Why get anything else than this mobo for most?

[reaper2794]

Hey everyone, so I see people buying motherboards that are usually around the $190-200+ range, and I just kinda wonder what those motherboards offer over a motherboard like this:

MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 - http://goo.gl/p3Pz4

This motherboard supports:

Dual x8 crossfire
Enough RAM for anyone
USB 3.0
SATA III
1155 Socket
P67 (Yes its not Z68 but for 95% of builders the Z68 chipset is useless)
Good RAM speeds

etc etc

So can anyone tell me what those super expensive motherboards really offer? Would the motherboard I linked to suffice for crossfiring anywhere from 6850s to 6970s?

 

[geofelt]

Hey everyone, so I see people buying motherboards that are usually around the $190-200+ range, and I just kinda wonder what those motherboards offer over a motherboard like this:

MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 - http://goo.gl/p3Pz4

This motherboard supports:

Dual x8 crossfire
Enough RAM for anyone
USB 3.0
SATA III
1155 Socket
P67 (Yes its not Z68 but for 95% of builders the Z68 chipset is useless)
Good RAM speeds

etc etc

So can anyone tell me what those super expensive motherboards really offer? Would the motherboard I linked to suffice for crossfiring anywhere from 6850s to 6970s?

The super expensive variants might be of interest to those who want record level overclocks, or triple sli capability.

Past that, I don't see much point in them.

 

[reaper2794]

How does the motherboard help achieve higher overclocks? and is 3-way SLI even common? Btw why does everyone talk about 3-way SLI but not quad SLI, is there no mobo that allows you to run 4 cards? Does it have to be 2 dual-gpu cards?

 

[geofelt]

More expensive motherboards will have more power stages, and more controls over all such features.

There are only a few motherboards with 4 x16 slots. quad sli means running two dual gpu cards in sli/cf.

Multiple cards gives you decreasing returns as cards are added. Past two there is a small amount of benefit. past 3 there is virtually none.

 

[reaper2794]

More expensive motherboards will have more power stages, and more controls over all such features.

There are only a few motherboards with 4 x16 slots. quad sli means running two dual gpu cards in sli/cf.

Multiple cards gives you decreasing returns as cards are added. Past two there is a small amount of benefit. past 3 there is virtually none.

What are power stages?

Also, you said there are a few mobos with 4 x16 slots, if Quad SLI or CF is 2 cards with 2 GPUs each, then what are the remaining 2 slots for...?

Or can you have 4 video cards..?

 

[geofelt]

The proper term might be power phases.
Here is a link to that discussion.
http://www.improbableinsights.com/2009/08/28/do-i-need-32-phase-power-on-my-motherboard/

Yes, you can have 4 video cards. That might be useful to a day trader who wants many displays for example.