Possible to crossfire 5970's on Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R?

[ckim2116]

I was under the impression that since I didn't plan on overclocking anything, a simple, cheap LGA 1366 motherboard would suffice.

But when I put my 5970 in, it really looked like I wouldn't be able to fit another when I crossfire in about a year. Will I have to buy a new motherboard when I get the second card?

 

[hell_storm2004]

1. Do you really need another HD5970? One is enough to play games for the next 1 year! So why add another!
2. What your PSU (brand and rating)??
3. Which motherboard are you talking about?
When asking for advice please mention your complete config!

 

[hell_storm2004]

Oops sorry missed your title.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2989
But my other two questions still stand!

 

[outlw6669]

Yes, assuming your PSU is up to the task, you can defiantly CrossFire a second 5970 later.
Make sure, however, that your case is well ventilated.
Four GPUs running so close together will defiantly cause your system to heat up.

IMHO, it will probably be massive overkill and a waste of cash as a single 5970 should have more than enough power to push you through to the next GPU generation.

 

[Rustyy117]

hell_storm some people have more money than sense

But yes you can add another 5970 if you so wish, although the top card will get VERY hot!

I think its pretty pointless at the end of the day nothing will tax 1 5970, so 2 is overkill

 

[ckim2116]

Maybe the year timeframe is too short, but who knows?

I currently have a 650W Corsair PSU, but planning to get 850W when I crossfire.

My main question is will the 5970 physically fit on the motherboard? The slots are pretty close and these cards are thick.

Here is my build:
Intel Core i7-920
Diamond Radeon HD 5970
Patriot DDR3 6GB 1333MHz Tri Channel
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
Corsair CMPSU-650TX- 650W
WD 750GB Serial ATA/300HD, 32 MB buffer
Cooler Master HAF 932
Lite-On 24X SATA DVD-RW Gen II
Netgear WG311 G PCI 54 Mbps Wireless-G PCI Adapter
Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[outlw6669]

My main question is will the 5970 physically fit on the motherboard? The slots are pretty close and these cards are thick.

Yes.
The 5970, like most mid to high end GPUs, is a dual slot card.
This means that the card and cooler require two slots on your motherboard to properly fit.
As your PCIe 16x slots have a PCIe 4x slot between them, you will have just enough room to fit both 5970s.

Just be sure you have enough case cooling, this setup will get HOT!

 

[Rustyy117]

Justs wondering what kinda bottleneck you'll get with a stock core i7 920 (as you said you got the motherboard because its cheap and you didnt intend to do any overclocking)

I guess it depends what resolution you game at. 2x5970 is certainly a waste if you not gaming at 2560x1600. If you are gaming at that res. then there shouldnt be much of a problem

So what monitor/s are you using?

 

[ckim2116]

Yes.
The 5970, like most mid to high end GPUs, is a dual slot card.
This means that the card and cooler require two slots on your motherboard to properly fit.
As your PCIe 16x slots have a PCIe 4x slot between them, you will have just enough room to fit both 5970s.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimage_ga-ex58-ud3r_big.jpg

Just be sure you have enough case cooling, this setup will get HOT!

Thanks. It's just that I noticed that some mobo's have two slots between the PCIe 16x slots and I was wondering if I needed one of those to fit, but I guess not

 

[ckim2116]

Justs wondering what kinda bottleneck you'll get with a stock core i7 920 (as you said you got the motherboard because its cheap and you didnt intend to do any overclocking)

I guess it depends what resolution you game at. 2x5970 is certainly a waste if you not gaming at 2560x1600. If you are gaming at that res. then there shouldnt be much of a problem

So what monitor/s are you using?

For now I have a Viewsonic 24" at 1920x1080, but I plan on purchasing either 3 28" monitors or 3 30" monitors in ~1-2 years.

 

[ckim2116]

Oh and I'll also be upgrading to an i9 processor around the time I get the other 5970, provided it'll fit in the LGA 1366 socket (I think it will?).

 

[hell_storm2004]

What the hell are you trying to build???

 

[ckim2116]

Well, when I was a little kid in middle school I used to love computer games but had a crappy computer that could barely even run Counterstrike, and a few weeks ago I decided to get back into it and this time be prepared to play whatever games were thrown at me =]

 

[ckim2116]

Ha this makes me want to play Crysis now. I guess I'll be busy for the next couple of hours

 

[Rustyy117]

argh im jealous alot!, I wish I had 2K to spend on my PC. Still if I were you I'd have that core i7 920 under water and overclocked to 4ghz+

Have fun on Crysis (no doubt max settings all the way)

 

[megamanx00]

A second 5970 would fit, but the fan of the first would be greatly impeded by the backside of the second. Your major concern would be keeping the cards cool, particularly the first one. You can alleviate such concerns by going with a liquid cooling setup that is capable of cooling both 5970s (I don't even know if there are any out yet). As for the PSU I think would go with something more than 850 to be safe, especially if I was overclocking, but I 850W should be enough.

 

[ckim2116]

argh im jealous alot!, I wish I had 2K to spend on my PC. Still if I were you I'd have that core i7 920 under water and overclocked to 4ghz+

Have fun on Crysis (no doubt max settings all the way)

I actually only spent about $1200 on the rig since I got the 5970 as a birthday present

And although I can play Crysis on max settings, when I turn on 8x AA some weird stuff begins to happen (lines around objects begin to flash and vibrate and I start seeing computer screens in the sky lol) so I turned AA off.

And actually watercooling and overclocking sound really good to me except that I want to keep factory warranty on everything just in case so overclocking is a no-no, and I wouldn't even know where to start with watercooling (I didn't actually build the computer myself; my brother's friend built it for me).

 

[ckim2116]

A second 5970 would fit, but the fan of the first would be greatly impeded by the backside of the second. Your major concern would be keeping the cards cool, particularly the first one. You can alleviate such concerns by going with a liquid cooling setup that is capable of cooling both 5970s (I don't even know if there are any out yet). As for the PSU I think would go with something more than 850 to be safe, especially if I was overclocking, but I 850W should be enough.

Although I'd like a liquid cooled system, my lack of understanding and of technical skill with installation would stop me from doing it. And since I'm not overclocking anything, ATI's recommendation of 850W for crossfired 5970's sounds good to me.

 

[Rustyy117]

I actually only spent about $1200 on the rig since I got the 5970 as a birthday present

And although I can play Crysis on max settings, when I turn on 8x AA some weird stuff begins to happen (lines around objects begin to flash and vibrate and I start seeing computer screens in the sky lol) so I turned AA off.

And actually watercooling and overclocking sound really good to me except that I want to keep factory warranty on everything just in case so overclocking is a no-no, and I wouldn't even know where to start with watercooling (I didn't actually build the computer myself; my brother's friend built it for me).

Fair enough, if your not overclocking then watercooling would be pretty pointless. Wow £550 birthday prezzie, Nice! I got socks hahaha :lol:

Maybe the glitch with AA, is just a driver problem as its such a new card.