Setting Up Crossfire

[rickjosh19]

Hi Guys

I am building a new system, I am setting up crossfire.
I am planning on using 2 X XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=48038)

The Motherboard is ECS A790GXM-AD3 AMD790GX ATX AM3
(http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37840)

Both components support crossfire. The issue is that neither products come with a crossfire bridge. So I am purchasing the crossfire bridge separate.
(http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36550)

The motherboard dose not have any crossfire bridge so I am worried that the bridge I am purchasing might not fit. The video cards are double wide. As you can see from the pictures on the product page the space between the PCIE 2.0 slots has 2 PCIE slot. So the distance between both slots look a bit wide, so I am not sure if it will fit.

Can someone help me. I want to know if it will work with these video cards and motherboard. Are all crossfire motherboards a standard size or is each different.

Really Appreciate Your Assistance,
Thanks

 

[samdsox]

don't get 2x 5770, get 5850 it is more future proof. It allows you to crossfire in the future when you really should.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Agree. Crossfire is best used as an upgrade path, and shouldn't be used to start a build.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

The crossfire bridges fit onto the cards, not the mobo, so as long as you mount them in adjacent slots youll be fine, motherboards do come in different sizes, Atx, Micro Atx, but thats not going to affect anything as far as your concerned

 

[rickjosh19]

Hey ok, you guys said instead get the Ati HD 5850, and later on I can crossfire it. But can it play all the games on the market. Also, what about the Ati HD 5830 it is like 100 cheaper.

 

[MadAdmiral]

It can play every game out there at max details at 1080p with the exception of Crysis. It's very close to playable for Crysis though.

The 5830 is generally deemed a waste of money. It's not powerful enough for 1080p resolutions, and there isn't a difference between it and the 5770 at lower resolutions. It's just in an odd spot. It's performance is too close to the 5770 and it's price is too close to the 5850.

 

[rickjosh19]

Ok can you tell me which one I should buy
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52400&vpn=EAH5850%20DirectCU/2DIS/1GD5&manufacture=ASUS
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52255&vpn=AX5850%201GBD5-PPDHG2&manufacture=PowerColor
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=52282&vpn=11162-03-40R&manufacture=SAPPHIRE
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=44142&vpn=HD-585A-ZNFC&manufacture=XFX

Again guys I really appreciate your help

 

[Wired2k]

You won't be seeing a crazy difference in performance, so I would say go with the $329 card.

 

[foscooter]

To answer your Original Post:

The crossfire bridge comes with your motherboard. And it installs on the Video Cards, on the top. You will have 2 slots on the top, this is for triple crossfire.

And most of today modern Video Cards ARE double width, but the bridge will fit. Motherboard manufacters were smart in this configuration, and the 2 card will almost butt up against each other, with the extra width for fans.

Take a look at THG system builder marathon, when they set up crossfire/SLI.

 

[rickjosh19]

Hey I was reading another post, (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/286379-33-5770-crossfire-worth-upgrade) and one reply was that an Ati 5770 would not be limited by a PCIE 2.0 8X slot. I am planning on purchasing a board that is capable of crossfire, there are 2 - 16X PCIE slots. However the brand of the board is ECS and I do not really trust that company, but if you say that 5770 is not limited by an 8X slot then I would consider buying another board with 1 - 16X slot, 1-8X slot. Also will an Ati 5850 be limited by an 8X Slot. Thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

You shouldn't be concerned about the speed of the slots. 16x/16x only has a 4% performance gain over 8x/8x. That gain is only noticeable when you use 5970s.

A couple of great boards you should look at are the Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 and Asus M4A79XTD EVO. They'll both be a tad more expensive, but quality is worth a small premium. The difference in the boards is that the Gigabyte has USB 3/SATA III support while the Asus does not, making the Gigabyte more future proof.

 

[nexus_nexion]

All the suggestions above are all good, but if you are going for xfire, I would advise you to check your cooling systems. Xfire gives out huge amount of heat, especially the those cards.
I would recommend xfire if you have i7 CPU, if not go for single GPU HD5850

 

[rickjosh19]

Hey guys the CPU I am thinking about purchasing is AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz or AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz. And the motherboard is Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H 890GX AM3 ATX or ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 DDR3 AMD 890GX ATX. I am looking for it to be future proof. So I will most likely purchase the 5850, being that I can crossfire it later. And as you said its performance will not be affected by an 8X slot.