CrossFire Xpress 3200: RD580 for AM2

Test Setup

Performance Test Configuration - ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 AM2
Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (AM2) (2.4GHz, 1MB Cache per core)
RAM:	2 x 1GB Corsair Twin2x2048-8500C5 DDR2-800 at (CL3-3-3-13 2T)
Hard Drive(s):	1 x Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (8MB Buffer)
System Platform Drivers:	None - LAN, Audio, SMBus drivers as required
Video Cards:	1 x ATI X1900XT - All Standard Tests 1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Standard Tests 2 x ATI x1900XT (Master+Standard) - CrossFire
Video Drivers:	ATI Catalyst 6.4
Cooling:	AMD FX62 Heatpipe AM2 Cooler
Power Supply:	OCZ PowerStream 520W
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP2

Performance Test Configuration - Foxconn C51XEM2AA
Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (AM2) (2.4GHz, 1MB Cache per core)
RAM:	2 x 1GB Corsair Twin2x2048-8500C5 DDR2-800 at (CL3-3-3-13 2T)
Hard Drive(s):	1 x Maxtor 300GB SATA2 (16MB Buffer)
System Platform Drivers:	NVIDIA 9.34
Video Cards:	1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Tests 2 x EVGA 7900GTX for SLI Tests
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA 91.27
Cooling:	Zalman CNPS9500 AM2
Power Supply:	OCZ GameXStream 700W
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP2

Performance Test Configuration - Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (S939) (2.4GHz, 1MB Cache per core)
RAM:	2 x 1GB Crucial DDR500 at DDR-400 2-2-2-7 1T
Hard Drive(s):	1 x Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (8MB Buffer)
System Platform Drivers:	NVIDIA 6.85
Video Cards:	1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Tests 2 x EVGA 7900GTX for SLI Tests
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA 84.21
Cooling:	AMD FX-60 Heatpipe Cooler
Power Supply:	OCZ PowerStream 520W
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP2

To the extent possible, test conditions were maintained the same over the platforms tested. For better comparison standard test results (1280x1024) were run with both the ATI X1900 XT and the NVIDIA 7900 GTX. Since SLI and CrossFire are not yet interchangeable, 1600x1200 4xAA/8xAF single and SLI were run on the NVIDIA-based boards with 7900 GTX. 1600X1200 4xAA/8xAF were run on the ATI using an X1900 XT and X1900 CrossFire. All results are reported in our charts and color-coded for easier identification of results.

AM2 benchmarking used Corsair PC-8500 (DDR2-1066) 2GB kit at 3-3-3-13 timings at 2.2V. DDR benchmarks used a Crucial 2GB kit at the fastest available DDR400 2-2-2-7 timings. In recent months the memory market has moved from a 1GB kit to a 2BG kit being the common memory configuration. Our new DDR2 test standard will therefore be 2GB and we used the 2GB DDR memory for best comparison.