ATI RD580: Dual x16 Crossfire Preview

Performance: X1800XT Crossfire vs. nVidia 7800GTX SLI

We were pretty excited as we ran a head-to-head of ATI X1800XT Crossfire (5.11 Drivers) on the ATI RD580 Dual x16 to nVidia 7800GTX SLI (81.87 drivers) on the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Dual x16. This is, after all, the comparison everyone would like to make if all the parts were available. Unfortunately ATI asked us not to publish specific benchmarks since RD580 and Crossfire x1800XT have not been officially released and there may be more changes before the products launch. However, we will talk about relative performance after detailing the setup and some new findings.

ATI was roundly criticized for the inability of X850XT Crossfire to run at resolutions above 1600x1200, even though most end-users are not actually able to run at higher resolutions with today's most common 19" and 20" flat-panel displays. We confirmed that the new compositor chips used in X1800XT Crossfire do indeed run fine in Crossfire mode at 2048x1536. ATI tells us there is no limitation in the X1800XT compositor that would prevent even higher resolutions from working as they should.

While the exact performance results achieved comparing X1800XT Crossfire with 7800GTX SLI can not yet be published, we can tell you we benchmarked with F.E.A.R., Quake 4, Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory, Doom 3, Far Cry, and 3DMark05 at 1600x1200 resolution with 4X AA and 8X AF enabled. ATI X1800XT Crossfire won every benchmark over nVidia 7800GTX SLI in these tests.

We also ran standard scores (1024x768) for Aquamark 3, 3Dmark03, and 3Dmark05. Once again Crossfire X1800XT outperformed nVidia 7800GTX SLI in every benchmark.

We then ran all the same tests in single video mode, comparing a single X1800XT on the ATI RD580 to a single 7800GTX on the Asus A8N32-SLI. Benchmarks were run under the same conditions as Crossfire/SLI - 1600x1200/4xAA/8xAF in games and "standard" scores in 3Dmarks and Aquamark 3. Once again the ATI X1800XT on the RD580 was the winner in every benchmark. It is clear the new 5.11 drivers do make a difference in Open GL games like Quake 4 and Doom 3. Even more exciting, the RD580/X1800XT Crossfire will be a potent graphics combination.

There is no doubt that the nVidia 7800GTX 512MB, which everyone expected would launch 2 days ago as a 7800GTX Ultra, would likely win a head-to-head performance test as single or SLI when compared with the single X1800XT or Crossfire. However, ATI clearly believes the competitor for X1800XT is the $499 7800GTX and not the $700 7800GTX 512MB. ATI was quite clear they will be introducing a "PE version" of X1800XT to compete with 7800GTX 512.