Running dual x1800 GTO cards...

[Claygan12]

okay, I'm not running anything dual yet but I'm working on it. I just wanted to make sure of one thing before I take this head on.

Is a master card still required if I'm running an ASUS A8V32-MVP Deluxe motherboard?

When I purchased two identical cards to learn about using dual cards and the Crossfire technology I wasn't aware that one card might need to be different in some way.

Thanks for any info.

Clay

 

[JC316]

With the X1800GTO you can do a masterless crossfire system. Only on the 3200 and up chipset though. So you will be fine running to identical cards on that mobo.

 

[Claygan12]

Thanks a ton, I'm very relieved.

 

[DaMulta]

You should just get a X1900 master to pair with it.

 

[Claygan12]

I guess my next question is, do I need an external dual dvi-single dvi cable to jumper the two or is the board doing that too?

If I need the cable, where's a good place to buy them...quality-wise I mean?

Thanks a lot.

 

[DaMulta]

not for GTOs its unneeded, master cards come with a cable.

 

[Claygan12]

Wow, for a simple noob to this dual fx card thing I really lucked out.

Thanks for the info again. Ya'll have been awesome.

EditaMulta, where can I find current information instead of asking around? I'd like to read up on how to get the GTOs working together on the board and where to plug my monitor cable out of the four dvi connections I'll have.

 

[Claygan12]

I just wanted to say thanks again. The Crossfire came up like a champ and it's beautiful. I had a lot of fun building this. It's still only stock right now no OCing yet. I'm looking for a good 3DMark2006 d/l right now.

Thanks again.

 

[JC316]

I am glad you got it working! Please be sure and post your 3dmark05 and 06 numbers, I would love to see what that rig will do.

 

[InfDamarvel]

lol Im quite interested in how youll score in 3dmark05

Already know 06 wont be impressive lol.

 

[Tatty_Two]

You'll need to get some serious overclocks on that 4800 x2 if you are not going to bottleneck them 2 cards!

 

[Claygan12]

I'm working on getting 3dMark2006 downloaded now. What's the difference in the two? I know it's used as a benchmark but I don't know the history since this is my first "full blown" rig.

I will post the marks when I get them for sure though.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I'm working on getting 3dMark2006 downloaded now. What's the difference in the two? I know it's used as a benchmark but I don't know the history since this is my first "full blown" rig.

I will post the marks when I get them for sure though.

3D Mark 2005 is mainly a test of your graphics cards speed and does not measure the CPU specifically but of course unless your CPU is running at its very fastest you will get a CPU Bottleneck and therefore it will hinder your Graphics cards performance, it just cant handle all the data quick enuff where as 2006 is more of a system benchmark, it of course tests and scores your graphics card but also tests and scores the CPU and system....ie Memory more than 2005. Dual cores do well at 2006 generally but are not a factor in 2005, a faster single core CPU will give you a higher score with your graphics card in 2005 because there will be less CPU bottleneck.

 

[g12rxz]

Some benchies would be nice, I've been apprehensive about getting dualies for my 3200 board just because I'm not seeing all the numbers I want to.

 

[Claygan12]

Stock 3DMark06: 5545

 

[JC316]

Damn, thats good. Much better than even my X1800XT. Crossfireing those is definatly worth it.

 

[InfDamarvel]

Hey, just to mention now that you have X1800GTOs, that just like the X800/X850 series card that card has the ability to unlock to a X1800XL. Not sure if itll work in crossfire then but Id do some research. If you did that youd have some seriously crazy scores.

 

[Claygan12]

Hey, just to mention now that you have X1800GTOs, that just like the X800/X850 series card that card has the ability to unlock to a X1800XL. Not sure if itll work in crossfire then but Id do some research. If you did that youd have some seriously crazy scores.

I'd like to learn more myself.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Damn, thats good. Much better than even my X1800XT. Crossfireing those is definatly worth it.

Thats score in 2006 is largely down to his dual core and not the graphics cards, dual cores are especially strong in 2006, run 2005 to see the graphics cards real strengths, I would estimate at around 11500-12000 3D Mark 2005 (a single 1800GTO 12 piper gets around 8500-9000 I think)points which roughly equates to my card or a 256MB 1900XT, if that is the case I think you may (just guessing here) see that one card is better bang for buck than the 2.

 

[regan1985]

and yeh like some1 said there GTO card which means u can flash the bios and getting better scores but a large amout this would involve overcloking, also if u want to get the most out of the card u should looking into overclocking your cpu!!! if you can build it u can overclock and flash bios!1 your find it easy!! just search topics or post 1 your self asking questions

nice setup!

 

[JC316]

Thats score in 2006 is largely down to his dual core and not the graphics cards, dual cores are especially strong in 2006, run 2005 to see the graphics cards real strengths, I would estimate at around 11500-12000 3D Mark 2005 (a single 1800GTO 12 piper gets around 8500-9000 I think)points which roughly equates to my card or a 256MB 1900XT, if that is the case I think you may (just guessing here) see that one card is better bang for buck than the 2.

Stock, the GTO gets around 6500-7000K. Overclocked, I got to 7800.

 

[Tatty_Two]

and yeh like some1 said there GTO card which means u can flash the bios and getting better scores but a large amout this would involve overcloking, also if u want to get the most out of the card u should looking into overclocking your cpu!!! if you can build it u can overclock and flash bios!1 your find it easy!! just search topics or post 1 your self asking questions

nice setup!

But many do not unlock unfortunatly.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Stock, the GTO gets around 6500-7000K. Overclocked, I got to 7800.

Really? the 1800GTO only scores that.....I was getting 7300 outta my 850XT, so if the performance is that low why would someone go to the expense of getting a crossfire mobo, possibly having to upgrade their PSU andpay for two of them where you tend to get nowhere near double the performance increase over the single card when you can just go out and buy a 1900XT/7900GTO and save yourself some money. I really was not aware that a single 1800GTO only performed to thet level.

 

[JC316]

I always said the GTO was an X850XT PE with SM3.0. If you OC it enough, people were getting 10K, but with mine, I got 7800 at 600/600.

 

[Claygan12]

3DMark05: 10715

I still haven't had time to look into OCing anything yet. But this is a vast improvement over my previous rig.