OK guys, here is my dilemna:
I bought an i5-750/Gigabyte P55A-UD3 board, and it is currently setup with my HD5770 vid card. I got the mobo/cpu at frys for 219.99 - $15 rebate making it 204.99. It was a sweet deal considering that the cpu alone can cost that much at some retailers.
Now the problem: After being so excited about the deal, I overlooked the part where it stated that the PCI-Express 2.0 slots ran in a 16X/4X setup in crossfire mode. Crossfiring was a significant (but not huge) part for me in my build. I can live with one 5770 for now, but I would really like to upgrade to two in a few months. I have a 650w psu which can support it, so all I need to do is buy another 5770.
I know can still setup Crossfire in 16x/4x, but I heard that it can have a SIGNIFICANT bottleneck in performance. On the other hand, I have also read that the performance decrease was MINIMAL for mid range cards like the 5770. I was not sure, and I am getting kinda sick of taking out my mobo/cpu and waiting in line to return my items. (I purchased a combo deal at Fry's for a PhenomII 925/Biostar TA790GX A3+ for 149.99, but returned it because I saw the i5-750 deal while I was looking for a case fan. Project actually snowballed from an Asus P5QPLAM micro ATX/Intel E6300 - $69.99 for a HTPC into this, and also becoming a member of Tom's Hardware. LOL)
After looking around for any other reasonable options, I came across a deal for a PhenomIIx4 965BE/Asus M4a79xtd-Evo for $245 which actually supports crossfire in x8/x8 mode. The deal ends on April 1.
Do you think that I should return my current setup (I5-750/Gigabyte board) and pickup the new setup (PhenomII 965BE/Asus board) or should I just keep my current setup and wait for the 5770 prices to drop in the future and get a newer board later that supports a better crossfire setup?
Your inputs would be very appreciated.
I bought an i5-750/Gigabyte P55A-UD3 board, and it is currently setup with my HD5770 vid card. I got the mobo/cpu at frys for 219.99 - $15 rebate making it 204.99. It was a sweet deal considering that the cpu alone can cost that much at some retailers.
Now the problem: After being so excited about the deal, I overlooked the part where it stated that the PCI-Express 2.0 slots ran in a 16X/4X setup in crossfire mode. Crossfiring was a significant (but not huge) part for me in my build. I can live with one 5770 for now, but I would really like to upgrade to two in a few months. I have a 650w psu which can support it, so all I need to do is buy another 5770.
I know can still setup Crossfire in 16x/4x, but I heard that it can have a SIGNIFICANT bottleneck in performance. On the other hand, I have also read that the performance decrease was MINIMAL for mid range cards like the 5770. I was not sure, and I am getting kinda sick of taking out my mobo/cpu and waiting in line to return my items. (I purchased a combo deal at Fry's for a PhenomII 925/Biostar TA790GX A3+ for 149.99, but returned it because I saw the i5-750 deal while I was looking for a case fan. Project actually snowballed from an Asus P5QPLAM micro ATX/Intel E6300 - $69.99 for a HTPC into this, and also becoming a member of Tom's Hardware. LOL)
After looking around for any other reasonable options, I came across a deal for a PhenomIIx4 965BE/Asus M4a79xtd-Evo for $245 which actually supports crossfire in x8/x8 mode. The deal ends on April 1.
Do you think that I should return my current setup (I5-750/Gigabyte board) and pickup the new setup (PhenomII 965BE/Asus board) or should I just keep my current setup and wait for the 5770 prices to drop in the future and get a newer board later that supports a better crossfire setup?
Your inputs would be very appreciated.