ian_heath

hi all

ok .. i have a query on my (to be delivered any second now) video card/s

currently at home i have a HIS x1950 Crossfire Ed. 512 DDR4 card in my primary PCI-e
and am about to receive my new HIS ATi Radeon X1950Pro PCIe Fan DDR3 512MB Turbo 575/1380MHz.

Pls confirm these will be sweet to run in crossfire in my ASUS P5B deluxe

cheers

Ian

TheMatt

The P5B Deluxe has two PCIe slots and does support crossfire, so you are all set. You will need not the y-cable, but a crossfire bridge instead. It will either be a ribbon cable, or a bridge-shaped connector like nVidia's SLI bridges.

ian_heath

hey there
well it seems i can use the Y cable i was supplied with to connect these babies
http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossf...worksdemo.html

im sure i could also use a SLI type bridge but as that didnt come included i cant really see me sourcing one

can anyone verify the Y cable ( 2 x DVI) is ok to use on these cards to fully utilise a crossfire setup

cheers

Ian

TheMatt

The X1950 series uses the Crossfire bridge if I remember correctly; the X1900 series uses the y-cable. What were the instructions for Crossfire that came with the X1950 CF edition?

ian_heath

yeh - everywhere i have seen (such as http://www.hardware.info/images/prod...e/001638-6.jpg ) has indicated the norm for the 1950 is the external Y cable
that was the only piece of h/ware supplied with the CF card as well

Ian

TheMatt

OK, I guess I am mistaken there. Hook up the Y-cable, and then activate Crossfire in the Catalyst Control Center. That is how you would enable it.

ian_heath

Well im expecting my package (x1950Pro) any minute now but i have been doing a bit of homework and what i want to know is this.

My Master (CF) 1950 card is rated at (DDR4) 2000mhz (clock) standard while the x1950pro is rated at 1380mhz. Could i utilise a tool (such as tray tools) to overclock my "slower" card to match the performance of my CF card?
(and i mean while these are in crossfire dual config)
I have done some clocking with my CF card which went ok but i think it was either a major overheating problem or possibly due to my former PSU - baing blamed for the whole system shutting off during high-load gaming.

keen to hear from someone that has clocked a ATI card in a crossfire config

cheers

Ian

TheMatt

You can, however, crossfire will "know" which is the less powerful card and will put more load on the more powerful card.

You can use ATI Tray Tools from my sig to overclock your card. You should easily get the core clock up to 650 MHz, and the memory up to 1500 MHz. I would definitely use the artifact tester that comes with ATI Tray Tools to test the stability of your overclock.

Your PSU will handle the two cards, but I would look at some expansion slot coolers. Even though the CF edition card will take up an expansion slot below it, there will still be room for a cooling fan like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835117010

Put one under each card. Also, you should definitely have a front intake fan as well as a rear/top exhaust fan, and a side panel fan if possible.

ian_heath

Hey Matt
Thanks for that ... top reply that one

Well funny you mention the card cooler as I plan on adding 2 x VGA blocks to my water cooling system. Rather than have instal a new HUGE radiator (like the 745) i figure i will add in the VGA cooler blocks in a Y config. so they get even cooling and so one doesnt get the hotter water

TheMatt

That's a good idea. Has the card come yet?

ian_heath

Nope. (damn you drop-shipping discount parts online shops)

altho i did today get my Kingston pc-8500 2x512mb DDR2 kit (so now that makes 2 matched pairs totalling 2048mb)

ive wedged em in and right away they are working better (ie. default 1066 FSB) than the previous kingston/corsair combo

hey - back to the original thread, has anyone else modded a w/c kit (pref the TT versions) like i mention above?

my plan is to install a y allowing two "branches"of the line to accomodate slightly more narrow tubing but join back to the main larger tubing to maximise flow speed through each VGA cooler as well as working toward a more even overall flow.

i cant wait til it arrives so i can get busy

altrho i may have to get back to the gym
my (ATX p180b) case now weighs around 32kg (DRY!)
with the new arrivals due soon i am concerned that the unit will be pushing toward 40kg

gives new meaning to heavy duty

Ian

TheMatt

You might want to post in the Case Mod forum to see about water cooling. I have never done the mod you described.