I say this article on THG today:
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20051114/index.html

Very interesting. A Intel based dual PCI Express MOBO. The 975X is built exactly like a 955X though :( . So performance wise, THG said the only reason they got more from it was because
. . .it came factory overclocked by almost 2%. -From "Conclusion."

THG did get dual X850XL in Crossfire working on the MOBO, but currently there are no drivers to support dual nVidia graphics cards. However, they pointed out that if nVidia drivers came out, nVidia would have a huge advantage over ATI.

So who needs a 975X MOBO? An Intel die-hard who wants to use dual graphics cards. For those of use who aren't tied to one CPU manufacuter- THG still sticks by the nForce 4 SLI for the ultamite gaming experince.

Hockey.

Interesting article. Although it must be said that the real reason for the chipset update is not necessarily dual-PCIe x16 support (Crossfire only right now) but the support for Conroe and the other new CPU's on the horizon. I had a feeling Intel would need to release yet another chipset to support their new CPU's.

It seems then that there's no easy choice out there for gamers. Intel + i975X = ATI Crossfire. AMD + NForce4 SLI = NVidia SLI. Not much in between. At least the NF4 SLI chipset will technically support ATI's Crossfire, but that's no guarantee, and there's no guarantee that SLI will work with Intel's new chipset. On top of that, the NF4 SLI Intel Edition chipset won't work with Intel's dual-core CPU's, and ATI is having yield & production problems. :rolleyes: Things just never seem to become "easy".

Every time I envision a world in which Intel & AMD, and NVidia & ATI, are all on equal ground, something comes along to smash that vision! Maybe things will work out by the time Conroe and Socket M2 are released. But I doubt it...

True, true, the question is when will Conroe arrive! I'm waiting to see it perform. . .

So, do you think a Conroe, Crossfire, i975X will be able to compete with a San Diego, SLI, nForce 4 SLI?

Most likely yes. Conroe looks very impressive on paper. And so does Crossfire. :rolleyes: At this rate, Conroe will be released by the time ATI gets their production up to meet demand. There are plenty of gamers out there willing to put together a Crossfire system, but not many hardware options.

I knwo this is slightly off topic, but do you know if CrossFire and SLI will be equals? Or is one dominant.

I must admit the X1800 looks mighty impressive with it's new architecture and 1.5GHz clock.

I don't think one will dominate the other. But I am interested to see how crossfire will perform once it becomes readily available.

It should be an interesting fight. . .

Taking a look at the whole platforms, I think Conroe + i975X + Crossfire will win the fight.

ATI's vid cards are known to be better performers in the shooters like Doom 3, HL2, and Quake4. NVidia still owns flight sims and such, but OpenGL is fading. The rest are a collection of toss-ups. Right now, the Athlon64 and the X2's are enjoying immense success with gaming. The fact that SLI is better suited to the AMD side is just icing on the cake. But if ATI can pull off Crossfire with even half the success that SLI has had, and if Conroe really does perform like it looks, then AMD and NVidia could end up scrambling.

Then again, it's not like AMD and NVidia are sitting around, either. AMD is working on the release of its new Socket M2, and all the new dual-core CPU's for it. NVidia is improving SLI with true x16/x16 mode, and I have to believe that in the next 9 months they'll have something to rival the R520.

These improvements and wins/losses are a constant rollercoaster ride. At any given time, someone is always "winning" and someone is always "losing". So far, no one out of the "big 4" (Intel, AMD, NVidia, ATI) has shown any signs of dying. I tell ya, though - right now, for the budget gamers looking for a single vid card, I recommend ATI wholeheartedly. Take away SLI, and NVidia loses the crown in the single-vid card arena.

Hey Saph, do you have any good links about Crossfire Vs. ATI? I done my reading at Anand Tech and THG. Any other favorites?

Any other favorites?Google. I do all my searching through Google, you just have to know how to search it! :D

Type in various combinations of the terms you want, and you'll be directed to tech specs, core docs, and all sorts of whitepapers. They're usually scattered around the hardware sites, like "HardOCP" or "3DTech" or "TechLabs" or sites with names like that. No single hardware site has the monopoly on good info, but Google brings them together!

Thanks Sapahline. Your the man!