Quad SLi

[nonstop]

This is basically what they have been running the new ut2007 demos on at tradeshows.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/ ... 176345.php

[law.of.averages]

All kidding aside, do we really need that much performance?

[Porkinator]

I don't think they have ironed out the problems with the 7900
and now they bring out another card ?
I guess it crashes 20 to 80 % faster than the 7900 ?
Rom is having trouble with his 7900 and he indicated the other makers of these cards are getting them worked out. I was looking at this card for possible upgrade but decided if I do I would lean towarded the X1900.

[nonstop]

I don't think they have ironed out the problems with the 7900
and now they bring out another card ?
I guess it crashes 20 to 80 % faster than the 7900 ?
Rom is having trouble with his 7900 and he indicated the other makers of these cards are getting them worked out. I was looking at this card for possible upgrade but decided if I do I would lean towarded the X1900.

Hey Pork, the problems are mostly with the manufacturors who overclock their gpu's like evga, (roms card), bfg and xfx.

Remember that old saying of, don't buy a first your production model of a new car? It applies in other places too.

Overclocking always causes issues in the latest cpu's and gpu's as the manufactoring process hasn't been tweaked enough for higher yealding (mghz) chips. I found the same with my bfg 6800gt. I had lots of issues with it until they had cleared some of it up with drivers and bios flashes. That's the price you pay for getting the latest technology.

There is quite a bit of headroom in most gpu's these days so manufactorers are overclocking them right at the factory so if you get a vid board from xfx or evga these days they are usually overclocked right out of the box. BGF kind of made a name for themselves doing this.

My amd 3500+ newcastle core was purchased with they first released them over a year ago. Those things don't overclock very well but the later core models on the same die can go from 2.2 mghz to 2.8 or 3.0 without much fuss and sometimes with just air cooling. BTW that's about a $500.00-$800.00 savings depending on how much you o/c it. The yeild rate on newer cpu's doesn't usually make good overclocking chips and the same applies to gpu's like the G71 (7900s). The 7800's were the G70.

You watch, as yeild rates go up within the next 6mo people will be overclocking the 7900's up quite a bit with no problems.

All kidding aside, do we really need that much performance?

No. I personally believe that performance is one of the delays in the release of ut2k7, not the only one, but one nonetheless. I think they are trying to optimize code to help it run better on lower end machines and they are trying to wait for the market to catch up with newer hardware releases which we will see a flurry of before ut2k7 is out next year. Then again I could be full of hot air. The AMD2 was just realesed along with the newest x1900xtx, the current video king, radeon killer that is mentioned in the lead of this thread. There will be more to come too as everyone is waiting to see what Intels new 'Conroe' core will do as the initial benchmarks blow amd's fastest FX chip out of the water. Will intel finally regain the performance crown? AMD has had it for some time now as intels chips have been slower and hotter.

So to answer your question law, no. I'm guessing that 2k7 will run ok on a 6800 or x850 and above with several things in the video turned down to a degree. After that it will probably run ok but with several things in video options tuned down to minimal. That's my guess, we shall see.

7900 problems: http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTA2OSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Conroe info: http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2713&p=2

[law.of.averages]

Will intel finally regain the performance crown? AMD has had it for some time now as intels chips have been slower and hotter.

My money's on Via to release a CPU as fast as a 3200 XP, but only require passive cooling

[pewterdragn]

My money's on Via to release a CPU as fast as a 3200 XP, but only require passive cooling

I thought you'd have to put a heater on it?