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View Full Version : Crossfire and Physics Accel on an '08 Mac Pro



Ikyo
Jul 7, 2008, 02:01 PM
Has anyone put in 2 of the 3870's and also left in their 2600 to use it as a physics accelator? I am thinking about getting 2x3870's to replace my 8800GT, but not sure it is worth the money yet.


Apple Ink
Jul 7, 2008, 02:06 PM
Er.... Just one question!!!
Does Mac Pro (If thats what you are talking about) support crossfire?

If it does, you better see this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1965-6.html
Tallest Skil
Jul 7, 2008, 02:08 PM
The Mac Pro does support CrossFire. Every board supports CrossFire.
Apple Ink
Jul 7, 2008, 02:11 PM
The Mac Pro does support CrossFire. Every board supports CrossFire.

What exactly do you mean by "Every board supports CrossFire" ?
Ikyo
Jul 7, 2008, 02:18 PM
It supports Crossfire and that list is accurate in that the 8800GT solo is better then a single 3870, but not dual.
indiochano
Jul 7, 2008, 03:04 PM
The Mac Pro does support CrossFire. Every board supports CrossFire.

OS X doesnt support crossfire... hell have to use crossfire under windows.
Ikyo
Jul 7, 2008, 03:13 PM
Yes, I would use it to play games under Windows. The 3870 would be more then enough to support everything I do in OSX.
Tallest Skil
Jul 7, 2008, 03:15 PM
What exactly do you mean by "Every board supports CrossFire" ?

Every motherboard supports CrossFire. It's not like SLI where nVidia dictates what board (Skulltrail) works.
zmttoxics
Jul 7, 2008, 03:25 PM
The Mac Pro does support CrossFire. Every board supports CrossFire.

Motherboards with nVidia chipsets do not support CrossFire, much like intel / ati chipsets do not supplort SLi.
Spanky Deluxe
Jul 7, 2008, 09:43 PM
It supports Crossfire and that list is accurate in that the 8800GT solo is better then a single 3870, but not dual.

And not to forget, the 3870 is vastly superior to the 8800 GT in Core Image apps (i.e. half of the 'Pro' suite).
Apple Ink
Jul 8, 2008, 01:38 AM
Every motherboard supports CrossFire. It's not like SLI where nVidia dictates what board (Skulltrail) works.


No MoBo with Nvidia chipset (eg: 680i, 790i, nforce 4, etc) supports CrossFire.

How Sure am I? 1000% cuz I myself am currently using an Nvidia 790i MoBo!
Spanky Deluxe
Jul 8, 2008, 06:34 AM
No MoBo with Nvidia chipset (eg: 680i, 790i, nforce 4, etc) supports CrossFire.

How Sure am I? 1000% cuz I myself am currently using an Nvidia 790i MoBo!

Yeah, unfortunately that's true. While there's no hardware reason that SLI/Crossfire should work on any motherboard, the drivers artificially limit it to only Intel/non-nVidia motherboards for Crossfire and nVidia boards for SLI. I swear I heard that from someone that this was illegal and violated anti-trust laws or something. :confused:
Apple Ink
Jul 8, 2008, 07:13 AM
Yeah, unfortunately that's true. While there's no hardware reason that SLI/Crossfire should work on any motherboard, the drivers artificially limit it to only Intel/non-nVidia motherboards for Crossfire and nVidia boards for SLI. I swear I heard that from someone that this was illegal and violated anti-trust laws or something. :confused:

I dont think so dude cuz if it did, Mac OS would be running on millions of PCs in the same way!
Spanky Deluxe
Jul 8, 2008, 07:16 AM
I dont think so dude cuz if it did, Mac OS would be running on millions of PCs in the same way!

Yeah you're right. Its a shame they don't try force us into using particular boards. :( This does make me not want to buy an nVidia card again for my Mac. I've got SLI working on two 7300 GTs at the moment through hacked drivers but other than that there's not much I can do. I feel much safer in buying one 3870 now than an 8800 GT because I know I have the option of picking up another one if I want more gaming power in Windows.
Apple Ink
Jul 8, 2008, 09:08 AM
Yeah you're right. Its a shame they don't try force us into using particular boards. :( This does make me not want to buy an nVidia card again for my Mac. I've got SLI working on two 7300 GTs at the moment through hacked drivers but other than that there's not much I can do. I feel much safer in buying one 3870 now than an 8800 GT because I know I have the option of picking up another one if I want more gaming power in Windows.

I badly wanted to run 2 4850s in crossfire in my gaming PC but cuz of this F**** monopoly, I'll have to stick with the monstrously expensive GTX 260 and wait for some more time saving!!! :mad: