Motherboard Advice needed - Please :)

Hundreth Idiot

Hundreth Idiot

Hundreth Idiot

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Joined
8 Oct 2011
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5
Hi everyone

sorry for the long ramble below but I need some expert advice.

I recently bought 2 HD 6970s to put into crossfire on my motherboad (ASUS P6TD Deluxe) but as the cards are just that bit wider I found it was hitting the SATA connector and wouldnt sit correctly - unless I used a hammer :).

I would like to not have to upgrade again for 18 months or so

I currently have a core i7 920 (2.66 Nehalem), P6TD depulxe
ram 6gb DDR3 2000mhz pc3
CoolerMaster ACTS 840 case (so roomy)

So it looks like I need a new MoBo:
Question I have for everyone - should I bother moving to the latest chipset or just stick with the x58 for the time being?

If I stick with the x58 which board should I purchase that will have the room to fit these rather chunky graphics cards in crossfire
And which CPU cooler should I get as my Titan TTC Fenrir is a bit nosiy (trying to get something quieter if possible)

If I change chipsets then again which board, processor and cooler should I get?

btw I also have a sound card (XFI fatality) which I am very fond of so would like a slot free on the board to cram it on as well

I do like ASUS boards but will go with your recommendations
Any advice gratefully appreciated
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

How many SATA drives are you using?

The motherboard has 4 SATA ports angled at 90° and you should be able to use these without any problem as long graphics cards will just sit on top of them.

The only ports you may have dificulty using are the 2 which sit facing directly out from the motherboard.

If you have 4 SATA drives or less then you shouldn't have a problem using the board you have now.
 
The new card is just that little bit deeper than my previous card and so hit the first of the SATA ports.
I just couldnt get it to sit flush into the PCI slot without hitting the top of the frist 90 deg SATA ports
 
Hundreth Idiot said:
really appreciate your help and patience btw :)
Click to expand...

You're welcome.


Hundreth Idiot said:
The first card
EAH6970 DCII/2DI4S/2GD5
Click to expand...

You're really struggling with cards of 3 slots width.

I don't see you getting a motherboard of any type which will allow you to fit your X-FI Fatal1ty as it's a PCI card (correct ?) and with those graphics cards installed I can't see a motherboard which would have an accessible PCI slot.

If you look at the X58 motherboards on the OcUK shop site then there aren't really any with PCI-E slot spacing for you to fit two 3 slot graphics cards. The only one that might work is the Asus Rampage III Extreme at £300 and at that price you might as well buy a Sandy Bridge setup.

If you're intent on using the X-FI Fatal1ty they you need to use dual slot cards.

If you bought the cards mail order, and received them less than 7 working days ago, you can return them under the Distance Selling Regulations for a full refund and buy dual slot cards.

If you're persisting with the cards you've got now then there doesn't seem to be an X58 motherboard (certainly at OcUK) which is going to work at a reasonable cost.

You can upgrade to a Sandy Bridge setup but that obviously involves a new motherboard, processor and possibly RAM. Even then I don't think you'll find a motherboard to fit your sound card.

Ultimately the easiest soltion is to get the cards to fit in your current motherboard if can't or don't want to send them back.

Whatever motherboard you have, X58 or Sandy Bridge, the graphics cards are going to have to fit over the SATA ports.

I can't believe that the SATA ports on your current motherboard are different in size to any other motherboard and the graphics cards you have must fit otherwise the Internet would be full of stories similar to yours.

I suggest you have another go at fitting the graphics cards.

I don't recommend that you use extreme force but I would have thought they'd go in with a bit of a push.
 
ty for the advice - I can have another go at fitting the cards.

With my nooby knowldge I figured the Rampage card would be the only one to give me the extra space - but at that price I might as well (as you say ) upgrade to a sandybridge setup.

I dont mind really doing a full upgrade to Sandybridge as my current setup is 2 years old anyway - and maybe I can lose the sound card (main issue was the terrible mike / headphone slots on the original sound card).

If I went for a new chipset - what would peeps recommend to make the most of the cards?

Again gratefully appreciate your help - ty :)
 
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99

Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98

Retail processor for the 3 year warranty.

You may be able to re-use your CPU cooler if it's compatible with S1155/S1156 (they're the same).

You may be able to re-use your RAM but Sandy Bridge works in dual channel so only 2 sticks really and ideally RAM for Sandy Bridge should be run at ~1.5V.

But as I said, If you can't get the cards to fit over the SATA ports on your current motherboard you'll likely be in the same situation with any motherboard.
 
again thank you for your help - very much appreciated

I may give ASUS a call tomorrow and just check they will fit (maybe it is just a very snug fit and I needed to be firmer or get the angle right)

I might go the Sandybridge route just to update the spec a bit anyway
 
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