Mobo PCI Express x16 x4 Bandwith SLI

[Spinal_94]

Hi, I have a question about the PCI express slots on my motherboard,I have 2 x16 PCI slots but only one of the slots at x16 bandwidth and the other is x4 bandwidth I found this out by looking up my motherboard and I was planning on having
2 GTX 550's in SLI but the second PCI slot is x4 bandwidth how will this effect performance? I have read another post saying that 2 video cards in SLI x16 and x4 are no better than a single video card.Would I need to purchase a new motherboard with 2 PCI slots at x16 bandwidth to have a successful SLI config?
Thanks in advance and any suggestions are welcome.

Current Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135272

New Motherboard in Mind:
http://www.frys.com/product/6755395?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

[BadPeteNo]

A second card in a x4 slot provides very little benefit, certainly not enough to justify the cost of a second card.

 

[Spinal_94]

A second card in a x4 slot provides very little benefit, certainly not enough to justify the cost of a second card.

So I would need to get a new motherboard to benefit from the second card, as long as the slots are both x16 bandwidth it should work?

 

[BadPeteNo]

Not everyone would agree with me, but it's usually more effective to get a single better card than to go with an SLI solution. That's really more for 'down the line' upgrades when the cards start to age and prices drop, or when you're already buying a top of the line card.

Also, the new board you propose is somewhat of a step down. 970 is a generation newer but a step down. I don't recall seeing any 980's, but I have a 990fx myself (gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 in particular).

A new board SHOULD handle your chip, but will also open up the door to a better one too. The FX8350 for example is an 8 core chip at 4.0 GHz stock.