I
’ve been skeptical of multi multi-GPU support since the days
of Nvidia’s original Quad SLI. Back then, bad drivers, a lack
of game support, and 30-inch panels that cost a month’s pay
made the prospect unpalatable.
So when AMD sent us an Alienware ALX system decked out with
four GPUs, I didn’t expect much. But the dual Radeon HD 3870
X2s in this rig performed
pretty damn well. In asystem sporting a 3GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850 overclocked to
4GHz, an Asus X38 board, DDR3/1800 RAM, and Windows Vista,
the double double-barreled 3870 X2s’ performance at ultra-high
resolutions shocked the hell out of me. In 3DMark06, Call of Duty
4, and Unreal 3, I saw a roughly 40 percent increase in frame rates
going from one Radeon HD 3870 X2 to two.
At lower resolutions, closer to reality, the four Radeon GPUs
didn’t up the ante quite as much at 1900x1200, but there was still
a healthy 20 percent boost in COD4 and UT3. That’s probably not
worth fi lling that second slot, but at least the setup offers decent
scaling. The Radeon HD 3870 X2 ain’t perfect, though. Driver prob-
lems initially plagued our preview of the cards, so our assessment is
that this quad-GPU solution isn’t quite ready for prime time.
It’s not much of a secret that Nvidia has its own second-gen
Quad SLI coming out. It will use two new dual-GPU cards dubbed
GeForce 9800 X2. It’s obviously too early to say which will be faster,
but the quad Radeon HD 3870 X2 at least presents a respectable
dual-card solution for folks who want to build a high-res gaming box
using an Intel X38 or even X48 chipset.Is four better than two? In this case, yes
in the lab REAL-WORLD TESTING: RESULTS. ANALYSIS. RECOMMENDATIONS
AMD’s Radeon HD 3870 X2 in quad mode scales well for having
four GPUs.GORDON MAH UNG
Cross-
Examines
CrossFireX
A
s part of my testing for this month’s cover feature, I spent a few
quality days watching movies from the iTunes Store on my PC
and in my living room. By necessity, I had to integrate a newly updated
Apple TV into my entertainment center, which is a fairly common closed
cabinet with a few air vents in the back. All of my other electronics
devices—my receiver, my TiVo, my Xbox 360—live happily in this envi-
ronment (although I do open the cabinet door when I fi re up the 360).
After leaving the Apple TV connected overnight, I detected thefaint smell of burning plastic in my living room. After investigating, I
found that the Apple TV was actually too hot to touch—around 140 F.
I don’t know about you, but none of the other consumer electronics
devices I own (save a towel-wrapped Xbox 360) gets this hot.
After digging into the documentation and Apple’s support site,
I was assured that the passively cooled Apple TV “may feel warm
when touched.” But that it was “designed to operate quietly in
an environment warmer than room temperature, including within
media cabinets.” Eventually, I discovered a standby mode, which
leaves the Apple TV running but disables the graphics hardware
to minimize heating. You can access standby by holding down
the Play/Pause button for a few seconds. That’s great, but if I
forget to manually put the Apple TV into standby, it won’t auto-
matically do it for me. That’s just irresponsible and dumb. There’s
absolutely no reason for a modern CE device that gets this hot
not to automatically shut down when it’s not being used.Will Smith
Gets Burned by the
Apple TV
Says device should carry a ‘filling may be hot’ warning
72 MAXIMUMPC (^) | MAY 08 (^) | http://www.maximumpc.com
CROSSFIREX SINGLE CARD % DIFFERENCE
CROSSFIREX PERFORMANCE
3DMARK OVERALL
2560x1600, DX9 21,050.0 12,889.0 38.8%
3DMARK06 HDR1 CANYON
FLIGHT 2560x1600, DX9
(FPS) 52.7 30.0 43.1%
3DMARK06 HDR2 DEEP
FREEZE 2560x1600, DX9
(FPS) 51.3 26.0 49.3%
CALL OF DUTY 4
2560x1600, DX9 (FPS) 93.0 73.0 21.5%
UNREAL 3 CTF-
OMICRONDAWN_BOT
2560x1600, DX10 (FPS) 118.0 65.6 44.4%
UNREAL 3 CTF-
OMICRONDAWN_BOT
2560x1600, DX9 (FPS) 120.3 68.5 43.1%