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The upgrade junkyard/flea-market


Cold_Gambler

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This makes it all clear as mud. One thing I do know is the original mainboard I had them running on was a 3200 chipset. The board I have now is the latest and greatest of the 790fx chipset. Both boards ran these cards in crossfire using the ribbon cable from card to card. If I understand correctly, the "Pro" version and the "XTX" version are not a compatible set-up.

First-generation

( documentation taken from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia )

CrossFire was first made available to the public on September 27, 2005.

The system required a CrossFire-compliant motherboard with a pair of ATI Radeon PCI Express (PCIe) graphics cards. Radeon x800s, x850s, x1800s and x1900s came in a regular edition, and a 'CrossFire Edition' which has 'master' capability built into the hardware. 'Master' capability is a term used for 5 extra image compositing chips, which combine the output of both cards. One had to buy a Master card, and pair it with a regular card from the same series. The Master card would have shipped with a proprietary DVI Y-dongle, which would plug into the primary DVI ports from both cards, and into the monitor cable. This dongle serves as the main link between both cards, sending incomplete images between them, and complete images to the monitor. Low-end Radeon x1300 and x1600 cards have no 'CrossFire Edition' but are enabled via software, with communication forwarded via the standard PCI Express slots on the motherboard. ATI currently has not created the infrastructure to allow FireGL cards to be set up in a CrossFire configuration. The 'slave' graphics card needed to be from the same family as the 'master'.

An example of a limitation in regard to a Master-card configuration would be the first-generation CrossFire implementation in the Radeon X850 XT Master Card. Because it used a compositing chip from Silicon Image (SiI 163B TMDS), the maximum resolution on an X850 CrossFire setup was limited to 1600×1200 at 60 Hz, or 1920×1440 at 52 Hz. This was considered a problem for CRT owners wishing to use CrossFire to play games at high resolutions, or owners of Widescreen LCD monitors. As many people found a 60 Hz refresh rate with a CRT to strain ones eyes, the practical resolution limit became 1280×1024, which did not push CrossFire enough to justify the cost. The next generation of CrossFire, as employed by the X1800 Master cards, used two sets of compositing chips and a custom double density dual-link DVI Y-dongle to double the bandwidth between cards, raising the maximum resolution and refresh rate to far higher levels.

Second-generation (Software CrossFire)

When used with ATI's "CrossFire Xpress 3200" motherboard chipset, the 'master' card is no longer required for every "CrossFire Ready" card (with the exception of the Radeon X1900 series). With the CrossFire Xpress 3200, two normal cards can be run in a Crossfire setup, using the PCI-E bus for communications. This is similar to X1300 CrossFire, which also uses PCI Express, except that the Xpress 3200 had been built for low-latency and high-speed communication between graphics cards. While performance was impacted, this move was viewed as an overall improvement in market strategy, due to the fact that Crossfire Master cards were expensive, in very high demand, and largely unavailable at the retail level.

Although the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset is indeed capable of CrossFire through the PCI-e bus for every Radeon series below the X1900s, the driver accommodations for this CrossFire method has not yet materialized for the X1800 series. ATI has said that future revisions of the Catalyst driver suite will contain what is required for X1800 dongleless CrossFire, but has not yet mentioned a specific date.

Current generation (CrossFire X)

With the release of the Radeon X1950 Pro (RV570 GPU), ATI has completely revised CrossFire's connection infrastructure to further eliminate the need for past Y-dongle/Master card and slave card configurations for CrossFire to operate. ATI's CrossFire connector is now a ribbon-like connector attached to the top of each graphics adapter, similar to nVidia's SLi bridges, but different in physical and logical natures. As such, Master Cards no longer exist, and are not required for maximum performance. Two dongles can be used per card; these were put to full use with the release of CrossFire X. Radeon HD 2900 and HD 3000 series cards use the same ribbon connectors, but the HD 3800 series of cards only require one ribbon connector, to facilitate CrossFire X. Unlike older series of Radeon cards, different HD 3800 series cards can be combined in CrossFire, each with separate clock control.

Since the release of the codenamed Spider desktop platform from AMD on November 19, 2007, the CrossFire setup has been updated with support for a maximum of four video cards with the 790FX chipset; the CrossFire branding was then changed to "ATI CrossFire X". The setup, according to internal testing by AMD, will bring at least 3.2x performance increase in several games and applications which required massive graphics capabilities of the computer system, the setup is targeted to the enthusiast market. A later development include a dual GPU solution that was released in early 2008, the "ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2", featuring only one CrossFire connector for dual card, four GPU scalability.

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This makes it all clear as mud. One thing I do know is the original mainboard I had them running on was a 3200 chipset. The board I have now is the latest and greatest of the 790fx chipset. Both boards ran these cards in crossfire using the ribbon cable from card to card. If I understand correctly, the "Pro" version and the "XTX" version are not a compatible set-up.

First-generation

( documentation taken from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia )

CrossFire was first made available to the public on September 27, 2005.

The system required a CrossFire-compliant motherboard with a pair of ATI Radeon PCI Express (PCIe) graphics cards. Radeon x800s, x850s, x1800s and x1900s came in a regular edition, and a 'CrossFire Edition' which has 'master' capability built into the hardware. 'Master' capability is a term used for 5 extra image compositing chips, which combine the output of both cards. One had to buy a Master card, and pair it with a regular card from the same series. The Master card would have shipped with a proprietary DVI Y-dongle, which would plug into the primary DVI ports from both cards, and into the monitor cable. This dongle serves as the main link between both cards, sending incomplete images between them, and complete images to the monitor. Low-end Radeon x1300 and x1600 cards have no 'CrossFire Edition' but are enabled via software, with communication forwarded via the standard PCI Express slots on the motherboard. ATI currently has not created the infrastructure to allow FireGL cards to be set up in a CrossFire configuration. The 'slave' graphics card needed to be from the same family as the 'master'.

An example of a limitation in regard to a Master-card configuration would be the first-generation CrossFire implementation in the Radeon X850 XT Master Card. Because it used a compositing chip from Silicon Image (SiI 163B TMDS), the maximum resolution on an X850 CrossFire setup was limited to 1600×1200 at 60 Hz, or 1920×1440 at 52 Hz. This was considered a problem for CRT owners wishing to use CrossFire to play games at high resolutions, or owners of Widescreen LCD monitors. As many people found a 60 Hz refresh rate with a CRT to strain ones eyes, the practical resolution limit became 1280×1024, which did not push CrossFire enough to justify the cost. The next generation of CrossFire, as employed by the X1800 Master cards, used two sets of compositing chips and a custom double density dual-link DVI Y-dongle to double the bandwidth between cards, raising the maximum resolution and refresh rate to far higher levels.

Second-generation (Software CrossFire)

When used with ATI's "CrossFire Xpress 3200" motherboard chipset, the 'master' card is no longer required for every "CrossFire Ready" card (with the exception of the Radeon X1900 series). With the CrossFire Xpress 3200, two normal cards can be run in a Crossfire setup, using the PCI-E bus for communications. This is similar to X1300 CrossFire, which also uses PCI Express, except that the Xpress 3200 had been built for low-latency and high-speed communication between graphics cards. While performance was impacted, this move was viewed as an overall improvement in market strategy, due to the fact that Crossfire Master cards were expensive, in very high demand, and largely unavailable at the retail level.

Although the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset is indeed capable of CrossFire through the PCI-e bus for every Radeon series below the X1900s, the driver accommodations for this CrossFire method has not yet materialized for the X1800 series. ATI has said that future revisions of the Catalyst driver suite will contain what is required for X1800 dongleless CrossFire, but has not yet mentioned a specific date.

Current generation (CrossFire X)

With the release of the Radeon X1950 Pro (RV570 GPU), ATI has completely revised CrossFire's connection infrastructure to further eliminate the need for past Y-dongle/Master card and slave card configurations for CrossFire to operate. ATI's CrossFire connector is now a ribbon-like connector attached to the top of each graphics adapter, similar to nVidia's SLi bridges, but different in physical and logical natures. As such, Master Cards no longer exist, and are not required for maximum performance. Two dongles can be used per card; these were put to full use with the release of CrossFire X. Radeon HD 2900 and HD 3000 series cards use the same ribbon connectors, but the HD 3800 series of cards only require one ribbon connector, to facilitate CrossFire X. Unlike older series of Radeon cards, different HD 3800 series cards can be combined in CrossFire, each with separate clock control.

Since the release of the codenamed Spider desktop platform from AMD on November 19, 2007, the CrossFire setup has been updated with support for a maximum of four video cards with the 790FX chipset; the CrossFire branding was then changed to "ATI CrossFire X". The setup, according to internal testing by AMD, will bring at least 3.2x performance increase in several games and applications which required massive graphics capabilities of the computer system, the setup is targeted to the enthusiast market. A later development include a dual GPU solution that was released in early 2008, the "ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2", featuring only one CrossFire connector for dual card, four GPU scalability.

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  • 6 months later...

2x2Gb (4GB) OCZ Reaper (OCZ3RPR13334GK) DDR3 PC3 10666.

A matched pair of almost-new sticks of fast DDR 3 RAM suitable for AMD's AM3 motherboards, capable of running high speeds with tight timings . I upgraded to PC3 12800 to take advantage of my mobo's capabilities.

I want £70 for them. They are in the original packaging and have a lifetime warranty.

B :dog:

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  • 5 months later...
  • 1. DDz Quorum

Can bring a Creative Labs 5.1 speakerset to Duxford.

(ie. the Red Lion, or anywhere else where I may park my car, I'm not gonna carry it around!)

I think it's the 5100 model. One will need a 5.1 sound card to operate it.

Free, for anyone to come and pick it up there.

Just holler between now and about 24hrs from now, as that's when I'll be leaving to Duxford!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1. DDz Quorum

Over the past 3-4 weeks I have accumulated various hardware in order to resolve computer issues and/or rebuild in my current case.

This has been to no avail and I am left with items I will list later. With major house works going on I don't have the time or inclination to RMA motherboards/processors just in case they are at fault - basically I have stripped out the case apart from a hard drive and graphics cards because of a problem that couldn't be resolved and rebuilt with mobo, processor, power supply and ram....unfortunately it crashed after a day and now all I have is two fans spinning and bugger all else. I was flying last week on the original build so graphics/sound cards and some stuff is obviously fine.

I would like to buy a new computer and get a nice long warranty.

Items for sale are:

Case

2 x Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX graphics cards

Windows7 oem single licence - new last week

Original build - January 2008

Asus P5N-T Deluxe Socket 775 motherboard (replacement board fitted under warranty last year)

Asus Silent Knight II Socket 775 cpu cooler

500gb Raptor HD, 10,000 rpm - has new install of Windows7 but would probably need reformatting

850 watt power unit for SLI

4gb DDR2 6800 Crucial ram - 6 months old

8gb DDR2 1333mhz Crucial ram - 2 weeks old

LG CD rom optical drive

Creative soundcard

Rebuild - new stuff bought last week

Asus P6X58D-E LGA1366 motherboard - new

Intel i7 960 LGA1366 quad core processor and cooling fan - new

Corsair TX950 power unit for SLI or TriSLI - new

6gb 1600mhz Crucial ram - new

LG DVD rom RW etc

LG DVD rom RW etc optical drive - new

I am sure that there is enough bits there for someone to build a running rig.

I would prefer to sell all in one go rather than split so, to take into account age of some components, the newness of others and the possibility of one of the boards or the processor being faulty I will sell for £600 all in.

If interested please PM me for further details or to negotiate.

Cheerzen

Edited asking price

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Over the past 3-4 weeks I have accumulated various hardware in order to resolve computer issues and/or rebuild in my current case.

This has been to no avail and I am left with items I will list later. With major house works going on I don't have the time or inclination to RMA motherboards/processors just in case they are at fault - basically I have stripped out the case apart from a hard drive and graphics cards because of a problem that couldn't be resolved and rebuilt with mobo, processor, power supply and ram....unfortunately it crashed after a day and now all I have is two fans spinning and bugger all else. I was flying last week on the original build so graphics/sound cards and some stuff is obviously fine.

I would like to buy a new computer and get a nice long warranty.

Items for sale are:

Case

2 x Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX graphics cards

Windows7 oem single licence - new last week

Original build - January 2008

Asus P5N-T Deluxe Socket 775 motherboard (replacement board fitted under warranty last year)

Asus Silent Knight II Socket 775 cpu cooler

500gb Raptor HD, 10,000 rpm - has new install of Windows7 but would probably need reformatting

850 watt power unit for SLI

4gb DDR2 6800 Crucial ram - 6 months old

8gb DDR2 1333mhz Crucial ram - 2 weeks old

LG CD rom optical drive

Creative soundcard

Rebuild - new stuff bought last week

Asus P6X58D-E LGA1366 motherboard - new

Intel i7 960 LGA1366 quad core processor and cooling fan - new

Corsair TX950 power unit for SLI or TriSLI - new

6gb 1600mhz Crucial ram - new

LG DVD rom RW etc

LG DVD rom RW etc optical drive - new

I am sure that there is enough bits there for someone to build a running rig.

I would prefer to sell all in one go rather than split so, to take into account age of some components, the newness of others and the possibility of one of the boards or the processor being faulty I will sell for £600 all in.

If interested please PM me for further details or to negotiate.

Cheerzen

Edited asking price

Sid

Are you sure you wouldn't just like me to get this running for you? My workbench is clear at the moment.

B

Ahh, Redditch. I had thought you were closer to me, like in the south-west. I couldn't collect at that distance.

Edited by DD_Brando
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  • 1. DDz Quorum

I would love to get it running again Brando, thank you for your offer. You are right though, there is a fair bit of travel involved.

I'm checking on info that the 8800GTXs are incompatible with new boards with PCIe 2.0 but can't get anything conclusive. The cards ran ok on the P5N mobo - this is PCIe 2.0 - although there were some occasional graphics issues that appeared to be resolved with a change in the GeForce driver.

If they are incompatible then I'll get some 400 series cards but I can't get a shop to lend me one to test that theory.....reluctant to buy until I know. The other alternative is to buy a new pooter. The one I am looking at for the right price is a similar spec to the rebuild though so I am hesitating again :unsure:

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  • 6 months later...
  • 2. Administrators

Anyone interested in a free monitor?

I have a spare 15" TFT monitor (HP) which is in need of a home. It's in full working order and is ideal as a second monitor for those that want one. I'm not selling it, I'm giving it away. All you'd need to pay for is the post and packing or you're welcome to pick it up from here.

PM me if you're interested.

Jabo

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I've been sorting through the post-upgrade box and I have a few items that I'd like to clear out. Best first:

An ATI HD4890 with 1GB DDR5. This is the Peak model (PCiE), made specially for OCUK, and sports an Accelero TwinTurbo cooler. It has DVI, VGA and HDMI connectors and runs DX 10.1. This one has very few 'miles on the clock' and is in PWO.

SOLD

An OCZ XTC RAM cooler (version 2). Basically two fans in a black casing which clips over the DIMM-slot clips, thereby holding the RAM in place (useful) and blowing cool air over it (useful for running RAM @ full chat. Uses power from any mobo header, has two speeds and blue LEDs, very sexy. SOLD

4GB (2x2) OCZ Reaper PC3-10666 DDR3 RAM. A matched pair with a rating of 6-6-6 @ 1.75v. Good, fast gaming RAM.

Any reasonable offers accepted.

All sold out :thumbsu:

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May well be interested in lifting the memory off your hands as I have two spare slots but not sure if they would work with memory I have as specs are a bit different. I will have to investigate. The sticks I have populating the board have following specs:

Web Address www.patriotmemory.com Model Number PGS34G1600ELKA Package Type Retail Warranty 10 Years Gross Weight 0.10Kg Type DDR3 (Dual Channel) Capacity 4GB (2 x 2GB) Clock Speed 1600MHz Compliance PC12800 CAS Latency 9.0

9-9-9-24 Chipset Patriot No. of Chips 16 Per Stick Pins 240 Per Stick Side Double Per Stick Voltage 1.8V

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May well be interested in lifting the memory off your hands as I have two spare slots but not sure if they would work with memory I have as specs are a bit different. I will have to investigate. The sticks I have populating the board have following specs:

Web Address www.patriotmemory.com Model Number PGS34G1600ELKA Package Type Retail Warranty 10 Years Gross Weight 0.10Kg Type DDR3 (Dual Channel) Capacity 4GB (2 x 2GB) Clock Speed 1600MHz Compliance PC12800 CAS Latency 9.0

9-9-9-24 Chipset Patriot No. of Chips 16 Per Stick Pins 240 Per Stick Side Double Per Stick Voltage 1.8V

Probably not as mine is 1333MHz (as opposed to your 1600MHz) and it would be necessary to adjust both Clock speed and timings to match. I don't think they're close enough

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A quick Google seems to suggest they would work but at the lowest clock speed. I will dig out the motherboard manual tomorrow and see what that says. When I bought my memory I made a bit of a boob because I thought it would need to be installed in pairs but in fact I could have installed just one modual to start with so I would have been better off getting 1 4Gb rather than 2 x 2Gb. That would have made upgrading more cost effective.

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