Crosshair V not compatible with R9 290x's in crossfire?!?!

[mooter]

Just a word of warning to any owners of the Asus Crosshair V Formula, or Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z motherboard who intend on buying a pair of R9 280x's to use in crossfire.... don't.

I bought two XFX Double Dissipation R9 280x's to replace my old 6950's but the longest crossfire bridge (10cm) isn't long enough to stretch across the x16 PCIe lanes.

XFX don't seem to care and have blamed the motherboard for being "incompatible" with their cards. They don't seem to understand that it's their oversized cooler causing the problem!

I'm now having to choose between returning the cards for something else, or replacing my motherboard completely. Both at my expense.

Really not very happy but what else can I do?!

 

[Samsandy77]

Surely if you want standard sized coolers you should buy standard GPUS? Hardly the GPU's fault if you picked them with large fans and didn't realise that would increase the bridge distance? I have them in XF and they work fine - cooler has no impact on bridges - must be your mainboard.

 

[mooter]

My mainboard is top of the line though! It's also very difficult to judge how something might or might not fit when looking at a small image on the internet.

The Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z motherboard retails for £185 and is one of the most expensive AM3+ motherboard available, yet it's not "compatible" with these cards in CF either.

In my mind, if a manufacturer wants to oversize the cooler then they have a responsibility to provide a crossfire bridge that fits too. Not just make it someone elses problem.

 

[mooter]

Guess I'll just have to ditch my expensive mobo for another with slots closer together then! All of the R9 280x cards have non-reference coolers and I can't be sure if any of them will fit until I get them in my machine by which point it's too late.

I've been building rigs for over a decade and never encountered an incompatibility like this one.

 

[Nevorom]

Just a tip. Your post title says 290X and your text talks about 280x. I just ordered the same mobo and am still waiting on it, BUT I just got my 2 x 290's in the mail today. I sorta flipped when I couldn't find a bridge connector in either box. But a little googling found me this: http://www.overclock.net/t/1430127/oca-amd-radeon-r9-290x-crossfire-bridge-not-required-anymore . Apparently the 290 series doesn't require a bridge connector anymore.