To CrossFire or not to CrossFire?

[Chillimon]

I'm in the process to building parts to purchase for a budget $500-$600 AMD gaming rig.

DO I REALLY NEED TO CROSSFIRE??

At the moment I am wondering if I really need to ever crossfire. I do not have the budget for 2 GPU cards, it would be at least a year before I would get a second card. I am a casual gamer, but like to place latest games, such as I am getting Deus Ex game, cos I loved the old one years ago and I can get this game free with this card I like:



SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
$155
Will this one card suit my needs for the next 3 years of being able to play latest games? Resolution isn't that important to me, as long as I can play games at good settings I'm happy.

So really my NEXT QUESTION is:
This MOBO going to fit my needs?
GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128504
$60
Can upgrade to bulldozer in the future. But cannot Crossfire.


To add: I will get this CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
$120

 

[michxymi]

With 600 $ budget you can get a 6950 1GB or 2GB model (doesn't matter as long as res is <1920x1080) and you don't have to worry about temperatures, problems with drivers, space, powerful PSU etc. Plus, at a year time there would be better cards that will beat crossfire setups..

 

[Chillimon]

With 600 $ budget you can get a 6950 1GB or 2GB model (doesn't matter as long as res is <1920x1080) and you don't have to worry about temperatures, problems with drivers, space, powerful PSU etc. Plus, at a year time there would be better cards that will beat crossfire setups..

So what power supply do you recommend if I got this:

GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128504
$60
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
$120
SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=
$175 - MAX MONEY I WILL GO ON A GPU

 

[michxymi]

Get this 6870 from XFX. Lifetime warranty for 5$ more!

XFX HD-687A-ZNBC Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150507

Get this motherboard. New 990X/SB950 chipset, Full Support for Bulldozers, 8 + 2 Phase Power Design and a lot more!

GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510

For PSU, XFX will give the solution again! 80+ Bronze with 44A output from 12V rail! Very powerful!

XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) 550W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013&Tpk=xfx%20550w

 

[Chillimon]

Best answer selected by Chillimon.

 

[michxymi]

Thanks for the best answer, looking forward for feedback!