Crossfiring on Mini ITX?

[Benjamin248]

I really like the idea of having a small computer case, not ridiculously small but i love cases like the Bitfenix Protegy. I currently have a MSI R7870 in my pc, but my friend is about to get another card and give me his MSI R7870 so i can crossfire it with mine. I have seen people crossfire on a mini ITX before, but then I see people other places say its not possible, so since I know its possible I wonder if its just a bad idea? Other question I had was, I've seen Mini ITX boards such as this one ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157512&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Motherboards+-+Intel-_-N82E16813157512&gclid=Cj0KEQiAyvqyBRChq_iG38PgvLgBEiQAJbasdwKD41wVZpfJi5sSGuDefAtvMqr0-mR2M5oulvmvLqcaAsiB8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds or this one if I keep my AMD processorhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130755&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= ) that have two PCI Epress slots, but one is 2.0 and the other is 3.0, I know my card calls for 3.0, but would the second card work on the 2.0? Just not as well? I'm not a HUGE pc gamer, I have played some basic games in the past but am starting to get a little more into it. Right now I play Rust sometimes, GTAV, and want to get ARMA 3. As far as heat I wouldn't be overclocking the GPU's at all, and may overclock my CPU a little but would get a sealed watercooler that i've seen fit in the small cases already. In short, could I crossfire 2 7870's on a mini ITX, and would it be practical?

 

[clutchc]

First, those are mATX, not mITX boards. The MSI board in your link is perfectly fine for CF. The 2.0 slot will make no difference. The HD-7870 can't even saturate the bandwidth of 2.0. What board do you have?

 

[why_wolf]

What clutchc said those are MircoATX boards not mini-ITX boards. Make sure your case can accommodate them as there is a serious size difference.

Toms reference sheet to motherboard sizes. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/motherboard-selection-guide,3900-3.html

 

[geofelt]

ITX has only one pcie x16 graphics slot.
You can buy a very strong card like the GTX980ti that will fit.
I know of no ITX motherboards that will support a strong processor.

If you want itx, you are looking at Intel and a new motherboard.
Most likely, your particular games are more limited by cpu than graphics anyway.

 

[Benjamin248]

First, those are mATX, not mITX boards. The MSI board in your link is perfectly fine for CF. The 2.0 slot will make no difference. The HD-7870 can't even saturate the bandwidth of 2.0. What board do you have?

Ahhh that makes a lot of sense, there was some confusion for me with the names. Right now I have a full ATX board, https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/F2A55M/overview/ It came with my ASUS desktop I bought a couple years ago.

EDIT: HOLY S***. I have a Micro ATX right now... ***shame*** :|

 

[clutchc]

Yes, that's a mATX. And the 2nd PCIe x16 slot is only x4 lanes electrically; not well suited to CF. But it will work.

 

[Benjamin248]

Yes, that's a mATX. And the 2nd PCIe x16 slot is only x4 lanes electrically; not well suited to CF. But it will work.

I would probably upgrade my board after a while, what would be the downside to crossfiring on my current board though? An obvious performance loss i would assume, but would it hurt anything? overheat? And other than that would you say its a decent board? or bad enough to be a bottle neck? I really appreciate all of you guy's feedback, awesome to have quick response.

 

[clutchc]

Yes, that's a mATX. And the 2nd PCIe x16 slot is only x4 lanes electrically; not well suited to CF. But it will work.

I would probably upgrade my board after a while, what would be the downside to crossfiring on my current board though? An obvious performance loss i would assume, but would it hurt anything? overheat? And other than that would you say its a decent board? or bad enough to be a bottle neck? I really appreciate all of you guy's feedback, awesome to have quick response.

Almost any Asus board is a good board. No harm will come of CF'ing @ x16, x4 lanes. But scaling will suffer, some bottleneck to the first card may occur, and stutter may enter the picture.

 

[geofelt]

First, those are mATX, not mITX boards. The MSI board in your link is perfectly fine for CF. The 2.0 slot will make no difference. The HD-7870 can't even saturate the bandwidth of 2.0. What board do you have?

Ahhh that makes a lot of sense, there was some confusion for me with the names. Right now I have a full ATX board, https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/F2A55M/overview/ It came with my ASUS desktop I bought a couple years ago.

EDIT: HOLY S***. I have a Micro ATX right now... ***shame*** :|

Not only do you have a M-ATX motherboard, but it can only support a amd apu cpu which is very weak with no significant cpu upgrades available.
You do have some options to add in a discrete graphics card(r7-270, I think) for crossfire, but low level crossfire has not worked out well.

 

[Benjamin248]

First, those are mATX, not mITX boards. The MSI board in your link is perfectly fine for CF. The 2.0 slot will make no difference. The HD-7870 can't even saturate the bandwidth of 2.0. What board do you have?

Ahhh that makes a lot of sense, there was some confusion for me with the names. Right now I have a full ATX board, https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/F2A55M/overview/ It came with my ASUS desktop I bought a couple years ago.

EDIT: HOLY S***. I have a Micro ATX right now... ***shame*** :|

Not only do you have a M-ATX motherboard, but it can only support a amd apu cpu which is very weak with no significant cpu upgrades available.
You do have some options to add in a discrete graphics card(r7-270, I think) for crossfire, but low level crossfire has not worked out well.

So are you saying that my current mobo can't crossfire 2 R7870's like I plan to? And I am aware of its shitty FM2 slot, I will upgrade it when I upgrade CPU's later on. Thanks for the reply!