Budget board that supports crossfire

[doctorbfunk]

I am trying to build a new PC on a tight budget. I am going to get a 4850, and I thought down the line maybe it would be worth it to add a 2nd one, so I am looking for a crossfire supported motherboard. I have read that boards that have a 16x pci slot and a 8x slot are not ideal for dual gpus. All of the cheaper boards I have seen seem to have this setup. Are there any decent boards out there with dual 16x slots that are reasonably priced? Is it still worth getting a board with a 16x and 8x slot? Or since I am on a budget should I just forget about crossfire down the road all together?

 

[DaveSimmons]

P45 chipset only supports x8 x8, for x16 the X48 costs $225+

The Asus P5Q Pro + Asus 4850 has a $30 bundle discount at newegg, so the motherboard is effectively only $120. Crossfire is x8 gimped but is still usable, and it supports features lacking in cheaper boards.

Or if you don't need firewire, RAID or overclocks above 400 fsb you can get a $100 P43 chipset board instead. It has no crossfire at all but will work fine with an x2 dual-GPU card when ATI releases one.

 

[Sylvanas]

Depends how much you want to spend. If you want Crossfire on a budget and 16x16, it would be best to go with an AMD platform, of which the flagship 16x16 2.0 790FX is cheaper than the Intel X38/48's. P45 Crossfire (8x8 2.0) is bearable but not recommended so you would be best sticking to a single 4870/4850 of which you'll be more than satisfied- great card.

 

[chuckm]

If you thinking 16X16 Crossfire the X38 is your less expensive option, just depends on what resolutions you want to run. Here's a list of the X38 boards at Newegg. I did a build with the abit for a guy I work with and it's a nice, stable board. Got his quad to 3.5 real easy and we haven't tried to push things any farther.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...53&bop=And&Order=PRICE
Here's the link to combo deal mentioned above;
http://promotions.newegg.com/a...%2f070308%2f478x88.jpg

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
P45 chipset only supports x8 x8, for x16 the X48 costs $225+

The Asus P5Q Pro + Asus 4850 has a $30 bundle discount at newegg, so the motherboard is effectively only $120. Crossfire is x8 gimped but is still usable, and it supports features lacking in cheaper boards.

exactly what i was thinking !

that bundle makes me want to throw out all my plans for my next system;
i was going to stick with micro-ATX.

 

[dingetje]

doing 4850 crossfire on p45 (x8 x8) is a waste of those sweet 4850's
if u wanna crossfire, use X38 or X48
if u don't need crossfire, the p45 boards are great.
forget nvidia chipset mobo's, they have sucked and continue to suck

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: dingetje
doing 4850 crossfire on p45 (x8 x8) is a waste of those sweet 4850's
if u wanna crossfire, use X38 or X48
if u don't need crossfire, the p45 boards are great.
forget nvidia chipset mobo's, they have sucked and continue to suck

nVidia chipsets dont support CF.

790 is a AMD chipset

 

[dingetje]

Originally posted by: BassBomb

Originally posted by: dingetje
doing 4850 crossfire on p45 (x8 x8) is a waste of those sweet 4850's
if u wanna crossfire, use X38 or X48
if u don't need crossfire, the p45 boards are great.
forget nvidia chipset mobo's, they have sucked and continue to suck

nVidia chipsets dont support CF.

790 is a AMD chipset

right..your point being?