3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire?

ET3D · Nov 21, 2008, 11:28 PM

DH once managed to get a 2900XT and 3870 running in crossfire. The 4830 is very close in performance to the 3870, so would it work and be a good choice as a companion for crossfire?

Judas · Nov 21, 2008, 11:50 PM

i don't see why not... it should work just fine as one of the good points with the newer cards is they are designed to be intermixed...

**kris23** · Nov 22, 2008, 03:50 AM

i thought the 4670 was closer to 3870 performance?

if you want, i can sell you mine for a small price....

Liqourice · Nov 22, 2008, 04:05 AM

As I've understood it the 4k series cards are locked to only crossfire with other 4k series cards so it is likely that it won't work. Unless that's only the high end cards...

Judas · Nov 22, 2008, 07:08 AM

it's not really been stated what is what... but since the introduction of the HD3xxx series.... it's been stated that just about anything can be crossfired......

obviously it would be pointless to crossfire a hd3450 with a hd4870 lol

Dyre Straits · Nov 22, 2008, 08:23 AM

You'd be interested in reading this, then.....

TG Daily - ATI Radeon 4850/4870 mix and match with Radeon 3850/3870

And here.....

http://i4you.wordpress.com/2008/06/1...r-gpus-in-one/

ET3D · Nov 22, 2008, 11:03 AM

Thanks for the references, Dyre Straits. But I gather that nobody has actually tried it?

kris23, the 4830 is very close to the 3870 in most benchmarks I saw. The 4670 gets to the level of the 3870 on occasion, but in other games it can be 60% of the speed.

Dyre Straits · Nov 22, 2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET3D

Thanks for the references, Dyre Straits. But I gather that nobody has actually tried it?

kris23, the 4830 is very close to the 3870 in most benchmarks I saw. The 4670 gets to the level of the 3870 on occasion, but in other games it can be 60% of the speed.

I don't have a system that will allow me to even set up a trial.

But, in reading on this, I wonder how important it is that the DDR VRAM needs to be identical as well as the rest of the cards' configurations?

Cow_160483 · Nov 24, 2008, 12:26 PM

ET3D , what you are saying sounds like a cool experiment are you planning to do it coz if you are i would love to know the results .... lol

ET3D · Nov 24, 2008, 01:28 PM

Not really planning it. I just thought about it because the current DH competition has a 4830 as one of the prizes, and I have a 3870. Unfortunately, even if I won it, I wouldn't be able to try this without buying a new PC, since my board is SLI. It's annoying that having two PCIe slots is not enough for CF/SLI, but you have to have the right version.

Liqourice · Nov 24, 2008, 02:47 PM

Hmm.. if it works, I wonder how it would pair with my 3870X2.

swimtech · Nov 24, 2008, 03:09 PM

I posted this question too, back in July, for similar reasons. Survey says:

No, you can't

...and Dyre, when I bought the second 3870 card to go with the first one I won here early in the year, I made sure it had DDR4 memory too. There were a bunch available that used DDR3, and didn't want to take the chance that it wouldn't work - but that is a good question!

ET3D · Nov 24, 2008, 07:39 PM

Okay, I believe Spyre on that one, because of his credentials. Hopefully Lucid will be successful in allowing any card to interact with any other to improve performance.

inquieto · Dec 18, 2008, 01:49 PM

I honestly don't think it will work.

Jejking · Dec 22, 2008, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET3D

Thanks for the references, Dyre Straits. But I gather that nobody has actually tried it?

kris23, the 4830 is very close to the 3870 in most benchmarks I saw. The 4670 gets to the level of the 3870 on occasion, but in other games it can be 60% of the speed.

ET3D, it is not about raw performance which makes you able to mix cards. It's the architecture of the card. The HD3870 differs very much to the HD4830 on the inside, with ROPS, shaders, etcetera. It just isn't possible.

There is one thing which might be interesting: Lucid, a chip which should make combinations of different brands of videocards possible. Read more here: Intel puts Lucid Hydra on x58- The Inquirer

ET3D · Dec 22, 2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jejking

ET3D, it is not about raw performance which makes you able to mix cards. It's the architecture of the card. The HD3870 differs very much to the HD4830 on the inside, with ROPS, shaders, etcetera. It just isn't possible.

I don't see why it'd be impossible, and Lucid proves the point. If you do simple AFR, two cards with the same API level and a similar performance level, such as the 3870 and 4830, should be able to interoperate quite nicely.

blibbax · Dec 22, 2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET3D

I don't see why it'd be impossible, and Lucid proves the point. If you do simple AFR, two cards with the same API level and a similar performance level, such as the 3870 and 4830, should be able to interoperate quite nicely.

Indeed. Just set the faster card (4830) as master and off you go.

My only worry with such a setup would be performance consistency in games though.

*CyberpowerUK* · Dec 23, 2008, 02:19 PM

I've tried it here and not got it work mind. It was something we'd thought of and would be great for older 3870 users since the newer, faster cards are cheaper comparatively than the original cards were at the release time.

Could be a knack to it though of course.

Mike

Nov 21, 2008, 11:28 PM	#1
ET3D Hopeless Dreamer Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dreamland, near the pool of infinite graphics cards Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? DH once managed to get a 2900XT and 3870 running in crossfire. The 4830 is very close in performance to the 3870, so would it work and be a good choice as a companion for crossfire?

Nov 22, 2008, 03:50 AM	#3
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,015 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? i thought the 4670 was closer to 3870 performance? if you want, i can sell you mine for a small price.... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Nov 22, 2008, 04:05 AM	#4
Liqourice HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Stockholm Posts: 1,690 Rep Power: 98 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? As I've understood it the 4k series cards are locked to only crossfire with other 4k series cards so it is likely that it won't work. Unless that's only the high end cards...

Nov 22, 2008, 11:03 AM	Thread Starter #7
ET3D Hopeless Dreamer Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dreamland, near the pool of infinite graphics cards Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? Thanks for the references, Dyre Straits. But I gather that nobody has actually tried it? kris23, the 4830 is very close to the 3870 in most benchmarks I saw. The 4670 gets to the level of the 3870 on occasion, but in other games it can be 60% of the speed.

Nov 24, 2008, 12:26 PM	#9
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,807 Rep Power: 299 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? ET3D , what you are saying sounds like a cool experiment are you planning to do it coz if you are i would love to know the results .... lol __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Nov 24, 2008, 01:28 PM	Thread Starter #10
ET3D Hopeless Dreamer Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dreamland, near the pool of infinite graphics cards Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? Not really planning it. I just thought about it because the current DH competition has a 4830 as one of the prizes, and I have a 3870. Unfortunately, even if I won it, I wouldn't be able to try this without buying a new PC, since my board is SLI. It's annoying that having two PCIe slots is not enough for CF/SLI, but you have to have the right version.

Nov 24, 2008, 02:47 PM	#11
Liqourice HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Stockholm Posts: 1,690 Rep Power: 98 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? Hmm.. if it works, I wonder how it would pair with my 3870X2.

Nov 24, 2008, 03:09 PM	#12
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? I posted this question too, back in July, for similar reasons. Survey says: No, you can't ...and Dyre, when I bought the second 3870 card to go with the first one I won here early in the year, I made sure it had DDR4 memory too. There were a bunch available that used DDR3, and didn't want to take the chance that it wouldn't work - but that is a good question! __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Nov 24, 2008, 07:39 PM	Thread Starter #13
ET3D Hopeless Dreamer Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dreamland, near the pool of infinite graphics cards Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? Okay, I believe Spyre on that one, because of his credentials. Hopefully Lucid will be successful in allowing any card to interact with any other to improve performance.

Dec 18, 2008, 01:49 PM	#14
inquieto DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? I honestly don't think it will work.

Dec 23, 2008, 02:19 PM	#18
CyberpowerUK DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Toon Posts: 81 Rep Power: 25 System Specs	Re: 3870 + 4830 mixed crossfire? I've tried it here and not got it work mind. It was something we'd thought of and would be great for older 3870 users since the newer, faster cards are cheaper comparatively than the original cards were at the release time. Could be a knack to it though of course. Mike