETA for the MSI board (is it this week, and if so is it more like Mondayish or more like Fridayish)?

 

[familyman1]

Originally posted by: Tsuwamono
I didnt even know about that. Sheet that sucks. Maybe i will go with the 4600 and wait for the 5400+. Anyone have a roadmap for when the 5400 is out?

null
link to roadmap

 

[The Mailman]

wait, whats the knock on the 5000+?
i dont understand this computer lingo

 

[Alter]

Ok, basically all unevenly multiplied clocks (5000+'s multiplier is 13) make it so that the RAM frequency is underclocked slightly (instead of 800, it's something like 786) so Overclockers and enthusiasts go for the evenly clocked CPUs (the ones I listed above) THIS IS ONLY FOR THE CURRENT AM2s... they will probably fix this after the die shrink (from 90nm to 65nm) in december

 

[OBCT]

I think I just died a little guys. I bought the MSI K9N SLI Platinum. If the K9A comes out in the next 30 days though...

 

[Willardjuice]

Originally posted by: OBCT
I think I just died a little guys. I bought the MSI K9N SLI Platinum. If the K9A comes out in the next 30 days though...

Isn't suppose to come out this week? Life 5 more retailers now show the K9A (granted not in stock, but it's starting to appear).

 

[familyman1]

Originally posted by: OBCT
I think I just died a little guys. I bought the MSI K9N SLI Platinum. If the K9A comes out in the next 30 days though...

Aaawwww, Dude! Feel dirty now? May God have mercy on your soul.

Well, if you need to roll you have to go with what's available...

 

[OBCT]

Sweet, the review of the MSI and ECS boards are up! And the MSI got a Bronze Editor's Choice award. It better hit retail like tomorrow.