Concerns about going 6870 crossfire

[jjb8675309]

Its time to add the second 6870 for crossfire but I'm having a few concerns;

I am wanting to add a second 6870 to my rig and have a couple of concerns. First of all my motherboard, MSI 890gxm-g65 is a micro atx board and the pci-e slots allow for two dual slot cards but they are going to be right next to each other and where the secondary card will extend out I'm wondering if the power cables such as hdd led, reset, etc will be crushed by the graphics card. My instinct tell me it will work, but has anyone ever run a setup like this on the board im using or a similar micro atx board? Also was if I would benefit from getting a non-reference design card (for the main card) since it will be smothered by the second card or am I better off sticking with the heat being piped out the back of the case? currently I have a reference design XFX 6870. So If someone could share some thoughts or advice as to which way to approach this situation I would greatly appreciate it.. also any recommendations for what 6870 to get as a secondary (or primary) to be paired with my existing reference design one. I'm looking to purchase it off newegg or wherever has the best deal ASAP thanks. My rig is in my signature

 

[jjb8675309]

well I guess my rig is not in my signature anymore but here it is if anyone wanted to know:

AMD phenom II x4 955 (clocked at 4.0 ghz)
2X2 gig corsair 1600mhz ddr3
XFX Black edition 650w psu
MSI 890gxm-g65 mobo
Hitachi 1 tb hd 7200rpm
dell 22\\\\\\\" lcd 1920X1200
6 120 mm case fans
hyper 212+ cooler w 2 fans
Thermaltake v3
XFX 6870
Lite-on DVD drive

 

[joerge]

Only downside i can see is that using a micro atx your board isnt set up so that there is space between the two cards like you see in regular atx boards that support crossfire, i would assume that your board does indeed support crossfire so their is your answer as far as crossfire goes.

for a second card since your first card is xfx i would go with them, non reference if history is any indicator are much better performers, and most xfx models i have owned over the years tend to suck air in and blow air out the sides so you wouldnt have to worry about the non reference blowing hot air into the reference just make sure this is the case for the particular model you decide to go for, not to mention xfx is a decent name with decent warranty,

your indications suggest great airflow in your rig while it would be a squeeze it is fairly doable.

 

[jjb8675309]

Thanks for the input Joerge,I ordered a HIS reference model bc it cheap, it comes from ups today, does anyone have any recommendations as far as what drivers to go with for 6870 crossfire and what program to use in order to clean any previously installed drivers? I usually just uninstall in device manager but logic tells me that there are still traces of said drivers in the registry, etc, someone please advise...

 

[jjb8675309]

Best answer selected by jjb8675309.

 

[joerge]

here is a link

http://xfxsupport.info/downloads/documentation/ATI-Driver-installation-Troubleshooting.pdf

guide to cleaning out old ones and getting new ones, you should be fine with the ati drivers as well as their crossfire drivers

hope everything goes well and grtz on your 6870 xfire

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey