ATI Radeon HD 3870 + 3850 CrossFire - Mixing Video Cards @ Legit-Reviews

**MIG-31** · Feb 14, 2008, 07:42 AM

Review: Legit-Reviews
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When it comes mixing and matching different types of graphics card and running them in either SLI or CrossFire mode you are bound to have a number of problems. You will not find too many people advising in trying this, but the video card companies are working hard at making this work. Today, we are looking at ATI's budget friendly Radeon HD 3850 and Radeon HD 3870 graphics cards to seeing how they work together in CrossFire. We've previously reviewed both of these series in CrossFire before, but never dared to look at them mixed together and running CrossFire. ATI has done a ton of driver improvements since we first looked at those cards with the CATALYST 7.11 beta drivers and the CATALYST 8.1 and CATALYST 8.2 drivers have proven to be very solid. While the ATI CATALYST 8.2 drivers will be out by the time this is posted this article still will be useful as the only major performance enhancement in CATALYST 8.2 drivers is on Company of Heroes.

ET3D · Feb 14, 2008, 09:58 AM

I love it that people are testing this.

Zardon · Feb 14, 2008, 10:08 AM

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/3870-XXX/mixed.php

Matth · Feb 14, 2008, 05:02 PM

The one thing missing from the 3870 + 3850 example, was a pair of 3850's - I wouldn't be surprised if mixed crossfire ran exactly like a crossfire of two of the lower cards, mind you, that would still be an advantage, as for later crossfiring, you could add a card that was not slower than the original, rather than trying to make an exact match.

Feb 14, 2008, 07:42 AM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,821 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	ATI Radeon HD 3870 + 3850 CrossFire - Mixing Video Cards @ Legit-Reviews Review: Legit-Reviews ____________ When it comes mixing and matching different types of graphics card and running them in either SLI or CrossFire mode you are bound to have a number of problems. You will not find too many people advising in trying this, but the video card companies are working hard at making this work. Today, we are looking at ATI's budget friendly Radeon HD 3850 and Radeon HD 3870 graphics cards to seeing how they work together in CrossFire. We've previously reviewed both of these series in CrossFire before, but never dared to look at them mixed together and running CrossFire. ATI has done a ton of driver improvements since we first looked at those cards with the CATALYST 7.11 beta drivers and the CATALYST 8.1 and CATALYST 8.2 drivers have proven to be very solid. While the ATI CATALYST 8.2 drivers will be out by the time this is posted this article still will be useful as the only major performance enhancement in CATALYST 8.2 drivers is on Company of Heroes. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Feb 14, 2008, 05:02 PM	#4
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	The one thing missing from the 3870 + 3850 example, was a pair of 3850's - I wouldn't be surprised if mixed crossfire ran exactly like a crossfire of two of the lower cards, mind you, that would still be an advantage, as for later crossfiring, you could add a card that was not slower than the original, rather than trying to make an exact match. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Feb 14, 2008, 09:58 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 love it that people are testing this.

Feb 14, 2008, 10:08 AM	#3
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/3870-XXX/mixed.php