My CPU, GPU and Motherboard capability/possible upgrade?

[Newbiiie]

Hello! I got a couple of questions to ask about my first ever planned build!

CPU: i5-4570
GPU: Asus Radeon R9 280x DCU II TOP
Motherboard: MSI B85-G43 GAMING

First off..I've read all the specs of the motherboard, but can't understand it fully. It has 2 PCI-e 16x slots and 1 them PCI-e Gen. 3.0 x16 and the other 1 Gen. 2.0 x4

I've seen somewhere that it has 2 PCI-e 16x slots and it got me confusing? Which one is it..and will I be able to crossfire?

If I'll go for the second Asus Radeon R9 280x DCU II TOP, will my CPU bottleneck them?

The motherboard has 4-pin fan headers which will allow me to control my fans (or so it says on their official page) the question is how do I connect 3-pin fans to 4-pin headers without damaging my motherboard? I know I can connect them, but how do I do that the right way? From right to left or from left to right? Which pin do I leave unconnected?

Sorry for the long questions! 😛

 

[Dom_79]

The two PCIE x16 (the blue ones) are Gen3.The four black ones are Gen2. They did make that a bit confusing on the MSI website.

The fan plugs on the motherboard have a plastic "tab" that comes up from them to align the plugs from the fan in a certain orientation to make them foolproof (or newbie-proof ) So as long as you line the plugs up (they won't plug in unless it's facing the right way) the 3 pins you need will be plugged into the correct place.

The i5-4570 won't bottleneck those cards, but if you're gaming (or whatever) on a single 1920x1080 display a second card is not going to be worth the $$ (unless it has 144Hz refresh and even then...)

 

[Nikola Aslanov-1338074]

For the longer PCI-e slots:
PCI-E Slot 1 is: x16 size; 3.0 version; x16 speed
PCI-E Slot 2 is: x16 size; 2.0 version; x4 speed
Slots are a bit better described here: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/B85G43_GAMING.html#specification on the detailed specification tab.
Slot 2 will reduce the video card efficiency, but not severely - something like 4%.
For the 3 pin cables in 4 pin headers check this article: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/126215.aspx
Dom_79 us right there is no way you can plug the cable incorrectly (except with extreme brute force).

 

[Newbiiie]

The two PCIE x16 (the blue ones) are Gen3.The four black ones are Gen2. They did make that a bit confusing on the MSI website.

The fan plugs on the motherboard have a plastic "tab" that comes up from them to align the plugs from the fan in a certain orientation to make them foolproof (or newbie-proof ) So as long as you line the plugs up (they won't plug in unless it's facing the right way) the 3 pins you need will be plugged into the correct place.

The i5-4570 won't bottleneck those cards, but if you're gaming (or whatever) on a single 1920x1080 display a second card is not going to be worth the $$ (unless it has 144Hz refresh and even then...)

Thanks for the reply!

I think you are talking about a different motherboard? As the B85-G43, doesn't have any blue PCI-e slots

Oh, so it will be shown how to plug them in? That's nice!

Yes, I'm actually looking at 23inch 1920x1080 display. I don't think I need to crossfire them, like you say. I am mainly going to play bf4 (which will be at ultra with solid 50+ in fps) and dota2 so I think I'm good for the next 2-3 years? What do you think?

 

[Newbiiie]

For the longer PCI-e slots:
PCI-E Slot 1 is: x16 size; 3.0 version; x16 speed
PCI-E Slot 2 is: x16 size; 2.0 version; x4 speed
Slots are a bit better described here: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/B85G43_GAMING.html#specification on the detailed specification tab.
Slot 2 will reduce the video card efficiency, but not severely - something like 4%.
For the 3 pin cables in 4 pin headers check this article: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/126215.aspx
Dom_79 us right there is no way you can plug the cable incorrectly (except with extreme brute force).

Yes, like I thought...it has 1 x16 and 1 x4 speed slots! and I could live with 4% decreased efficiency.

About the pins so it seems that I have to plug them from left to right as shown on the picture from the link you provided? I'm asking because I saw someone on here having issues with his motherboard because he connected to the wrong pins? Like leaving out the 1 pin he was supposed to connect to and connecting to 2-3-4 which damaged his motherboard..

 

[Dom_79]

Here's a link to the MSI product page for that motherboard that Nikola and I a referencing when we are talking about blue PCIE slots and how many lanes and what Gen they are :
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/B85G43.html#/?div=Detail

As for the bandwidth and lanes of the PCIE slots, copied and pasted from the detailed specs:

"Slots

• 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot
• 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slot
- Supports up to PCIe 2.0 x4 speed
• 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots
• 3 x PCI slots"

As to the second x16 PCIE being Gen2 instead of Gen3 don't worry, No GPUS use the entire bandwidth of x16 Gen2 yet so you'll be fine.

For the 3pin fan plugs on 4pin headers. As Nikola and I have stated : You cannot plug them in wrong without severe force being applied. When you are connecting them, if you have to push harder than you would push a USB plug you are doing it wrong (and it will take QUITE a lot more force than that)