DFI LANParty UT RDX200: ATI’s Crossfire AMD for the Bleeding Edge
by Wesley Fink on October 18, 2005 11:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
Tests used OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2, which uses Samsung TCCD chips. All memory ran at 2-2-2-7 timing in all benchmarks.
We tested with our standard NVIDIA 6800 Ultra to allow the best comparisons to benchmark results with other motherboards. To demonstrate performance with various current video options, we also tested with the MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX. Operation of ATI Crossfire was verified with an ATI X850XT Master/X850XT pair and results are reported in several benchmarks for Reference. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted.
Results for the DFI LANParty UT RDX200 with the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra are in red, results with the MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX are color-coded gold, and the Reference comparisons with ATI X850XT Crossfire are in purple. Results for the other boards, all tested with the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra, are in blue.
Performance Test Configuration | |
Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4GHz) Socket 939 |
RAM: | 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) |
Power Supply: | OCZ PowerStream 520W |
Video AGP & IDE Bus Master Drivers: | ATI Catalyst Platform 5.10 |
Video Cards: | MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX NVIDIA 6800 Ultra ATI X850XT Crossfire |
Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 5.10 NVIDIA nForce 78.01 |
Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 Direct X 9.0c |
Motherboards: | DFI LANParty UT RDX200 ATI Crossfire AMD Reference Board SiS 756 Reference Board ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 (ULi M1695/1567) Sapphire A9RX480 (ATI) Jetway 939GT4-SLI-G (nForce4) ULi AP9567A (M1695/M1567) DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D (nForce4) MSI K8N Neo4/SLI Platinum (nForce4) |
Tests used OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2, which uses Samsung TCCD chips. All memory ran at 2-2-2-7 timing in all benchmarks.
We tested with our standard NVIDIA 6800 Ultra to allow the best comparisons to benchmark results with other motherboards. To demonstrate performance with various current video options, we also tested with the MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX. Operation of ATI Crossfire was verified with an ATI X850XT Master/X850XT pair and results are reported in several benchmarks for Reference. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless otherwise noted.
Results for the DFI LANParty UT RDX200 with the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra are in red, results with the MSI NVIDIA 7800GTX are color-coded gold, and the Reference comparisons with ATI X850XT Crossfire are in purple. Results for the other boards, all tested with the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra, are in blue.
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ozzimark - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
it's very very very dependant on the cpu. notice that they used the FX-57 for those tests, which is a cpu that typically has some of the best memory controllers around.Wesley, how do 4xDS sticks perform with the 4000+?
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
THe 4DSx1T worked fine on the 4000+. The key to this feature is the DRAM Drive Strength option in the BIOS. With older A64 drive strength needs to be set at 14 to 15. You can get things to work with a bit less DRAM Drive Strength with the newer controllers like those on the FX57.We mainly used the FX57 in the iT tests becuase it's fast, and the high stock test numbers made it easier to see the impact of the iT Command Rate on the various memory configurations.
ozzimark - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
awesome, thanks Wesley. that's definitly a good thing to knowmongoosesRawesome - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
depends on how high your memory will clock, and at what timings.LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
I'm trying to make sure I understand this quote, Wesley...at the end, were you trying to say that you get little additional performance with the 7800GTX when compared to the 7800GT?
dornick - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
He means you're wasting your money to buy a 7800gtx and play games at those settings when there are plenty of cheaper cards out there that do the job just as well.j@cko - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
can i use nVidia SLI on ATi mobo?Wesley Fink - Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - link
Not yet. I have seen nVidia SLI running on the ATI Crossfire board but it required hacked video drivers. You will not see this option, or the reverse, until nVidia and ATI sanction this in their drivers.