Is this a bad configuration??

[wutangclams]

Hello,

Ive decided to build a budget pc and based it on the orange tier of this article:

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/budget-gaming-pc-q4-2010/

..it includes a AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz AM3 95W Quad-Core on a ASRock EXTREME3 870: CF 8x/8x SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX mobo, but instead of an ATI video card, i decided to upgrade to the EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SSC+ 1GB which ive read is the best deal for $200.

So after finalizing the purchase i was feeling good and going over all the items when i realized the mobo isnt SLI compatable! Im only purchasing one video card now, but im thinking this configuration will take SLI off the table for any future upgrading. i immediatly wanted to call newegg and switch to a Radeon HD 6870 .. and its sunday night so i can probably still do that by tomorrow morning.. but im not sure if thats what i should do.

Is crossfire something that a budget pc can really take advantage of?? or would it just amount to power hogging and cpu bottlenecking?

Then ive read you *might* be able to hack the drivers to SLI two nvidias on a crossfire board, but found nothing of those driver hacks.. the truth is i was so happy with the config till i spotted that obvious mistake.. i havent build a machine in YEARS and really felt a bit left out of this whole crossfire / sli thing.. i guess im just tired..

anyone got any advice?

 

[rolli59]

Based on the rest of it and of course depending on monitor resolution the setup with a single GTX460SSC+ is a well balanced unit. I personally choose a single card setup over 2x lesser card in SLI or CF and you could leave it as such and just upgrade to a more powerful card down the road. At that time there will be something new and appealing on the market. As an example this forum was in the months after the release of the DX11 cards full of questions should I CF my HD48xx or SLI my 98xx or GTS260 cards versus upgrading.

 

[geekapproved]

That cpu would not be able to keep up with two 6870's, so really doesn't matter.

Budget computer and SLI or Xfire, really shouldn't even be in the same sentence together.

If you want to run 2 or more powerful cards, your gonna need a much faster cpu and a really good psu.

 

[wutangclams]

thats exactly what i figured, and to be honest it was the answer i was hoping for

thanks so much!!