1600XT Crossfire

[No Limit]

I got a new computer built up around a year ago. Its an AMD socket 939 with asus's a8r-mvp crossfire mother board.

At the time I wanted to run 2 video cards but only had money for 1. No biggie, I figured I'd buy another one when I had the money for it. So I bought a 256MB 1600XT at the time and was fairly happy with it playing BF2. Well a year later with insurgency mod now out I figured yesterday was a good day to buy that second card but I could not find the 1600XT anywhere.

So I read up on it and it says I can't really run the 1600XT in crossfire in hardware mode, only in software mode. I don't know much about it but that sounds like a total waste of what crossfire is supposed to do since you end up with software emulating it.

I did eventually find a 1600XT for around $120 but I was able to find plenty of 1600 pros 512MB for quite a bit less. So here is my question, can I run the 1600XT 256MB and the 1600pro 512MB on the same mother board under crossfire?

If no I have anothre question. Would it be better to spend the same money I would have to spend on a 1600XT on a x1950Pro instead and just run one of them? I'm guessing the 1600XT would be faster if I had 2 of them running instead of just running one 1950Pro but I figured I ask. And finally does anyone know where to find a good deal on the 1600XT? I searched new egg and didn't find anything. ebay came up with nothing also. Tiger direct has some 156MB versions but they cost around $200.

 

[3ssence]

The 1950Pro would be a much better deal for the money, and you'd save yourself from the inevitable caveats of a dual card system (i.e. some games scale much better than others).

 

[The Brick]

Yep the 1950pro is a better deal. It's a little over twice as fast as the 1600xt and 50% faster than two 1600xt in crossfire.

 

[No Limit]

The 1950Pro would be a much better deal for the money, and you'd save yourself from the inevitable caveats of a dual card system (i.e. some games scale much better than others).

I'm actually looking around and it looks like you need 30A on the +12V rail to run the 1950 :O.

Is this true? I could only find this on one web site and I cant find the power requirements anywhere else. This is a huge power requirement. I got a 500Watt PSU but I only have 18A on the +12V rail. I really don't have $100 to get a PS that big, maybe 2 1600XTs would be the more cost effective option? I'm still worried about crossfire running in software mode and not hardware mode.

 

[The Brick]

30A? That's retarded. I'm running an 8800gtx on an 18A rail. You won't have any problems running that card.

Edit: look
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/29/atinvidiapowerreq85vw9.jpg

 

[No Limit]

30A? That's retarded. I'm running an 8800gtx on an 18A rail. You won't have any problems running that card.

But I hate overloading power supplies. Not only does it lead to heat it also leads to them crapping out on you fairly quickly.

Edit: look
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/29/atinvidiapowerreq85vw9.jpg

At 126 watts that's only 10A on the +12V rail. That seems extremely low, were those readings taken at full load?

 

[Asus]

Yeah, there is no way it needs 30A. Plus, does your 500 watt PSU have a +12V 1 and +12V 2 (2 rails)?

 

[3ssence]

i'm going to reinforce the points made by asus and brick, 18A is just fine to run any card.

 

[No Limit]

Yeah, there is no way it needs 30A. Plus, does your 500 watt PSU have a +12V 1 and +12V 2 (2 rails)?

I can check but I doubt it, its a fairly cheap PSU so its probably all on one rail.

I will probably take all your advice and go with the 1900 series probably on my next pay day.