Franken 3 gpu setup - Will this work?

[wings2004]

TL;DR - 3 monitors, 1 5770, 2 3850s (xfire or not) asrock z68 gen3 professional - will it work?

Hi all, So I am in the process of upgrading my entire system and I am (painfully) waiting for ivy bridge and the next gen GPUs to come out so I can grab a current gen card on the cheap.

That all being said, my current config has two sapphire 3850s in xfire running on a Q6600, I know, ancient and severely needing an upgrade. Well I'm trying to get a 5770 to hold me over but my big question is this, I have the Asrock z68 gen 3 professional which has 3 PCI-e slots, if and when I get my CPU (3770k hopeful) would I be able to run the 5770 in the first slot and the two 3850s in xfire in the 2,3 slots.

I am planning on having the 5770 standalone running my new 2560x1440 display (http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038457820#post1038457820) and the 3850's running a pair of ASUS VH242HL-P monitors.

My primary usage for this system is Photoshop but I also play WoW and SWTOR but thus far I only use my main screen for gaming. I will be running on windows 7 professional 64 bit, and power shouldn't be an issue for this setup - modular thermaltake 850watt - 2 6-pin + 2 6/8-pin PCI-e leads. If there is any more info needed for a good recommendation let me konw. Thanks!

Edit - Also if this is possible, and it is smarter to put the bigger display on the 3850s that would be good to know too. I figure I'm treating this system like just two mismatched cards but I don't know if I can really do that or not.

Wings

P.S. Also I realize this is a giant backwards way of doing this sort of upgrade, but I have had some unexpected expenses recently and I really need to keep costs down an my upgrade path on a piecemeal basis, so no comments like "just buy a brand new 7xxx GPU and all your problems will be solved", it would be great but not in the budget until summer at the earliest.

 

[Dangman]

Well I'm trying to get a 5770 to hold me over but my big question is this, I have the Asrock z68 gen 3 professional which has 3 PCI-e slots, if and when I get my CPU (3770k hopeful) would I be able to run the 5770 in the first slot and the two 3850s in xfire in the 2,3 slots.

Yes.

My primary usage for this system is Photoshop but I also play WoW and SWTOR but thus far I only use my main screen for gaming.

If you're using Adobe Photoshop CS5, your next GPU upgrade should be a Nvidia GPU as Adobe tends to take advantage of Nvidia's CUDA tech.

modular thermaltake 850watt - 2 6-pin + 2 6/8-pin PCI-e leads.

Which one? One of the TT 850W PSUs is a total piece of shit and the other TT 850W PSU is a great PSU. If you have the shitty one, you're gonna have to get another PSU if you're planning on running all three of those GPUs in that system.

Edit - Also if this is possible, and it is smarter to put the bigger display on the 3850s that would be good to know too.

Do you have the 1GB VRAM HD 3850 or the 512MB model?

 

[wings2004]

Yes.

Sweet!

If you're using Adobe Photoshop CS5, your next GPU upgrade should be a Nvidia GPU as Adobe tends to take advantage of Nvidia's CUDA tech.

Thats the plan, I am going to wait until Kepler comes out and then grab a 580 or something along that line. Recommendations would be helpful but I believe someone said the quote "Now is currently the worst time to buy a 580, and the only time it will be worse is the week before Kepler's release" Since I have/will have the cards, and they work with the board, I can wait patiently, rather than pulling the trigger on a less optimal deal.

Which one? One of the TT 850W PSUs is a total piece of shit and the other TT 850W PSU is a great PSU. If you have the shitty one, you're gonna have to get another PSU if you're planning on running all three of those GPUs in that system.

My bad I could have sworn it was an 850W but it was actually the 775W, still shouldn't be an issue (unless you know something I don't) - Thermaltake Toughpower XT TPX-775M 775W .

Do you have the 1GB VRAM HD 3850 or the 512MB model?

The 3850s are SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB.

 

[Dangman]

My bad I could have sworn it was an 850W but it was actually the 775W, still shouldn't be an issue (unless you know something I don't) - Thermaltake Toughpower XT TPX-775M 775W .

That PSU will be fine.

The 3850s are SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB.

Use the HD 5770 on the bigger display. Run the HD 3850 cards on the other monitors. That 512MB of VRAM will limit performance in games. So you're better off with the HD 5770 1GB if you're planning on gaming. Though the HD 5770 is still weak for that high of a resoultion

Though if you're not gaming on the other two Asus monitors, you really don't need both HD 3850 video cards. Both of the Asus monitors should run just fine off a single HD 3850.