10 replies to this topic

[hoofhearted4]

so this board says it supports SLI and CrossfireX

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131754

this one says it suppoets CrossfireX, but doesnt mention SLI

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131767

other then that, i dont see any difference between these boards, and why i wouldnt want to save $50 and get the cheaper one, that is unless the cheaper board cant supports SLI, as i plan on getting Nvidia cards (one now one later)

just curious, cause its a $50 difference and i cant see why.

[Vecna6667]

In the past, nVidia had decided to stop supporting SLI on AMD motherboards because AMD is in direct competition with nVidia in the GPU market as well (plus nVidia had a contract with Intel for nVidia's nForce chipset.) Recently (since nVidia was mostly force out of the chipset market by Intel), nVidia announced that AMD's 900 series chipset. How this is accomplished is that nVidia will provide the board makers a key that programs the feature into the BIOS. On another note, this does increase the time and resources spent into making the board, so the price goes up. The link below may provide more information, just click on the link that says "Episode 173 of the No BS Podcast." They actually discuss with a spokesperson from nVidia the decision to bring SLI to AMD motherboards and how it is accomplished.

http://www.maximumpc...rmative_edition

On a final, unless a board says it support SLI or CrossfireX, it doesn't.

[cancausecancer]

These days you see boards which support both SLI and Crossfire like the M5A99X but in the olden days boards that supported SLI or Crossfire only had one of the technologies on them so it's normal to see boards like the M5A97 which are Crossfire only.

[CommanderCrazy]

Generally, no.

BUT. If it is mentioned here, it can be done.
Link.

[Erik005]

It does support SLI, got to the details page in your link an go all the way to the bottom it says:

Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support!

So it supports SLI.

[Vecna6667]

It does support SLI, got to the details page in your link an go all the way to the bottom it says:

Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support!

So it supports SLI.

The 970 chipset motherboard of the second link (the $50 cheaper one) doesn't support SLI unless it is in a dual-gpu card like the GTX 590 or the Mars 2. The 990X chipset motherboard (M5A99X EVO) does support SLI. He was asking about the 970 chipset motherboard because it was the lower cost motherboard while looking the same everything but the SLI. I checked both links to make sure and there was no mention of SLI in the M5A97 anywhere (overview, details, or reviews.)

After a side by side comparison, there are some key differences. The M5A99X EVO has an extra PCIeX16 slot that is used as a X4 slot, one less PCI slot, 2 SATA II ports added, an eSATA port and a powered eSATA port, and 2 additional USB 2.0. Both have 6 SATA III ports, 2 USB 3.0 on. The M5A99X might have front panel USB 3.0 support and it also has FireWire.

[hoofhearted4]

ya most of the extra ports the EVO has wouldnt cause me to buy it over a cheaper one, however, having SLI support is what i need, therefore the EVO is what ill end up getting in the end, its got what i want, SLI support, its Asus, USB 3.0, AM3+

[nosisab]

Having support for both gives flexibility but still not allow mixing, in the end, if is not planned to change the whole thing for a new cards set, choosing that you already has one the cards is far cheaper than having to buy both or pay the extra for that flexibility alone.

PS: That is a strange situation I'm myself. My actual mobo is AMD crossfire ready and my card is a Nvidia GTS450 I'm somewhat wishing to SLI.

The reason to have chosen the AMD chipset is due to have had serious SATA issues with the nforce chipset in recent past, having bought two mobos without solving the issue. So, finally I gave up and changed to AMD chipset.

I searched for those SLI solutions but as far as I know they are somewhat dangerous, driver depending and, again, AFAIK, they put Windows in testing state, and not sure to work with new drivers version releases.

For now I have not yet decided between going straight crossfire or something else, and will not care about it until Bulldozer is released and proves itself in the real life field so I'll decide for the whole upgrade stuff.

Edited by nosisab, 10 September 2011 - 10:09 PM.

[hoofhearted4]

oh i dont care id it has both, this board just happens to have both. i play on buying an EVGA 560ti but the AMD bulldozer CPU so my board needs to be handle the new CPU as well as nvidia cards, well SLI....i might not SLI for a while after but im sure someday i will and my board needs to be able to do it.....it also needs USB 3.0. it hasnt taken off yet, but if/when it does i wanna be able to use USB 3.0 lol

[Fonger]

it also needs USB 3.0. it hasnt taken off yet, but if/when it does i wanna be able to use USB 3.0 lol

made the mistake of not getting USB2 back when it was just coming out

really annoying

so

I clearly second getting USB3