Rate my rig + advice on motherboard crossfire'ing

[yodagps]

Hi all. I recently posted my first build 'spec' and have made some good changes (thanks for the advice). I'm now happy with pretty much all parts ( still considering changing the case). I'd apprecaite you rating my rig and advicing me whether my motherboard is good for crossfire'ing my hd 7850 in the future. The current mother board i've selected has a 16x and 4x pci. Based on my intention to crossfire in future, should i go for my alternate motherboard choice? Its about £30 more, but i have literally stretched my budget to the max!

Processor: Intel Core i5 Quad Core (2550K) 3.4GHz

Graphics: Single Radeon HD 7850 (intention to crossfire in future)

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX S1155 Intel **OR** Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H (B3)

RAM: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz

Power supply: Corsair Memory 600W Builder Series CX V2 ATX PSU

Case: Coolermaster Elite 430

CPU cooler: Hyper 212 evo

And a few additional fans, depending on the case I get.

 

[Raiddinn]

In my opinion, it isn't really worth it to crossfire in general.

If, in the future, you want more graphics performance, I would just buy a single better card and ebay the current one. On ebay, graphics cards sell for high prices in relation to their current worth, like 90%, so you don't lose much value that way.

Using only 1x video card has very many advantages over 2x and usually only results in a very small performance hit dollar for dollar after you include the bigger PSU and the better cases you need and so on.

Also, in many games crossfire/SLI doesn't work well, so you get no benefit at all from the 2nd card.

The headaches/problems it causes aren't worth a couple FPS.

Anyway, that is my thoughts on the matter.

If you want to scale back on the budget and you want to stick with 1x video card you can scale back to a Corsair CX 430 which is $25 after rebate.

That would be $25 shaved off.

This RAM will shave another $7 off with no change in performance

http://tinyurl.com/34p5n4q

You can also scale back to the 2500k instead of the 2550k and just OC to 3.4 yourself and save another $10.

 

[yodagps]

In my opinion, it isn't really worth it to crossfire in general.

If, in the future, you want more graphics performance, I would just buy a single better card and ebay the current one. On ebay, graphics cards sell for high prices in relation to their current worth, like 90%, so you don't lose much value that way.

Using only 1x video card has very many advantages over 2x and usually only results in a very small performance hit dollar for dollar after you include the bigger PSU and the better cases you need and so on.

Also, in many games crossfire/SLI doesn't work well, so you get no benefit at all from the 2nd card.

The headaches/problems it causes aren't worth a couple FPS.

Anyway, that is my thoughts on the matter.

If you want to scale back on the budget and you want to stick with 1x video card you can scale back to a Corsair CX 430 which is $25 after rebate.

That would be $25 shaved off.

This RAM will shave another $7 off with no change in performance

http://tinyurl.com/34p5n4q

You can also scale back to the 2500k instead of the 2550k and just OC to 3.4 yourself and save another $10.

Thanks for your response. I'll stick with my current motherboard then and consider auction'ing off the 7850 when i want an upgrade in the future, thanks for the advice. The 2550k and 2500k are the same price at the moment in my country! Yes I can save £15 if i choose a 430 instead of 600, i'll see what the prices/deals are like when I come to make my rig (end of May). How would you rate my build in general? Seems pretty solid for its primary use- Diablo 3.

 

[Raiddinn]

It should be fine, yes.

Other than the suggestions I made before the only thing you can really do that would be a big step up for pretty cheap would be to get a HAF 912 instead of the Elite 430 case.

 

[yodagps]

It should be fine, yes.

Other than the suggestions I made before the only thing you can really do that would be a big step up for pretty cheap would be to get a HAF 912 instead of the Elite 430 case.

I could stick with the asus motherboard, and down grade the psu to the 430 (saving £15) then use that cash to upgrade the case. I like the look/features of the HAF 912, I can get it for £50-ish, which just so happens to be £15 more expensive than my other case!

 

[yodagps]

Thanks for your advice, I think I've got my build components pretty much selected now!

 

[Raiddinn]

NP, GL with the system.