HD 4870X2 and iZ3D

[suchy]

Has anyone tried this configuration? I'm starting to think about buying this monster, but have no idea about compatibility with iZ3D drivers.

[nubie]

If it can display on two screens while running a game then it should work (iZ3D says crossfireX is supported, but the x2 cards aren't supposed to be using crossfire.)

What do you plan on using for display? (iZ3D is quickly becoming a driver that supports just about any setup.)

[suchy]

I already own an iZ3D monitor. Now I'm planning to upgrade video card, and since 4870X2 is relatively cheap and has really good performance, it's the first one on my list - that's why I'm asking about compatibility.

[ZalmoxisX]

I have the 4850x2 and to be honest when it comes to using the iZ3D drivers I am no better off than just a single 4850. If anything crossfire support will first be included into the DX10/11 drivers and the DX9 rewrite later will add support for crossfire. So the 4870x2 though a good card it is not the best for iZ3D right now. So I can't recommend you getting a 4870x2 or a 5800 series card. If want the most performance now then get a 5800 series card, but if you can wait however long then the 4870x2 might be a good option.

[Guig2000]

now, with 1.12 driver, the two GPUs of my 3870x2 are correctly in use only if I dot not use it with a dual output method.
So it's unusefull with my stereomirror.
Have you try your 4850x2 with the 1.12 driver?
Could you try with a dual output method to see if you have the same issue than me with my 3870x2??

[ZalmoxisX]

Sorry for not replying back sooner. Things at work have been really busy for me. Are there any games that you would like to test between different outputs? and what outputs other than dual output? Thursday is probably the soonest I'll have time to test some of these things out. Just let me know.

[Guig2000]

Any game where the 2 GPU are in use without iZ3D.
Just try it with stereomiror or dual projector or iZ3D. (of course if you have two screens or a iZ3D monitor plugged on your graphic card).

Take your time!

[ZalmoxisX]

Alright, a few days later than I wanted to get the info but I have it and it is a mix of good and bad. Outputs that use a single display do in fact use both GPUs in a CrossfireX setup. Throughout the entire benchmark both GPUs were having very close numbers in % of utilization. At the heaviest part of the benchmark GPU 1 had 99% utilization and GPU 2 had 94% utilization. Outputs that use two displays do not benefit from CrossfireX setups. I ran the Batman AA benchmark @ 1680x1050, V-Sync Off, Yes to all settings and HW PhysX Off.

CrossfireX On

Output Min Max Ave

iZ3D 11 44 30
DLP-3D 17 90 52
No 3D 48 200 130


CrossfireX Off

Output Min Max Ave

iZ3D 12 44 30
DLP-3D 11 44 31
No 3D 54 113 90


So the average performance hit for iZ3D outputs that are single display is 55%. Outputs that use two displaces the performance hit is 88%. So CrossfireX gives a ~58% performance boost on single display outputs. So this is good news for some and bad news for others. I don't have licences for the other outputs, but it seems consistent to say that CrossfireX will work on outputs that are single display. I did some test with anaglyph and color-code and the results were identical to the DLP output that I didn't other to include run both sets of benchmarks.

[Fredz]

For the AMD HD3D technology used in the TriDef driver you need at least a 5XXX or 6XXX Radeon, so your 4870 won't be supported even with the full driver. It's hard to say for the other options without knowing what your 3D display is or what NVIDIA GPU you have in your laptop.