Need Crossfire compatible MB

[AndreV]

Hello,

I'm building a new PC and i'm considering having the following:

Phenom X6 1090T

CORSAIR XMS3 2 X 2 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL8

2 x Sapphire Radeon 6870 (buying the 2nd one down the road)

I'm looking for a nice motherboard that will allow this, not being too expensive. Any thoughts?

Also, what would be a good PSU for this build?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AndreV]

Ops, wrong subforum :S My bad, just looked for "Motherboards" on main page ^^

 

[MaxGuerette]

Get an Asus M4A89GTD Pro / USB3. They are really nice.. They have built in VGA in case you want to hold off on video cards but it supports crossfire.. The only thing is one of the PCI E ports will function at 8x instead of 16 if you run two cards.. But the board is loaded with features. SATA 6 and USB 3.. nice layout too .

Also, you will want at least 750 watt PSU to be safe.. I really like the OCZ power supplies.. they have been reliable for me.. the ModXstream series.. semi modular.

 

[saint19]

Hi AndreV.

If you want overclock, I suggest to you a mobo without onboard video. The Gigbayte 890FXA-UD5 is a solid mobo for a good price.

About the Crossfire you don't need a 750W for that crossfire. With a good 600W or 650W PSU from a good manufacturer like Corsair, Seasonic, XFX or Antec is enough.

 

[mrtoesterman]

750+ PSU

 

[henydiah]

corsair 850 Watt good !

 

[nebun]

get an x58 mobo and you are able to connect either nvidia or ati cards on them

 

[saint19]

I'm still asking: Why is everybody recommended a 750W PSU or more?

 

[AndreV]

Hello everyone, thanks for your advices.

Yes, would be nice to find common ground on wether a 650 or a 750W PSU is needed

saint19, the 890FXA-UD5 is a bit more expensive that what I was hoping to spend on a mobo. the M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 MaxGuerette advised is closer to what I wanted, though it doesn't accept ddr3-1600 and one pci slot running at x8 is certainly a minus. I was also advised a Asrock 870 extreme3 but apparently it isn't sold here in Portugal.

So at the moment what I'm considering is getting the M4a89, choosing different RAM and settling for the x16/x8 crossfire (by the way, how do I know which boards run a second pci at x8? for instance, the m4a89 says it has 2 pci-express x16 slots)

Thanks to everyone for your help, I really appreciate it

 

[AndreV]

nvm, newegg says how the slots run, and I misread, its both at x8/x8. any relatively mb that will run 2 at x16/x16? What do you think about the crosshair IV formula? more expensive than I'd like but oh well, i guess it's still an option :S

 

[saint19]

The CH IV is the best mobo for AMD, but if you don't plan use all the features will be a waste of money.

All the mobos says the PCI-E configuration, for example my mobo says this: 3xPCIE: 1@x16, 2@x16+X16, 3@x16+X8+X8.

And you don't need change the RAM, the mboo support 1600 O.C. that in your case isn't OC because is the rated speed of the RAM, you only need go to the BIOS and set all the specifications of the RAM manually.

Finally, if you want go with the 750W PSU go with it, but with your configuration you will never use that PSU totally,so, will be a waste of money.

 

[AndreV]

Yeah, seems like the CHIV is a bit overkill for me. The one I meant doesn't support ddr31600 was the m4A89, at least in newegg it only says it supports DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1333/1066, or maybe I'm just misunderstanding something? Same for the GA-890 but I guess it's easier to change ram than mobo ^^

Gonna check around for prices on the GA, certainly seems like the best choice at this point.

I'm sorry for all the stupid questions but I'm hardly knowledgeable in the area. I appreciate your help!

 

[saint19]

Check my system configuration, after that check the mobo specifications and finally check the CPU-Z memory tab in the picture of this link: http://hwbot.org/community/submission/1082505_saint19_pcmark_2005_phenom_ii_x6_1090t_be_20093_marks