mATX sli i5 or AM3

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Usr1

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Sep 24, 2009
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Does any one know of any good board that have sli mATX for the new i5 or AM3?
 
I was under the impression that SLI suffered a hit on i5 because of running in 8x + 8x. I'm not sure why you'd want to spend all the money on an SLI setup and then pair it with a "mainstream" processor/chipset.
 
The thing is i inherited two 260gtx core 216 so i would only be spending the money on the board and cpu
 
In that case I'd just search through this forum and the general hardware forum for micro ATX builds and see what motherboards they recommend. There are normally a few threads per week for this sort of thing.
 
AM3 & i5 each have their own benefits.
Honestly, the x8/x8 from i5 should be of no problem
AM3 supports full x16/x16 but be warned: it is built on a very very old architecture and i5 is quite a bit newer, runs at a lower temps and all round better. AM3 could be better budget-wise
I found this,

source
It seems many threads all over the internet has/had/have asked this same question all over.

was tweaktown's review really truthful ? sadly.. it wasn't.

Difference between 16x PCI-e vs 8x PCI-e in CrossFire/SLI ?

Answer:

Here is why.

PCI-e 2.0 16X = 8GB/s total bandwidth
PCI-e 2.0 8X = 4GB/s total bandwidth

ATI:

HD 3870 = 1125mhz (dual piped - 2.2 GB/s data rate) = 2.2 GB/s total data rate
HD 4650 = 500mhz (dual piped - 1 GB/s data rate) = 1 GB/s total data rate
HD 4670 = 1000mhz (single piped - 2 GB/s data rate) = 2 GB/s total data rate
HD 4770 = 800mhz (quad piped - 3.6 GB/s data rate) = 3.6 GB/s total data rate
HD 4830 = 900mhz = (dual piped - 1.9 GB/s data rate) = 1.9 GB/s total data rate
HD 4850 = 993mhz (dual piped - 1.9 GB/s data rate) = 1.9 GB/s total data rate
HD 4850 X2 = 993mhz (dual piped - 1.9 GB/s data rate)(times 2) = 3.8 GB/s total data rate
HD 4870 = 900mhz (quad piped - 3.6 GB/s data rate) = 3.6 GB/s total data rate
HD 4890 = 975mhz (quad piped - 3.9 GB/s data rate) = 3.9 GB/s total data rate
HD 4870 X2 = 900mhz (quad piped - 3.6 GB/s data rate)(times 2) = 7.2 GB/s total data rate

So as you can see, the 4870 X2 will be hurt in an 8X condition and why the 3870, 4650, 4670, 4770, 4830, 4850, 4870, 4890, and 4850 X2 will not be hurt in performance at all.

Nvidia:

8800 Ultra = 1080mhz (dual piped - 2.1 GB/s data rate) = 2.1 GB/s data rate
9600 GT = 900mhz (dual piped - 1.8 GB/s data rate) = 1.8 GB/s total data rate
9800 GTX = 1100mhz (dual piped - 2.2 GB/s data rate) = 2.2 GB/s total data rate
GTS 250 = 1100mhz (dual piped - 2.2 GB/s data rate) = 2.2 GB/s total data rate
GTX 260 216 = 999mhz (dual piped - 1.9 GB/s data rate) = 1.9 GB/s total data rate
GTX 275 = 1134mhz (dual piped - 2.2 GB/s data rate) = 2.2 GB/s total data rate
GTX 280 = 1053mhz (dual piped - 2.1 GB/s data rate) = 2.1 GB/s data rate
GTX 285 = 1242mhz (dual piped - 2.4 GB/s data rate) = 2.4 GB/s data rate
GTX 295 = 999mhz (dual piped - 1.9 GB/s data rate)(times 2) = 3.8 GB/s total data rate
GTX 285X2 = 1242mhz (dual piped - 2.4 GB/s data rate)(times 2) = 4.8 GB/s data rate

So as you can see, the GTX285 X2 will be hurt in an 8X condition and why the 8800, 9600, 9800, 250, 260, 280, 275, 285 & 295 will not be hurt in performance at all.

Check this pic:


This should be a clear message to anyone wanting to do multi-gpu setup's, people with PCI-e 2.0 @ 16x-16x-8x or 16x-8x-8x or even 8x-8x-8x bandwidth should have no bottle neck for any single gpu cards in the market, aside from the double gpu cards like 4870x2, and incoming GTX285x2.

a quick example:

Which is better performance in fps/gaming, 16x-8x-8x w/ PCI-e 2.0 motherboard vs 16x-16x-16x w/ PCI-e 2.0 motherboard vs 8x-8x-8x w/ PCI-e 2.0 motherboard:
Code:

1x 4870 1GB @ 16x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 8x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 8x slot
vs
1x 4870 1GB @ 16x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 16x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 16x slot
vs
1x 4870 1GB @ 8x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 8x slot
1x 4870 1GB @ 8x slot

Winner:
Draw, no difference in fps. Although some 16x-16x-16x boards with n200 chipset's has fps drops in games which is reviewed many times but no drops in benchmarking (3dmarks,vantage). If your board is PCI-e 1.0 then that would be a huge difference :)
Click to expand...

Click the link and take a read of PCIe 2.0 scaling. Really, the main problem would come in when you get faster and faster gpu ram
 
First of all, AM3 is Crossfire only. So that's not even an option.
P55 with dual GPUs? Not as good as X58, that's for sure, but the difference is marginal until you go dual 295s or dual 4870x2. Dual GTX 260s on P55? I wouldn't hesitate for a second.
 
I'm not sure which board you're looking at, but I'm using a Gigabyte P55M-UD4 (supports Crossfire and SLI), and it's working out great. I'm using it with Crossfired 5850's and an i5 750.
 
ASUS Maximus III GENE LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard is the board im going with... sucks that theres no am3 sli support
 
Usr1 said:
ASUS Maximus III GENE LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard is the board im going with... sucks that theres no am3 sli support
Click to expand...

Nice board but a bit pricey IMO. I'd rather pick the P55M-UD4 and save a few bucks, if I were you.
 
considering the price premium for the maximus III gene

why not the evga x58 micro + i7 920

you are only paying abit more for the CPU(a much better one) and not be crippled by anything
 
Dual GPU for X58 vs P55 is not a HUGE issue (at least with the current GPU)

Even Tweaktown numbers are not usefull as they are more "theorycrafting" than anything..
Anandtechs did a great test, and came up with 3-7% lower performance on average with for the P55 using Dual 5870...

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3649
 
Usr1 said:
sucks that theres no am3 sli support
Click to expand...

Blame nvidia. They have stopped making chipsets for AMD boards. It is unlikely that you will ever see SLi on AMD boards again. nvidia is such a selfish company, its their way or the highway. Just like their physx and drivers not allowing an nvidia card to run alongside an ATi card.
 
dastral said:
Dual GPU for X58 vs P55 is not a HUGE issue (at least with the current GPU)

Even Tweaktown numbers are not usefull as they are more "theorycrafting" than anything..
Anandtechs did a great test, and came up with 3-7% lower performance on average with for the P55 using Dual 5870...

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3649
Click to expand...
Wow...a negligible performance deficit versus a marked improvement in heat and power consumption at a lower price (factoring in motherboard costs).

I'd wait for Gulftown before considering 1366 at this point.
 
20% off cost from a mate who works for an importer... lol off teh back of a truck kinda....
 
*roars at the ceiling* CURSE MY LACK OF CONTACTS
New Zealand's prices on everything is ATROCIOUS
 
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