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The Competitor for NVIDIA SLI Shows Itself Off

ATI CrossFire Platform Reviews Hit the Web

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 09/28/2005 | 11:08 PM ]

ATI Technologies has been supplying aerospace industry with graphics processor for multiprocessor graphics sub-systems for about half of a decade already, whereas its first and only dual-chip consumer 3D accelerator Rage Fury MAXX released in 1999 has been nearly forgotten. Following NVIDIA with its multi-GPU tech called SLI, ATI Technologies reintroduced its multi-processor graphics technology for consumers targeting the market of enthusiasts and gamers who are eager to pay any money for the highest performance possible at all.

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On September 26, ATI has lifted the wraps off the benchmark results of the RADEON X8-series in the CrossFire mode. The technology appears to work, but it has some serious limitations in its current implementation. Various web-sites have published reviews of the technology in order to make it easier for consumers to decide whether the current CrossFire is the right thing to get.

“Playing Half-Life 2 in AFR mode at 1600x1200 with high levels of IQ (although not Super AA) for an extended period (all in the name of serious evaluation you understand!) caused the coolers to both spin up to the full-speed that caused us to write what we did at the X850 XT Platinum Edition launch. One cooler of that sort is bad enough at full speed. Two in the same system is truly horrible in this reviewer’s opinion. I’d even go so far as to call it easily the most obnoxious graphics setup my poor ears have had to suffer,” notes Hexus.net.

“Just like with NVIDIA SLI 10 months ago, we cannot say that idea of CrossFire is bad or defective. However, the current situation is hardly favorable for getting a CrossFire based system. As for the solution offered by some ATI partners, namely to buy a second CrossFire Edition graphics card to upgrade the video system, it will hardly arouse a lot of enthusiasm, because many users will also have to replace their mainboard with a CrossFire one. It is much easier to go for a single GeForce 7800 GT, GeForce 7800 GTX or the upcoming RADEON X1800 XT, which is anticipated to be as fast as a pair of RADEON X850 XT cards but will not depend on the driver support for the given games and will definitely have no resolution limitations,” concludes X-bit labs.