[QUOTE="SoraX64"][QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]I think it should be clarified that even high-end GPUs don't take that much of a hit from running in an x4 slot versus an x8 or x16. Crossfire performance wouldn't suffer that much. Here's something to read over if you haven't yet-
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/
So while I wouldn't run a pair of $350 or $400 video cards on a $60-$70 board that has x16/x4 crossfire support, I would definitely run a pair of midrange cards with a board like that. Say.. a pair of 6850's.
04dcarraher
Hm.. I don't have the time to read through that at the moment, but I will later. One question though. If I got the motherboard I had originally picked out, and ended up running two 6870s on it, I wouldn't notice too much of a difference? I've never Crossfired before so I don't know a ton about it. The only reason I'm not getting 2 6850s over the 6870s is because I simply cannot afford 2 6850s at the moment so I'd rather stick with a 6870 for now until I can come up with the money for a second one (which won't be until around halfway through 2011). I'm not going to be bothered that much if the hit I would take isn't that huge, since I'm sure with two 6870s I'd get pretty great performance anyway. I don't know; maybe I'll stick with the other motherboard I had picked out. You do not want a 16x and a 4x and then crossfire because both cards will run at 4x which will limit your performance. Even though pci- 2.0 4x may not really bottleneck most cards, high ended cards like the GTX 480 can see as much as a 10% decrease in running at 4x, and at 8x about 2%. Your better off in the long run to get a a motherboard that can handle dual x16 if you plan on using multiple cards. A 6850 isn't a GTX 480. I used to have a 5870, which performs somewhere between a 6850 and GTX 480, and slightly ahead of a 6870. I tested it in my x4 slot, and I had an average FPS loss of 8% through various benchmarks and games. I didn't even notice it. That loss would be slightly less with a 6870, and even less with a 6850.
To the TC- If you have the budget to get a board that will run x8/x8 or x16/x16, do it. Just don't be afraid of running Crossfire'd cards up to about the level of a 6870 in an x16/x4 board if your budget demands it.
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