4650 Crossfire possible?

[Frizz]

Alright from a thread I've heard of being able to crossfire with these cards without the use of any external hardware, like a bridge etc. You can just plug both cards and CCC will do the rest, is this true? Some people also say you need the bridges no matter what to enable crossfire.

I'm planning of buying my girlfriend a new AMD mobo and another 4650 how much better would crossfire 4650's be opposed to one? Would it even come close to a single 4850?

And if crossfire is possible without use of bridges with 4650's are they able to do tri/quad fire?

Thanks TPU in advanced

 

[HossHuge]

Here's a link that talks about the 4670 in crossfire.

http://www.overclock3d.net/articles.php?/gpu_displays/4670_crossfire_-_the_secret_to_budget_gaming/1

hope it helps you to decide.

 

[Frogger]

http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/images/crossfirex/CF_combo_chart_Nov08.jpg
the chart SAYS????

 

[1Kurgan1]

You will need a bridge, they take about 1 second to snap on. Matters what 4650 your looking at, I would honestly suggest picking up a 4830, they are getting pretty cheap and clock really well. 4650's are a budget card, and if the main games you play aren't crossfire compatible then you won't see a difference.

 

[Digitalist]

I did it!

So I've been researching Crossfire with the HD 4650 for 4 days now. Last night I felt confident that possessed the knowledge to do it and purchased my second 4650. I learned a couple of things along the way that absolutely defy technical common sense.


Lessons Learned:
-- 4650s use BRIDGELESS Crossfire
-- The order that you install the cards DOES matter
-- Everyone that says the 4650 is not Crossfire compatible is absolutely wrong (might I would like to specifically mention Fry's website: http://www.frys.com/product/5721132?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG )
-- The compatibility chart that someone supplied above is absolutely correct ( http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/images/crossfirex/CF_combo_chart_Nov08.jpg )
Just be sure that your motherboard chipset is compatible - noted on the chart
-- These cards DO NOT have a Crossfire bridge port at the top of the card and they DO NOT require an exterior dongle cable

What one should not do (I did, and learned better):
When I ran a single HD 4650, I unknowingly ran it in PCI-E Slot 2 (I didn't even realize there was a slot 1 and 2). So when I installed my second HD 4650, I dropped it into slot 1 and fired it up (planning on setting card in slot 2 as my output card and slot 1 as my "slave" [if you will]. Epic fail. The entire machine wouldn't even power on. I visited youtube for a guide on crossfire installation and learned that I should uninstall both cards. Then install 1 card into PCI-E slot #1 (closest to the CPU), power on the machine, install drivers for that specific card, shut down the computer. Drop the 2nd card into PCI-E slot #2 and power up the machine. Connect the monitor to the card in Slot #1. Upon booting up, Catalyst should recognize both video cards and offer to enable Crossfire. I then configured Catalyst to allow programs to define video configurations and then booted up my favorite game, Aion. It looks absolutely stunning. Hopefully, this guide will not only verify the questions that people have about bridgeless Crossfire implementation but save someone the headaches that I experienced along the way. I also hope that this keeps people from being discouraged by sales people at places like Fry's and Best Buy who have no idea what they are talking about when they say "Just cause the box says it's crossfire compatible, doesn't mean you can do it. It doesn't even have any Crossfire bridge mounts!".

Good luck everyone and happy gaming!




==============================================
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
Phenom II Black Edition 955 X4 (OC'd 2.41 Ghz x4) (35°C - air cooled!)
GA-790FXTA-UD5P
Viper EPP 8GB (1600MHz at 7-7-7-20)
Diamond HD 4650 1GB x2 Crossfire
==============================================

 

[Digitalist]

Followup:

So after a couple of days of playing Aion with crossfire enabled on my dual HD4650s, I have noticed that from time to time the entire system will just hang for a second. I have both catalyst and Aion video settings to auto detect and allow the programs to dictate the video settings. Ideally this would produce the best results.

Any ideas from anyone as to why the system hangs? What setting should I look at tweaking?

 

[Deleted member 67555]

My 4830's would do the same thing..
The whole system would just come to a stand still for like 1 second and recover..
The mouse wouldn't move...It would just hang...I just dealt with it

 

[erocker]

Followup:

So after a couple of days of playing Aion with crossfire enabled on my dual HD4650s, I have noticed that from time to time the entire system will just hang for a second. I have both catalyst and Aion video settings to auto detect and allow the programs to dictate the video settings. Ideally this would produce the best results.

Any ideas from anyone as to why the system hangs? What setting should I look at tweaking?

It could be many different things. Go to your User CP and fill in your system specs. Make sure to tick the box so everyone can see them.

 

[Lionheart]

You will need a bridge, they take about 1 second to snap on. Matters what 4650 your looking at, I would honestly suggest picking up a 4830, they are getting pretty cheap and clock really well. 4650's are a budget card, and if the main games you play aren't crossfire compatible then you won't see a difference.

I thought you didn't need a bridge for the low end cards, or is that the really low end like the HD4350

 

[Digitalist]

Better erocker?