Memoirs Of A 2900XT CrossFire System :: Conclusion

Editors Note: We are preparing a separate article that shows the differences in the visuals discussed in this article as well as the comparison scores of the same system with dual 8800GTX cards in an SLI configuration.

Gaming is my favorite pastime; it has been ever since the first time I got my hands on a Bally Pinball machine way back in 1976. Before the days of the 3D VGA card, I was a console junky like most of my friends of that era and Nintendo ruled the console roost while Sega, Sony, Atari and others came and went without any real dent in the advancement of any said platform. The PC became my sole gaming platform back in 2000 when the 3DFX card made everyone's head spin with its new 3D technology and amazing graphics capabilities. Anyone still remember the waterfall scene in the first Unreal? This was an amazing turn of events after experiencing the S3 companies 3D Virge and its brethren of cards that were not even real 3D capable cards and just a play on words for marketing hype. Not to mention nothing worth remembering good from a gamers standpoint.

Only Nintendo and Sony have survived and Microsoft the PC giant with its Xbox platform now rules the roost in the console market. I still play almost all the latest PC games that comes out and have come to the mindset of every chipset player has its role and its good points and bad in the PC realm. NVIDIA's SLI is a faster Frame-Per-Second platform than ATI's CrossFire, and this has its benefits as many online games play better when higher frame rates are achievable, but toned down for professional gaming performance. The ATI R600 chipset has many things to offer in its 2000 series cards, lower pricing is one angle, but not the best argument in my eyes for its purchase. As seen in many articles around the web the wide-tent antialiasing and Shader capabilities of the 2900XT are excellent and look better than NVIDIA's 8800 in similar game environments. ATI's 2900XT by itself plays any of the latest DX10 games seen so far and the CrossFire is just adding a little punch to the performance.

I am not an online gamer for the most part and when I do play online I like to defeat my opponents playing Act OF War or C&C 3 Tiberium Wars. I play these games at their maximum resolution of 1680X1050 Widescreen. When trying to play games online like COD2, HL2 or any 1st person shooter of note, these setting are ludicrous and games are inevitably slower in their response times and I die more than kill. In this arena I feel the NVIDIA 8800GTX card is the better choice as it has more FPS headroom than the 2900XT, and when the resolution is turned down, the 8800 eats up frame rates like a hot knife through butter. Pro gamers like Fatality use custom low resolution settings for maximum game speeds and response times. If you are someone who likes to play single player RTS games and the new RPG/FPS titles like Oblivion or Stalker and not the internet frag fest that some like. The ATI CrossFire platform looks better with everything turned to its maximum at resolutions up to 1680X1050. Also the HDMI capabilities of the 2900 series are advanced well ahead of NVIDIA's 8000 series, which is cool when building a home theater based PC that you can game on the big screen with.

Most people have 19'' -20'' monitors as the 22'' inch jobbers are just becoming a household item, and these monitors only support resolutions of 1680X1050 Widescreen at their best. At this resolution the SLI system is too much power and does not even tap into its vast power resources. The CrossFire is almost in the same boat, but it does really shine at 1680X1050 resolutions and is almost same price as a singles competing 800GTX card. NVIDIA's SLI when using a pair of 800GTX cards needs a 30" or better monitor for its capabilities to really be taken advantage of. ATI and NVIDIA both have a solid place in the PC game arena, with both offering different features for different users. The Diamond 2900XT 1GB cards are an excellent start for the making of a top notch CrossFire system. This system has played every game I have installed without error, and the test suite software used in this evaluation as well. ATI is continually updating their drivers with Terry Makedon still at the helm and going strong after many years of good support service to ATI consumers abroad. My final take is this; you know what your gaming style is, and since both cards are equally good in their own fashion, the decision becomes one of quality graphics or faster frame rates. Both have their place, but at the moment NVIDIA has more game developer partners than ATI, and this is one area ATI needs to improve their relations. Thanks to all the sponsors who helped build this system. Special thanks to Intel, Asus, Diamond, Swiftech, Kingston and CoolerMaster for their contributions to the cause. Next round lets see how far we can go with an SLI based super system, using a monitor worthy of its power. Until then my friends I bid you adieu.