Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe: First ATI RD580
by Wesley Fink on March 1, 2006 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Crossfire Gaming Performance
The RD580 chipset brings ATI Dual X16 Crossfire video to the marketplace, so both the major players in the Video market now have flagship Dual X16 solutions. SLI and Crossfire are about gaming, so Crossfire tests were confined to gaming benchmarks, and the test suite is heavily slanted to recent and popular titles where SLI and Crossfire make the biggest difference.
Single Video
Clearly, with 4X AA turned on at 1600x1200 resolution, the X1900XT outpaces the 7800GTX. X1900XT Crossfire is also the clear winner, but the sweep is not complete as NVIDIA still leads or is razor-close in the Open GL games. The Asus A8R32-MVP ran the single NVIDIA 7800GTX, the X1900XT, and X1900XT Crossfire with no problems at all.
It should be pointed out, however, that ATI has a very clumsy means of enabling Crossfire – and there is nothing intuitive about it. You must install Catalyst Control Center for Crossfire to work. You then go into CCC, select the Crossfire tab and enable the feature. NVIDIA warns you that an SLI-capable system is installed and prompts you to enable SLI. There is no warning at all with ATI. The only clue you will have that Crossfire is not turned on is the poor performance results.
Single Video
Clearly, with 4X AA turned on at 1600x1200 resolution, the X1900XT outpaces the 7800GTX. X1900XT Crossfire is also the clear winner, but the sweep is not complete as NVIDIA still leads or is razor-close in the Open GL games. The Asus A8R32-MVP ran the single NVIDIA 7800GTX, the X1900XT, and X1900XT Crossfire with no problems at all.
It should be pointed out, however, that ATI has a very clumsy means of enabling Crossfire – and there is nothing intuitive about it. You must install Catalyst Control Center for Crossfire to work. You then go into CCC, select the Crossfire tab and enable the feature. NVIDIA warns you that an SLI-capable system is installed and prompts you to enable SLI. There is no warning at all with ATI. The only clue you will have that Crossfire is not turned on is the poor performance results.
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Spinne - Monday, March 6, 2006 - link
NewEgg still doesn't have them in stock, neither does Monarc Computers. Wonder how long it'll be before they get them and the prices drop.dennis hs - Sunday, March 5, 2006 - link
I've just gotten this mobo.. It's pretty sweet! I really like the ALC882 onboard sound! It's really crispy and all good :DOverall I don't have any issues with it. It's a damn good mobo!
[vietnamese hooker mode on]
" Me love it longtime :) "
[vietnamese hooker mode off]
tonser - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link
It is nice that manufactors listen, but why do they still bring out Motherboards for SLI and Crossfire, where the normal PCI cannot be used with their heigh end grafic cards - I am wondering ?yacoub - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
This board gets an official "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, Gina!" rating.Holy crap it flies with an X1900XT!
theOracle - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
In the table - "PEG Bugger Length"Wesley Fink - Monday, March 6, 2006 - link
Corrected the Brokeback Mountain referenceDigitalFreak - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
No one has any RD580 boards in stock in the US. Hell, Newegg doesn't even have any listed! Looks like another classic paper launch to me.glynor - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">Oh, and how about from Newegg hereSLIM - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php...">1or
http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?&...">2
Please get a clue before posting. All these people complaining about not making proper comparisons because Anandtech went the extra step of testing the latest vid card from ati on their latest chipset in ADDITION to making a very fair comparison with what nvidia has to offer currently.
Nice article, too bad people don't pay attention to the graphs before they complain about them.
DigitalFreak - Thursday, March 2, 2006 - link
Moron. Did you happen to notice the "Out Of Stock" button?And what's with the bitching about proper comparisons, blah blah blah? Reply to the wrong thread, did we?