Software CrossFire Tested with Catalyst 6.11 Drivers @ Tweaktown

**MIG-31** · Dec 4, 2006, 06:50 AM

Read More/Source: Tweaktown
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It wasn’t too long ago that ATI/AMD released the latest set of drivers for their product line. We have come to expect these updates on a very regular basis, but the month of November brought a new twist to the driver set; software CrossFire support. While this was already showing itself as a huge step in the right direction, ATI went a step further and negated the requirement for a CrossFire Master Card. Now it was possible to utilize the CrossFire technology without having to purchase an impossible to find Master Card. There are a few caveats to the new drivers, but it is still a definite improvement in past CrossFire requirements.

ET3D · Dec 4, 2006, 10:05 AM

I don't really call running 3DMark "tested".

IvanV · Dec 4, 2006, 10:45 AM

I don't really call TweakTown's articles thorough in general. They could have, at least, also run 3D Mark with a traditional Crossfire setup to show the performance difference between the regular and software CF. And although it was nice to determine that it can work with cards with different clocks (although I think that the old CF did that too, since we saw X1900XTX work with X1900CF, which in terms of frequencies, is the same as X1900XT), since they already decided to test only one CF setup, they should have used the same cards to show the scalability of software Crossfire better.

Tipstaff · Dec 6, 2006, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IvanV

I don't really call TweakTown's articles thorough in general. They could have, at least, also run 3D Mark with a traditional Crossfire setup to show the performance difference between the regular and software CF. And although it was nice to determine that it can work with cards with different clocks (although I think that the old CF did that too, since we saw X1900XTX work with X1900CF, which in terms of frequencies, is the same as X1900XT), since they already decided to test only one CF setup, they should have used the same cards to show the scalability of software Crossfire better.

Agreed. I also wish they had included a board other than one based on a 965 such as the 975. Since the 965s 2nd PCIE slot is limited to 4x it would have been nice to see how the 2nd card would have performed on a 975 board at 8x. Also, while not a big thing, I would like to have seen them try this out on an SLI supported board to see if it would miraculously work... or wouldn't.

Dec 4, 2006, 06:50 AM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,818 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	Software CrossFire Tested with Catalyst 6.11 Drivers @ Tweaktown Read More/Source: Tweaktown _______________ It wasn’t too long ago that ATI/AMD released the latest set of drivers for their product line. We have come to expect these updates on a very regular basis, but the month of November brought a new twist to the driver set; software CrossFire support. While this was already showing itself as a huge step in the right direction, ATI went a step further and negated the requirement for a CrossFire Master Card. Now it was possible to utilize the CrossFire technology without having to purchase an impossible to find Master Card. There are a few caveats to the new drivers, but it is still a definite improvement in past CrossFire requirements. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Dec 4, 2006, 10:45 AM	#3
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,914 Rep Power: 333 System Specs	I don't really call TweakTown's articles thorough in general. They could have, at least, also run 3D Mark with a traditional Crossfire setup to show the performance difference between the regular and software CF. And although it was nice to determine that it can work with cards with different clocks (although I think that the old CF did that too, since we saw X1900XTX work with X1900CF, which in terms of frequencies, is the same as X1900XT), since they already decided to test only one CF setup, they should have used the same cards to show the scalability of software Crossfire better. __________________ If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).

Dec 4, 2006, 10:05 AM	#2
ET3D Hopeless Dreamer Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dreamland, near the pool of infinite graphics cards Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 105 System Specs	I don't really call running 3DMark "tested".