where does the crossfire launch leave r520

Twisting in the wind?

 

Well, if the g70 does score 7800 points in '05 (1600x1200) that leaves all four solutions at about the same score (g70, sli, cf and r520)
Nothing to worry about...

 

I would disagree. If I am building a new system and have a choice of getting the same performance from either G70/R520 or SLI/Crossfire, it's a no-brainer. Not only would it be more practical to get a singe, more feature-rich next-gen card, but it would probably be cheaper as well.

 

Pffft! This whole next generation is coming too soon, I'm still sticking with AGP for a while yet.

 

I agree, still AGP and still loving life! 8)

I see people defending/attacking crossfire but I still can't grasp why anybody would want to buy such a thing now.

Forget buying such a thing "instead of" sli. Why would anybody buy it at all? You have to figure the ATI enthusiasts who do rush out to buy the biggest and best and newest offering at each refresh, don't currently have capable motherboards.

Why would they? After all, those are the same people who said sli was pointless and too expensive about a year ago.

So they're going to buy a new motherboard (and everything else), plus a $500 "master" card. IF these things are even available. It just makes absolutely no sense. By the time anybody who really wanted to go this route actually can, nVidia's G70 will be on the market and the R520 should be on the market!

Why would anybody invest any more $$ into this old tech? Either the R520 launches shortly, or ATI will now be two generations behind when nvidia launches the G70.

Is there any explanation for this other than the R520 has disappointed, is delayed, or maybe even vaporware?

 

or just get a dual 5xx system...

 

Yes.

 

Care to share your reason, digi?

 

No.

 

The reason better not be that "R520 was too advanced to bring to market and we have moved this project into R640, which will be released at a time when the unwashed masses are prepared to meet with such extremely high tech hardware..."

Bring it!!! Wireframe hungry!

 

you're talking about a single G70. Am i correct?

 

har har digi

I don't see why they couldn't announce Crossfire. Presumably it works with R520. For R420, it's just another upgrade path. *shrug*

 

Hahhahah, priceless!

 

Hmm, so we're into vaporware now?

How about the R520 was an illusion from the very beginning.

 

Please explain.

 

Oh hush. I tried to use the same agurements over at other sites and was labled a fanboyi for it

 

I personally prefer a single card solution, but that is just me

Dual chips on a single card is ok, but there isn't a PC game coming that warrants a $1200 investment in video cards.

 

Ah, but you can buy a second "next-gen" card and improve performance!!! (Bah!!)

 

Me, too. I think people really miss the obvious when it comes to "SLI" or "Crossfire" or whatever you want to call it: this is strictly small-potatoes stuff compared to single-gpu engineering and deployment. I recall all too well nV trying so unsuccessfully to rain all over 3dfx's SLI parade a few years ago by flatly declaring that they'd never launch a similar technology as it was "inferior" (and so on...) That was said at the time even though from a practical standpoint 3dfx's SLI deployment made tons more sense than any current dual-card pair scenario currently available: all you needed was a spare PCI slot to use it and at that time spare PCI slots were ubiquitous in every 3d-enthusiast's box (because they naturally existed in most every motherboard being shipped at the time.)

Today, such is not the case for dual-card PCIx16 deployment as it is offered. In fact, the vast majority of PCIex16 motherboards currently sold are single-slot mobos and simply cannot support the current dual-card offerings from either company in any way, shape, or form. Compared to the market 3dfx lauched SLI into, the current market for "modern" SLI is miniscule in terms of percentage and the concept is definitely nowhere near as marketable as it was then. The reasons for this are, of course, legion, but chief among them, I think, is the fact that dual-card pairing of this kind requires not only a greater expense for the cards, but also a greater cost for dual-slot PCIex mobos, not to mention other peripherals. Additionally, whereas what 3dfx did was transparent in terms of software support these newer solutions require custom software support of some kind (although of the two Crossfire seems far more naturally compatible and useful--although at this time it's hard to say pre-review, certainly.)

Personally, I think folks are sadly mistaken who are of the opinion that things like SM3.0 support and SLI/X-Fire support are the things that differentiate one company's products from another. IMO, these are small-time and short-term in greater scheme of things and the battlefield economically will still very much remain in the domain of the single-gpu product line.