ASUS Crosshair V Formula ‘Bulldozer’ Motherboard Review

AMD CrossFireX Gaming Performance

As with the previous page where we tested the NVIDIA SLI scaling between the chipsets, we want to do the same for the AMD CrossfireX. When we decided to run this series of tests, we were able to get in touch with our friends over at XFX and they kindly sent over a pair of XFX Radeon HD 6950’s.

At 1280×1024 there was very little difference in scaling performance when the ASUS Crosshair V Formula used either processor. During the single card benchmark runs of Aliens Vs. Predator at 1280×1024 the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T averaged 55.9 frames per second while the FX-8150 averaged 56 frames per second. The .1 fps difference isn’t anywhere near enough to make a difference in the quality of your gaming experience. When we added in the second XFX Radeon HD 6950. The Phenom II X6 1100T was able to produce a slightly better result, it was able to average 111.4 frames per second versus the 109.5 frames per second that the AMD FX-8150 Octo-core was able to hit. Cranking up the resolution to 1920×1080 we saw absolutely zero difference in performance. Both systems were able to average 41.2 frames per second in single card performance and 81.1 frames per second in CrossFireX.

Single card performance at both resolutions in Metro 2033, gave the AMD FX-8150 a slight lead. At 1280×1024 the FX-8150 edged out the Phenom II X6 1100T by .19 frames per second, 1920×1080 the FX-8150 had a .59 frame per second lead. Once we added in the second XFX Radeon HD 6950 the Phenom II X6 1100T was able to turn the tables and take the lead. At our lower resolution of 1280×1024 the Phenom II X6 was able to average 70.92 frames per second in CrossFireX while the FX-8150 was able to hit 69.13 frames per second. When we cranked up the resolution to 1920×1080 it was the same story, the Phenom II X6 1100T averaged 57.56 frames per second while the FX-8150 averaged 56.35 frames per second. That’s a difference of 2.1% in favor of the AMD Phenom II X6 1100T.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the first of our gaming benchmarks that shows the AMD FX-8150 able to take the lead. Unfortunately the only time it was able to lead was in CrossFireX. Single card performance still shows the Phenom II X6 1100T with a slight lead. At 1280×1024 the Phenom II X6 1100T averaged 102.7 frames per second, this is 1 frame per second faster than the FX-8150. Adding in the second XFX Radeon HD 6950 the FX-8150 was able to take the lead by 2 frames per second for an average score of 124.3 frames per second, while the Phenom II X6 1100T averaged 122.3 frames per second. Increasing the resolution to 1920×1080 the FX-8150 once again fell behind in single card performance to the Phenom II X6 1100T. In CrossFireX it was able to once again take the lead by 2 frames per second.