5 replies to this topic

[Oaken]

Due to the HDMI port breaking on my Radeon 5770 I had to buy a new one. I was going to put it on Ebay but then I had a craaazy thought.....why don't I use them both . I don't really need another one at the moment as the 5770 allows me to play every game I have tried on full spec. However if using another one will future proof my rig for a bit longer then I may as well do it.

Things I need to know,

WTF is Crossfire? - This seems to come into play when you use more than one graphics card at the same time. I went to the wiki page and had a read about it but it didn't really help me much.

Do I have to use Crossfire when there is more than one GPU connected? Can't I just connect a second GPU and bam, have double the power?

[Faintingcow]

You need to have crossfire (its a bridge connecting the two cards together) they have connections like the kind you slide into the slot, on the opposite side

Having two gpu's without the bridge will enable you to run more monitors, but wont share the processing power
With Crossfire you will have two gpu's processing the same thing. Say you are playing a game, both of the processors will be used to render the graphics instead of just one,
Its pretty much just like a processor, Dual core is better then Single core.

[Oaken]

Ah I see. I have the bridge connector so that's not a problem. Once they are connected together is there anything else I need to set up? Is Crossfire compatible with all games?

[Faintingcow]

Well you need to make sure you have enough power to power them both, and enough connectors, once its all hooked up you might have to change some settings in your ATI catalyst, im not 100% sure as I've never had a crossfire setup
most people would recommend just upgrading to the 6800/6900 series instead of buying another 5770

[iargue]

Its pretty much just like a processor, Dual core is better then Single core.

False.

Performance with a dual core processor is ten thousand times better then adding a gpu.


No point is doing crossfire. Upgrade if you want to upgrade.

[Oaken]

False.

Performance with a dual core processor is ten thousand times better then adding a gpu.


No point is doing crossfire. Upgrade if you want to upgrade.

I didn't say I want to upgrade. I said I had an extra graphics card and rather than selling it I may as well make use of it. At the moment I have no reason to upgrade as my rig runs the likes of Crysis....and I don't play many games that require that kind of power.

Still could do with knowing if Crossfire is a case of plug in and play?....and does it work with all games? I came across someone complaining that a game they were playing wasn't Crossfire ready or something so it screwed it up.