Quad CrossFireX Evaluation (2x HD4870s and 2x HD4850s) from iBuyPower.com

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iBP_James

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iBuyPower Testing and Overclock Team Presents:
ATI Hybrid CrossFireX 2x HD4870s and 2x HD4850s

quadcrossfire1er5.jpg


With the 4870s in the wild, we at iBuyPower decided to try running the Phenom 9950s our AMD reps gave us to test on a Quad CrossFireX configuration with 2 HD4870s and 2 HD4850s in tandem. :)

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System Specifications:
CPU - AMD Phenom 9950 @ 3.0 GHz
RAM - 2 x 1GB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066 PC2-8500 @ 5-5-5-15
Graphics - 2x ATI HD4870 and 2x ATI HD4850
Motherboard - Asus M3A32 MVP 790FX
HDD - 250GB WD2500JS
PSU - 1250W Cooler Master Real Power Pro
OS - Windows Vista 32bit
Stock ATI HD4870 Clocks: 750 core/900 memory (GDDR5)
Stock ATI HD4850 Clocks: 625 core/993 memory (GDDR3)

HD4870 Crossfire System Specifications:
CPU - Intel Yorkfield QX9770 @ 4.0 GHz
RAM - 2 x 1GB Mushkin DDR3-1800 PC3-12800 @ 7-7-6-18
Graphics - ATI HD4870 (Crossfire when specified)
Motherboard - Asus P5E3 Premium WiFi-AP @n Edition
HDD - 160GB Hitachi Deskstar
PSU - 1250W Cooler Master Real Power Pro
OS - Windows Vista 32bit

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Benchmarks:
Temperatures:
Idle: 60C-65C
Load: 73C-78C

3DMark Vantage:
P13371
GPU: 14941
CPU: 10168

3DMark '06:
16987
GPU SM2.0: 6145
GPU SM3.0: 9144
CPU: 4168

Compare to HD4870s in Crossfire:
3DMark Vantage:
P12261
GPU: 11390
CPU: 15913

3DMark '06:
21684
GPU SM2.0: 8070
GPU SM3.0: 10846
CPU: 5900

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Crysis Benchmark:
1280 x 1024 (No AA) @ High: 34.465
1600 x 1200 (No AA) @ High: 32.555
1600 x 1200 (2x AA) @ High: 28.27
1600 x 1200 (4x AA) @ High: 27.705
1280 x 1024 (No AA) @ Very High: 24.28
1600 x 1200 (No AA) @ Very High: 20.765
1600 x 1200 (2x AA) @ Very High: 18.38
1600 x 1200 (4x AA) @ Very High: Failed (Benchmark wouldn't complete)

Compare to HD4870s in Crossfire:
1280 x 1024 (No AA) @ High: 53.205
1600 x 1200 (No AA) @ High: 48.35
1600 x 1200 (2x AA) @ High: 41.385
1600 x 1200 (4x AA) @ High: 34.01
1280 x 1024 (No AA) @ Very High: 38.63
1600 x 1200 (No AA) @ Very High: 32.085
1600 x 1200 (2x AA) @ Very High: 27.35
1600 x 1200 (4x AA) @ Very High: 24.16

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Conclusions
Overall, somewhat disappointing from the boys in AMD with their CrossFireX technology, it seems like the 4870s were scaled down to 4850 levels in the CrossFire setup and limited bus speeds from the multiple PCI-e slots when all four slots are taken up with GPUs. In the Crysis benchmark, we saw an overall DROP in FPS and a failure in the 1600 x 1200 (4x AA) test, which was strange in and of itself. With technology this much in infancy, the beta drivers we used must have also contributed to the drop in FPS in Crysis. Additionally, we only had time enough to bench one game, Crysis, which already has inherent issues with multi-GPU scaling. Perhaps in the future we could test out in other games and see how CrossFireX scales then. :)

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Additional Photos:
quadcrossfire2gv4.jpg


quadcrossfire3dx0.jpg
 
Is this really news? Anything past 2 gpus has always scaled like crap. Can only hope the 4807x2 is actually a "dual gpu" not crossfire on a card.
 
drivers are too immature to even attempt and xfire setup like the one above...

i know the 4000's have a little going for them when they are paired, but you're going to have to wait awhile for the software to catch up before you attempt any quad orgy action

edit -

also from [H] review of the 4870

CrossFire is supported with the use of both CrossFire connectors on the video card. This means you will need a total of two CrossFire bridge connectors.
Click to expand...

if im reading that right then to xfire two 4870's you need to connect both bridges to each other - not one to one to one like the pic above...

i dunno, maybe its different when you have 4 cards - but i cant see how...
 
jamhamm said:
drivers are too immature to even attempt and xfire setup like the one above...

i know the 4000's have a little going for them when they are paired, but you're going to have to wait awhile for the software to catch up before you attempt any quad orgy action
Click to expand...

+1 ...........
 
jamhamm said:
drivers are too immature to even attempt and xfire setup like the one above...

i know the 4000's have a little going for them when they are paired, but you're going to have to wait awhile for the software to catch up before you attempt any quad orgy action
Click to expand...
Indeed...we're hoping that AMD would make effective drivers for a setup such as this in the near future as well, there is some promise in technology like this, but it is somewhat disappointing when it results in a performance loss like experimented. :(
 
now to the real ?

how do i get a job at ibuypower so i can futz around with $1k worth of videocards all farking day playing crysis and running benchmarks and whathaveyou!

:D
 
Disappointing. Hope AMD releases a new Catalyst soon. But the pictures are nice. :D

Is this really news? Anything past 2 gpus has always scaled like crap. Can only hope the 4807x2 is actually a "dual gpu" not crossfire on a card.
Click to expand...

This isn't just poor scaling, it's negative scaling. That points to drivers.
 
again, from the [H] review

to xfire two 4870's you have to use both bridge tabs connected to each other

if you use two 4870's properly in xfire then there isnt a way to connect anything additional
 
....GPUs were scaled down and held back by a combination of weaker cards in the CrossFire .........
Click to expand...

ummmm obviously? did you not know that Xfire will run at the slowest cards speeds? what were you expecting to happen..
 
ahh yes, true... didnt think of it that way..

DDR5 kicking some butt, and as said above, bad scaling...
 
It seems like for the price-to-performance value, 2x 4850s seem to be the best solution. :D
 
A couple things...
1: I was under the impression that Crysis was one of the worst games for multi-gpu scaling. 2. I remember from the 3800 series that 3 gpus was the most efficient solution (i.e. a 3870X2 and a 3870). 3. One test one configuration is not what I'd call anything comprehensive.
 
jamhamm said:
drivers are too immature to even attempt and xfire setup like the one above...

i know the 4000's have a little going for them when they are paired, but you're going to have to wait awhile for the software to catch up before you attempt any quad orgy action
Click to expand...

+1...
 
PATSCRU said:
A couple things...
1: I was under the impression that Crysis was one of the worst games for multi-gpu scaling. 2. I remember from the 3800 series that 3 gpus was the most efficient solution (i.e. a 3870X2 and a 3870). 3. One test one configuration is not what I'd call anything comprehensive.
Click to expand...

I'm seeing about 50% scaling in Crysis on the sig rig, not great not horrible.
 
jamhamm said:
drivers are too immature to even attempt and xfire setup like the one above...

i know the 4000's have a little going for them when they are paired, but you're going to have to wait awhile for the software to catch up before you attempt any quad orgy action

edit -

also from [H] review of the 4870



if im reading that right then to xfire two 4870's you need to connect both bridges to each other - not one to one to one like the pic above...

i dunno, maybe its different when you have 4 cards - but i cant see how...
Click to expand...

a few people have posted on here that you can run it just fine with only 1 bridge
 
crossfire will pull the faster cards inline with the slower ones. Ati has stated this from the beginning
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
crossfire will pull the faster cards inline with the slower ones. Ati has stated this from the beginning
Click to expand...

True enough - though I wonder how it would work with the differences between GDDR5 & GDDR3 - I'm guessing that might have something to do with it as well.
 
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