CrossFire finds Quad

Multi-graphics setups get big headlines and usually rule theroost in 3DMark's Hall of Fame. They ace most real game benchmarks, too. Buthow many people actually run dual-graphics rigs on a regular basis? Sure, SLIand CrossFire can provide some pretty high frame rates with the right software.But neither is as reliable as a single card, and few people can afford a TFT toget the most out of them, anyway.

So it was with some bemusement that I came across MSI'srecent announcement that it was to be the first manufacturer to release a motherboard supportingQuad CrossFire. Using AMD's new 790FX chipset, the K9A2 Platinum offers four16x-sized PCI Express slots, although there are only 32 actual PCI Expresslanes to split between them. So with all four slots in use, each one will onlybe running at 8x throughput.

Quad erat CrossFire?

Having struggled on many occasion to get multi-graphicsworking - particularly CrossFire - the idea of trying to make four cards playnicely together doesn't exactly make me reach for my wallet.

On the plus side, ATI really is the most experienced in thisarea. Its GPUs have been theoretically able to run in parallel since the R300GPU (as found in the Radeon 9700), and massively parallel implementations ofits products have even made their way into supercomputers. You might also rememberthe Rage Fury Maxx, which sported two Rage 128 Pro chips, but was hobbled byWindows 2000 and Windows XP.

Despite this, CrossFire arrived as a rather 'me too' gestureafter Nvidia's SLI, and early implementations using an external dongle couldhardly have been called elegant. Things have improved, but having watched AMD'stechnical people take the best part of a day to get Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFireup and running a few months back, I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone butthe almightily patient.

Motherboardmoney-spinner

Multi-graphics has been one of the best ways to sell premiumhardware there is - but not necessarily for graphics card vendors. Unlessyou're on a severe budget, when the time comes for the next motherboard upgradethe chances are you will be looking for something with SLI or CrossFiresupport. So you buy the more expensive model with the right chipset and extraslots, just in case. But when the time comes, most of us don't end up adding asecond graphics card identical to the one we purchased six months ago - we buythe latest and greatest.

DirectX 10 has been a particular watershed. Given the choicebetween a pair of DirectX 9 cards or a single DirectX 10 one, most have opted for thenew technology - even if it's not quite so fast in the benchmarks. With the highpower requirements of the latest cards, too, having a pair of them will oftenhave other implications as well, such as the need for a 1000W power supply.

AMD is just about to release a product which might beeconomical when run in multiples right from the word go, the RV670.But whether you will get much benefit in games from Quad CrossFire is still verymuch an unknown quantity.

Not seeing quadruple

So MSI has made some great headlines with its new QuadCrossFire-capable motherboard - I've devoted this blog posting to it, afterall! But the chances are only a small percentage of those who buy the boardwill actually be taking advantage of this aspect of its capabilities, even ifthis is the feature they bought it for in the first place.