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Do i need the same graphics cards for a crossfire

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by mattm_72787

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I am wanting to go with dual PCI-E cards with ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 I have one card that is crossfire capable and i know i need another, but can i get a bigger cards and give that one more load than the one i have now. Because i cant afford two big video cards right now, And does any one know of some sites that have great deals on hardware. thanks mattm

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by older mycroft

I 'think' I'm correct in saying this:

Whether you go with the Crossfire of ATi cards or you go with the SLi of nVidia, the twin-card setup splits the screen image in half horizontally: the first card handling one half of the image - the second card handling the other half.

Clearly by this methodology, there is no possibility of one card handling MORE of the screen if it is only set up to handle half [u]in synchronicity[/u] with the other half.

Also the speed at which each card handles their half of the screen (with frame update of paramount importance), each of the two cards MUST be working at exactly the same speed.

You therefore MUST have two identical cards; most users buy two cards at the same time to prevent the advances in technology making it difficult to find a matching card at a later date.

by jamesrl

The first versions of SLI and crossfire demanded identical cards certified for use in that application.

But I believe that newer implementations of the crossfire technology allow different cards to be used together - the faster one is designated as the master...

James

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