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Aug 17, 2008, 05:02 AM
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#1
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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Skulltrail - XFX GTX 280 XXX 3-Way SLi /4870X2 CFx
Read the article Here
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Even though comparisons will be made, our intention is not to directly compare ATI against Nvidia in this article, but more to see how both leading ultimate solutions will run on a system which should in theory be less CPU bound than most. To further downplay the side effects of the two Quad processors affecting the results, we have watercooled both CPU's and overclocked them to 4.4ghz (a 1.2ghz overclock @ 400x11). This will let both graphics solutions stretch their legs as much as possible at the highest resolutions.
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:13 AM
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#2
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DriverHeaven Addict
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 388
Rep Power: 0
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First notice.
How can the AVG be higher than the MAX? 
Race Driver and WIC |
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:39 AM
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#3
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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it cant be, they are transposed in flash, ill correct that. sorry, long night !
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:58 AM
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#4
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DriverHeaven Extreme Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 4,473
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interesting read Z, i guess the beta bios and drivers from Nvidia came a long way since i thought that SLI with the 280 was not doable until recently on Skulltrail
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Aug 17, 2008, 06:02 AM
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#5
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaos
interesting read Z, i guess the beta bios and drivers from Nvidia came a long way since i thought that SLI with the 280 was not doable until recently on Skulltrail
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Yeah. the good thing is, the bios was just released publically as well, which should help the.... erm.... 30 people who have it ? 
Both solutions work well really considering the limited market Skulltrail has. The cost really is hard to justify overall however. a really high end Quad core enthusiast system overclocked is much better value for money. Still I thought it was intereresting to tackle. |
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Aug 17, 2008, 06:42 AM
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#6
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DH's Asteroids' Dominator
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK and Hellas, mostly
Posts: 5,366
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Very interesting and a tough choise to make, if you have the money. Go for the ATI cards that have way too high temperatures to feel comfortable, or go for the Nvidia cards that though can run cooler they recently have some bad rep regarding how the handle heat.
I wonder if the fans on the ATI cards actualy run at 100% at any point.
The system looks like the best reason to get watercooling even without any overclocking.
It also shows, in my view, how bad Crysis is. By bad i don't mean good.
Good review once again.
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Aug 17, 2008, 07:19 AM
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#7
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueMak
I wonder if the fans on the ATI cards actualy run at 100% at any point.
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Actually we have been in talks with ATI about the poor fan management (ask Spyre). The tool I linked on the last page allows for manual fan adjustments and its a wise idea to crank the fans a little to lower the temps. |
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Aug 17, 2008, 07:23 AM
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#8
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Driverheaven Lover
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 158
Rep Power: 21
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I am well impressed with both sets of results. Not sure any average joe could afford either, although ive read on a few forums that the people who want skulltrail cant even get the motherboards or processors anyway.
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Aug 17, 2008, 07:33 AM
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#9
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DriverHeaven Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 53
Rep Power: 28
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I would love this system. I cant get the motherboard or processors anywhere. the graphics cards are easy enough. ive been trying to get skulltrail for months now  |
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Aug 17, 2008, 11:47 AM
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#10
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DH's Youngest Mod
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 3,967
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so you DID get it out today, sweet....
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Aug 17, 2008, 11:54 AM
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#11
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DH's Youngest Mod
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 3,967
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holy lord Jesus thats alot of FPS......
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Aug 17, 2008, 12:36 PM
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#12
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YOYOTech Staff
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: London, UK
Posts: 168
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Dear Zardon,
Would you consider lifting your multi-GPU-testing-skirts and giving us a gander at some of the saucy data underneath ?
Specifically, I was wondering if there is a graph [COLOR=orange](uber-Zardon-Flash-enabled or regular JPG)[/COLOR]...
...which shows the scalability of moving from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 ATI 4870 Cores...
...and - separately - the same thing for 1-2-3 GTX cores
That'd REALLY be the kind of authoratative 'should we shouldn't we' upgrade info for many customer - and we'd luv ya for it  |
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Aug 17, 2008, 12:42 PM
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#13
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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Ah what I would do with another 24 hours everyday
Good idea just not feasible on a time basis right now. maybe one for a future project........ although I hear Intel are bringing out something new *cough* and smokin shortly so maybe best waiting for that ......... |
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Aug 17, 2008, 12:55 PM
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#14
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DriverHeaven Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: ORLANDO,FL
Posts: 95
Rep Power: 7
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good work z!!!! i wish i could get me a skulltrail but couldnt afford that..
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Aug 17, 2008, 01:03 PM
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#15
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DriverHeaven Extreme Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Ohio
Posts: 8,523
Rep Power: 58
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Imagine a tri 280 x2 setup!
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Aug 17, 2008, 04:05 PM
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#16
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DriverHeaven Lover
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 165
Rep Power: 0
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Jesus that is freakin amazing. The requirement for buffered memory is just strange. You'd think they'd KNOW that'll slow down everything else.
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:27 PM
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#17
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DriverHeaven Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 73
Rep Power: 0
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I just knew before I went into this review that I was going to hate it, but not quite as much as I ended up hating it
I feel humbled, I just managed to get my system running crysis at 1290x960 at all high settings, I read this and this system is hammering mine at 1920x1200 all very high.
Yeah, we can all justify the cost, and say "wow I wouldnt pay that", but you know if I had a few grand burning a hole in my pocket I would. Thats how much I love my games. |
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:29 PM
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#18
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DriverHeaven Lover
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 147
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A few grand? lol, the processors in that system ALONE are a few grand. then another £400 for the motherboard, £600 for the ram, £600 for the hard drives, £1100 for the graphics cards, £130 for the PSU, £300 for the watercooling.
Yeah its a few grand alright, just not maybe the 2k you were thinking |
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:41 PM
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#19
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DriverHeaven Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 73
Rep Power: 0
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Aug 17, 2008, 05:43 PM
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#20
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DH's Youngest Mod
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 3,967
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you can always use Xeons in skulltrail...
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Aug 17, 2008, 10:14 PM
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#21
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DriverHeaven Newbie
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 1
Rep Power: 0
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I'd like to make a minor correction on this. On the page about GRAW 2, it states that "The Unreal 3 engine is normally capped to approximately 62/63 frames per second by default, but this is not the case for GRAW 2." It makes it sound like GRAW 2 is powered by UE3, but it is actually powered by the Diesel engine, an in-house engine developed by Grin.
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Aug 17, 2008, 10:44 PM
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#22
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4870X2 Anyone??
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: New York
Posts: 2,111
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BRILLIANT!
That really took me by surprise... I would of never thought to see someone doing a followup on Skulltrail.
Excellent article, and well done Allan  |
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Aug 18, 2008, 04:40 AM
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#23
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Burned
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 29,775
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A few people have asked me which power supply we used for this. I only could get one that handled it (I had one die and one just say "no thanks ill pass").
This is the baby - The Corsair HX1000W http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=592 - passed with flying colours. |
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Aug 18, 2008, 05:39 AM
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#24
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VETUS INFLATIO
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Red Lodge UK
Posts: 15,986
Rep Power: 78
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