"X2" cards - better/same/worse than crossfire/sli

Toucan Sam · 09-09-2008, 02:55 PM

I don't really get what makes an X2 card an X2 card. I know they have 2 boards in them, but does that mean they're basically just crossfiring/sli'ing them for you? Do these cards scale better than crossfire/sli? Will they always scale since it acts as one card?
Thanks.

ebackhus · 09-09-2008, 04:26 PM

With X2 cards, yes, it's basically the same as a CrossFire or SLI setup, but the advantage being that you don't need a secondary card installed. The downside is that they are (obviously) fatter and tend to generate more heat due to the close proximity of all the hardware.

It's hard to say how they'll compare, but generally they perform just as well if not better than a 2x card setup.

Toucan Sam · 09-09-2008, 05:21 PM

But is that a reliable performance? Like a 4870 card will always give you the 4870 performance you expect, but will a 4870 X2 in some games (i've read) dip down to the performance of a single 4870?
What you said makes a lot of sense though.

09-09-2008, 02:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
Toucan Sam Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: charlotte, nc Posts: 153 OS: vista 64-bit SP1 My System	"X2" cards - better/same/worse than crossfire/sli I don't really get what makes an X2 card an X2 card. I know they have 2 boards in them, but does that mean they're basically just crossfiring/sli'ing them for you? Do these cards scale better than crossfire/sli? Will they always scale since it acts as one card? Thanks.

09-09-2008, 04:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,255 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: "X2" cards - better/same/worse than crossfire/sli With X2 cards, yes, it's basically the same as a CrossFire or SLI setup, but the advantage being that you don't need a secondary card installed. The downside is that they are (obviously) fatter and tend to generate more heat due to the close proximity of all the hardware. It's hard to say how they'll compare, but generally they perform just as well if not better than a 2x card setup. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

09-09-2008, 05:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Toucan Sam Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: charlotte, nc Posts: 153 OS: vista 64-bit SP1 My System	Re: "X2" cards - better/same/worse than crossfire/sli But is that a reliable performance? Like a 4870 card will always give you the 4870 performance you expect, but will a 4870 X2 in some games (i've read) dip down to the performance of a single 4870? What you said makes a lot of sense though.