M3a770de xfire question x16/x4

The HD 5770 CF don't need to be watercooled, but you want very good air circulation in your case, and preferably a case with a Top Fan. I assume your HD 5770 are not shrouded {not built to full spec}, but if they're shrouded your case temps will be okay. The HD 5770 will max-out your second X4 lane in CF {the question is by how much for the 2nd GPU w/CF a single card needs an x8}.

If your HD 5770 is shrouded {Full Spec} as bellow then have good front to rear airflow.

Since I already have the loop that I got for cheap should I just include it anyway? Also would you go 5830 for 150 or 5770 for 100?

{I wrote this nice post & poof; this is the shorter version}

The tests were on P7P55D Premium {2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)}. Your MOBO is not clear about "dual" {I saw x16 and X8}

Therefore, if it were me and knowing in CF you do NOT double your speeds, and your MOBO info then I would recommend a SINGLE GPU. Cost CF HD 5770 = price = HD 5850. Next is you need to know what games you're going to play, games like Crysis eat GPUs for lunch and other do not require a lot of muscle.

CF HD 5770 - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446...
HD 5850 v 5830 v 5770 - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5830,2564...

I understand that logic completely it's just I can't afford a 5850 atm but I can get a 5770 for a 100 right now so if end up getting a second at that same price how much of a performance hit will the lesser pcie slot get, I mean for 200$ I'm not expecting amazing results but should I decide would it work? One last thing since I'm new to all this, I will be water-cooling and overclockimg my first 5770 if I add another does it matter that I will be running it stock? Overclocking is single card dependent right? Thanks!

Part of my reasoning was the added expense of (2) blocks; I've purchased X4 GTX 480 blocks - it's crazy expensive.

NO, you need to have them running the same speeds, it is theoretically possible but it is nothing that I would recommend doing. Then I would go the single HD 5830, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around 50%+ cost.

What are you using for the waterblock? {EK Radeon HD 5770 VGA is a rip-off} Also, and OC HD 5770 will approach the ~ HD 5830/50 speeds but the bock costs then make for the HD 5850 argument of cost. I see all the angles; I see that it's cool to block a GPU too...  

Well I'm using a mcw60 universal block, here's how I got it, I bought a quadro fx1800 and a 6800 gt for 200 dollars which I bought since a friend wanted to trade the quadro for his swiftech kit (350$), I sold the 6800 for 25$ making the kit effictively 175 to cool my phenom 965 the northbridge and a gpu, thought it was pretty cost effective and now I'm sitting with 120$ spending money and a water-cooling system. I get paid next Thursday but then the 5770 might be sold, I can't pull the trigger either haha so what's my best option? My main game is sc2, ranked 10 diamond haha, but I want to play the new fallout and crysis at a higher setting..

I don't know what more I can add, I pretty much covered it all.

alot of games.. esp new ones dont respond very well to sli or CF until drivers are updated.
I forget what game it was that came out and 1 8800 was 2fps higher than 2 8800's in sli..

If it was me I'd probably wait and get 1 card.

alternatively.. i guess you could get a 5770 then sell it

nothing worse than getting 1 card.. finding its mediocre .. then you buy a second one and its bandwidth starved and still sucks.. all for the price of 1 better card.

I've seen the Starcraft 2 SLI issues, but I KNOW it works!

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1422/8/

What about a 4890 for 140$, I'm leaning towards one card also so I can set up my loop (: another option is trading the loop and 100 bucks for a 5870 but I don't think I'm up for that

HD 5870.

The HD 4890 - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2937/amd_s_ati_radeon...