<p>basically, i asked that how is it possible for gateway to sell a computer with a chipset that only has 1 pci express x16 slot to have a crossfire setup as an option without changing the chipset.
she told me that the ‘dual’ card isn’t two identical cards and that the second card in the crossfire setup is smaller and uses the pci express x4 slot instead of the 16.
is it true? is it possible? will it hinder performance than if i put the second card in another x16 slot?</p>
<p>thanks a lot</p>
<p>ps:
the computer in question is the Gateway? FX530XV by the way. for one of the upgrade options, you can have "ATI Radeon? X1900 CrossFire™ solution w/512MB GDDR3 memory DVI, VGA (via Adapter) [ +US$459.00] " .
i know from the upgrade option that it is only one card that is supposedly crossfire ready, so it becomes even more important for me to know the exact meaning of this because it will have to mean that i need to install that second card in myself when i get home.
if it doesnt have the x16 slot then i will have to get a x4 card? and one that is significantly smaller i assume</p>
<p>The refrence to a “DUAL” card, is refering to a dual output card, meaning it has two monitor plugs on it so you can run dual monitors while only using 1 single graphics card in the puter.</p>
<p>Windows has always had the option to run up to 8 monitors, i’ve ran 3 monitors on my puter for yrs now, 2 video cards only, both ahve dual outputs, i’d run 4 monitors, but 3 is enough for what i do.</p>
<p>then why did she tell me its crossfire compatable and that i could have 2 cards, except that one card is smaller and runs on the PCI-E x4 slot, but will have the same efficiency as one that would run on a PCI-E x16 slot.</p>
<p>Well, i have no idea why she told you anything she did, i do know that most hardware is backward compatible, so typically a 16x will work in a older 4x slot, will it perform the same or at peak, NO, the 4x slot is far slower than a 16x slot and probably lacks other new features in the 16x design.</p>
<p>If you have two PCI slots, one 16x and one 4x, then yes you can stick any two cards in the slots and run 4 monitors if you want, they offer a TV in/out card too.</p>