Crossfire questions

[Reality]

I posted this over at Rage3D but their forums seem to be dead lately, so I decided to try my questions here also

i'm beginning my new computer build, that i usually do like once every 3-5 years, and I decided to stick with an ATI solution as i've been really happy with my 9800 pro for a while now

i'm kind of confused with how crossfire works though, and after reading some reviews i'm not sure i understand the whole y-cable situation. some reviews state that it's how the crossfire setup works, and others state that you no longer need the y-cable as the cards now have a ribbon cable setup similar to SLI

also another question I have is can a crossfire edition card be ran by itself, or do you need a slave card also for it to run?
and is the fastest crossfire-ready (slave) card for an X1950 XT, an x1900 XT?

thanks in advance

edit: the system i'm building is with an E6300 core2 duo, with an asus P5W DH Deluxe board

 

[ND40oz]

I'm pretty sure only the x1950 pro's have the internal connector, all of the other x19 and x18 series use the Y-cable with a different connector, which is why you need a mastercard. The older x8 series just used a DVI connector which limited the resolution to 1600x1200. I'm not sure what your asking about the fastest crossfire-ready (slave) card, it would be the normal x1950xtx. Or do you already have a Mastercard and you're asking what slave cards can be used with it?

 

[Reality]

yeah sorry i wasn't able to make it more clear

i'm buying the slave card first because i don't plan on getting the other card for another month or so, so i'm going to probably get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103025

I was going to go for the slightly cheaper sapphire card of the same model but after reading reviews on newegg, it seems as if they're shipping out slower clocked cards to people? that's ridiculous if you ask me, so I don't want to take the risk

but anyways, is there a crossfire 'edition' version of the x1950 XT? because i would love to be able to find one thats around the same price range (270~ USD) as the crossfire 'ready' x1950 XT

 

[ND40oz]

There have not been any x1950xt mastercards released, you'd have to use the x1950xtx mastercard with it's 512 mb of GDDR4 which will go to waste when used with the x1950xt in crossfire mode. Honestly, unless you just want to have a Crossfire system, it would be much more beneficial to wait for R600 which will hopefully be out next month. Just hold off on your purchase until then or buy a cheap card for the meantime.

 

[Reality]

perhaps i could maybe get an X1900 XT instead of the 1950XT? slightly cheaper card, and there's a crossfire edition version also right?

edit: i'm starting to see a pattern with crossfire, ATI seems to be pushing 512MB cards for the "edition", which basically means getting anything lower than 512 for the slave card would kind of make going crossfire pointless, is that basically right?

 

[Pooky]

perhaps i could maybe get an X1900 XT instead of the 1950XT? slightly cheaper card, and there's a crossfire edition version also right?

edit: i'm starting to see a pattern with crossfire, ATI seems to be pushing 512MB cards for the "edition", which basically means getting anything lower than 512 for the slave card would kind of make going crossfire pointless, is that basically right?

It seems so. Crossfire seems a bit messed up in the master card/slave card config.

With the x1800 series, there was the x1800XL (the 256mb low-end version), the x1800XT (in both 256mb and 512mb flavors and speedier than the XL) and the x1800XT Crossfire card (just an XT with the Crossfire chip thingy). If you wanted Crossfire, even x1800XL Crossfire, you needed the 512mb master card to pair with any of the others. It's the same way with the x1950 series, except for the x1950 Pro (it uses an internal connector similar to SLI). If you want Crossfire with any x1950 XT card, you'll need the x1950XTX master.

Another issue is availability. Finding an x1900 XT or XTX master card is not going to be easy if you want new. Used ones show up in the trading section or on eBay quite often though. New x1950 XTX masters should be easier to find.

How about this card instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102082

One little thing though. Buying an x19XX Crossfire setup now is not exactly something I would consider. R600 might be right around the corner. The 8800GTS is faster than a single x1950 XTX and can be found for the same price. I'm an ATi fan myself, but I had to jump onto a 512mb 7900GT for $300 last August instead of waiting for the x1900 XTs to drop when I needed a new card. I'm very happy with my 7900GT and am very glad I bought it when I did (they're not made anymore and it essentially overclocks into a GTX).