Dirk Broer
10-15-2012, 02:23 PM
A Quad CrossFireX™ setup sounds both impressive and expensive, but when you put your mind into it it makes sense and can be done on a budget.
What do you need?
1.
A. Socket FM1
A mobo with three PCIe-16 slots, such as the Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=A75%20Extreme6). The ASUS F1A75V-Evo (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_FM1/F1A75V_EVO/) has three PCIe-16 slots, but page 1-15 of the F1A75-V Evo manual says that you cannot use all three slots together.
B. Socket FM2
A mobo with three PCIe-16 slots, such as the Asrock FM2A85X Extreme6 (http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A85X%20Extreme6/), Asus FM2A85-V Pro (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_FM2/F2A85V_PRO/), Biostar Hi-Fi A85X (?) (http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=616), Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 (?) (http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4343#ov),
the first two actually naming the feature in their specifications.
2.
A. Three HD 6450s or
B. Three HD 6570s or
C. Three HD 6670s
The Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 is at the moment by far the least expensive mobo, can be combined with a Llano of choice and three HD 6450s won't break your wallet either.
1 Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 = €75
1 AMD A6-3400 = €44 // AMD A8-3870K = €99
3x HD 6450 = €90 // 3x HD 6570 = €150 // 3x HD 6670 = €168
So a Quad CrossFireX™, able to crunch 4 GPU Wus at a time -at minimum, you can be quite creative with app_info.xml files to incrase that even further- need not cost that much, esecially when you buy parts over time, as you can start with just the mobo and the APU.
In it's most potent version, with a A8-3870K and combined with three DDR3 HD 6670s, such a Quad CrossFireX™ setup is capable of 2784 GFlop, almost equal to a HD 7950, but for less the power needing to feed it (But do invest in case-coolers!).
In it's least potent version, with a HD-3400 and combined with three DDR3 HD 6450s, such a Quad CrossFireX™ setup is still capable of 884 GFlop,
and consumes at the level of one HD 7750, which it surpasses at GFlops.
The ideal setup is with the virtually unobtainable A8-3820 and three passively cooled HD 6670s
What do you need?
1.
A. Socket FM1
A mobo with three PCIe-16 slots, such as the Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=A75%20Extreme6). The ASUS F1A75V-Evo (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_FM1/F1A75V_EVO/) has three PCIe-16 slots, but page 1-15 of the F1A75-V Evo manual says that you cannot use all three slots together.
B. Socket FM2
A mobo with three PCIe-16 slots, such as the Asrock FM2A85X Extreme6 (http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A85X%20Extreme6/), Asus FM2A85-V Pro (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_FM2/F2A85V_PRO/), Biostar Hi-Fi A85X (?) (http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=616), Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 (?) (http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4343#ov),
the first two actually naming the feature in their specifications.
2.
A. Three HD 6450s or
B. Three HD 6570s or
C. Three HD 6670s
The Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 is at the moment by far the least expensive mobo, can be combined with a Llano of choice and three HD 6450s won't break your wallet either.
1 Asrock FM1A75X Extreme6 = €75
1 AMD A6-3400 = €44 // AMD A8-3870K = €99
3x HD 6450 = €90 // 3x HD 6570 = €150 // 3x HD 6670 = €168
So a Quad CrossFireX™, able to crunch 4 GPU Wus at a time -at minimum, you can be quite creative with app_info.xml files to incrase that even further- need not cost that much, esecially when you buy parts over time, as you can start with just the mobo and the APU.
In it's most potent version, with a A8-3870K and combined with three DDR3 HD 6670s, such a Quad CrossFireX™ setup is capable of 2784 GFlop, almost equal to a HD 7950, but for less the power needing to feed it (But do invest in case-coolers!).
In it's least potent version, with a HD-3400 and combined with three DDR3 HD 6450s, such a Quad CrossFireX™ setup is still capable of 884 GFlop,
and consumes at the level of one HD 7750, which it surpasses at GFlops.
The ideal setup is with the virtually unobtainable A8-3820 and three passively cooled HD 6670s