X-bit labs

Love at First Touch: ATI Radeon Xpress 3200 Review (page 27)

Category: Chipsets

by Alexey Stepin , Anton Shilov

[ 03/27/2006 | 02:34 PM ]

Conclusion

So, is the new CrossFire Xpress 3200 platform from ATI a worthy reply to Nvidia’s nForce4 SLI X16? After we’ve done our tests, we can answer this question in the affirmative. Nvidia’s long-time rival, the Canadian ATI Technologies Company, has developed a chipset which is not only comparable to the nForce4 SLI X16 in capabilities but is also far superior in the concept.

Nvidia implemented two complete PCI Express x16 slots by using a combination of two chips, each with its own PCI Express controller. ATI, on its part, equipped its new North Bridge with a controller that can serve both the slots at once. As a result, the data path between the two graphics cards is made shorter and the data transfer latencies is minimized, which is very important to achieve the maximum performance in multi-GPU mode when the cards are actively exchanging data.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find out if the new platform from ATI is more efficient than the nForce4 SLI X16 in gaming applications. The latter only supports Nvidia’s graphics cards, but we need to use the same graphics cards on both platforms for a correct comparison, which is currently not possible. The thing is that ATI driver blocks CrossFire on third-party chipsets (except Intel), and Nvidia driver doesn’t allow enabling SLI on systems built around anything other than nForce4 SLI chipsets.

On the other hand, our comparison of the CrossFire Xpress 3200 with the Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire Edition has proven that two complete PCI Express x16 slots can really bring you some profit in games, but not too much. The speed gain is highest in games that use high-resolution textures and do not depend on the pixel processor performance – just like it is the case with the nForce4 SLI X16. Half Life 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 are examples of such applications. Pixel shader-heavy games do not run much faster – the performance gain is usually just a few percent in them.

Besides the efficient architecture, the ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 has a number of other merits that make it the most advanced multi-GPU platform for today. It is simple, consisting of only 22 million transistors, and reliable, being stable at an increased voltage and temperature. The latter fact also makes it suitable for overclocking. It consumes a mere 8 watts of power and allows using almost any South Bridge with a PCI Express x4 interface. Considering the major OEM-oriented business model of ATI Technologies, we can hardly be wrong to predict a very bright future to the CrossFire Xpress 3200 platform.

As for the particular product on the new chipset, the ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe mainboard is superbly designed and is almost free from drawbacks, yet we think a Deluxe mainboard might come with more and better accessories.

Highs:

• Wide functionality
• Options-rich BIOS Setup
• Two complete PCI Express x16 slots
• Flawless PCB design
• Pretty appearance
• High quality of manufacture
• Two network controllers
• Wireless controller (in the Wireless Edition of the mainboard)
• Passive cooling of the chipset and CPU power circuit
• Exclusive technologies from ASUS
• High-Definition Audio

Lows:

• The tall heatsink on the North Bridge may make installation of some coolers impossible
• Narrow CPU voltage adjustment range
• Fewer USB 2.0 ports than nForce4-based mainboards have
• There might be more accessories – this is a Deluxe product, after all!