What motherboard for this CPU? 2xGPU support if possible

JamesTrendall

JamesTrendall

JamesTrendall

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I'm looking for a motherboard that can support up to 2 GPU's duel channel RAM onboard GPU vga connecter if possible as i dont have a new monitor its the old style screw in to place conecter. Altho i can steal the kids flatscreen and use a HDMI cable

The CPU im using is the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core

I have found a few motherboards but im unsure how to see if it can take 2 GPU's this is not a major issue as it will take me a while to upgrade to 2 GPU's and SLI/Crossfire them together i just wanted it there for the future.

One more thing i would like to OC this CPU a little bit so a motherboard with OC abilitys if possible. The cpu is unlocked.

Ps: i forgot to mention a i need a ATX size board NOT Microatx unless a microatx board can fit in to a normal sized tower.

The only motherboard i have found is this one,
ASRock 960GM-GS3 FX Motherboard its a AM3+ socket it looks like it can OC but im not sure if it can handle 2GPU's as google has failed me... Well maybe i fail at google.

Thanks in advance
James
 
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HI there James,

When looking at motherboards, You will see at the bottom different "lanes" as they are called, usually the ones in colour or ones that are longer than the rest are Graphics cards slots or PCI-E lanes, There are a good few motherboards out there, Like this one:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A78LMUSB3/

This supports only 1 graphics card, the Micro ATX Board will support only 1 graphics card, Wheras ATX form factor can support dual and possibly triple.

Most if not all of these motherboards have the ability to overclock no worries there.

Micro ATX Will fit your normal sized tower better than ATX as it is smaller, hence "Micro"

So there is a sacrifice to be had, To pick an ATX Board but bear in mind that it has no Onboard graphics support, Or pick a Micro ATX board and have only one GPU.

May I ask why you need SLI/Crossfire? You would probably be better off with a single more powerful graphics card rather than two.
 
Hello im currently undecided im looking for the cheapest so i guess it would be crossfire ATI card.

Its not a big must but it would be nice if i can find one cheap enough that allows for OC CPU



I was looking in to playing EVE online on one screen while having the desktop with internet explorer on the 2nd screen if that is possible. So if i stuck with just the one graphics card a Micro ATX motherboard would be find but if i want more then one then i would need to find a motherboard with 2 PCI-E lanes on a ATX motherboard.

Im slowly learning on all the different bits and bobs but it gets confusing rather quickly.
im looking in to buying a Radeon HD saphire graphics card and maybe get a second so i can use the internet on one screen while playing on the second the processor does recording and playing ect... [Well thats my understanding anyway]

Thank you for the help so far and clearing up exactly what i needed to know about the PCI-E lanes.

one last thing if i have a normal sized tower with a microATX motherboard would i need any fittings extra to fit it or does it just fit in as normal.

Edit:I just looked at the specs for this board http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A78LMUSB3/#specifications
As posted above and it states "Hybrid CrossFireX™ Support" would that be i can use the graphics card i buy to run a game while the "Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 GPU" could be on a seperate screen with the desktop/internet browser on?

If that is the case this is the board i most definitly would be looking for.
 
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It fits in as normal. The mATX board will just take less space. So you'll be having two screens? One GPU is enough, and the latest gen AMD/Nvidia cards can run up to 6/4 screens respectively.

PCI-E lanes and slots are different things ;). Slots is the physical slots that you plug the GPU into, the lanes is how many "channels" the slots have. More lanes = more data between the PCI-E controller and GPU.
 
Thats perfect thank you.

how would i get a GPU to run 2 screens then? or like the motherboard above could i use the onboard GPU to run one screen while having the other GPU run a game on a second screen?

if this is possible i'll be buying today :] God i feel like a kid a christmas i cant wait to have all the parts lined up ready for fitting.
 
The GPU will have more that one display output, which could be DVI, VGA, HDMI or displayport. In fact for a very long time GPUs can generally run 2 displays, even the onboard. All you do is just connect them and set them up in Windows and you're ready to go.

What's your current board and GPU?
 
The motherboard and GPU i havnt bought yet im making sure i get the right parts before buying as im all new to this. The only thing i have bought is the CPU,
AMD phenom II x4 140W @3.4Ghz black edition.

But im looking in to buying the motherboard above
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A78LMUSB3/#specifications

and the GPU im looking at buying is,
ati radeon hd sapphire 5770 or, ATI Radeon HD 6570

They are both rather cheap but would these also work with a 64bit OS?
 
JamesTrendall said:
Thats perfect thank you.

how would i get a GPU to run 2 screens then? or like the motherboard above could i use the onboard GPU to run one screen while having the other GPU run a game on a second screen?

if this is possible i'll be buying today :] God i feel like a kid a christmas i cant wait to have all the parts lined up ready for fitting.
Click to expand...

Most £80 + GPU's have more than 1 connection, take for example the ATI radeon 6850, Supports up to 4 monitors.

I think you are getting slightly confused over GPU's and monitors, You do not need two GPU's to run two monitors, Like you don't need 4 cpu's to run 4 programs at the same time, 1 average GPU will power up to 4 monitors.

The motherboard you linked earlier has what its called "Hybrid crossfire X"
This allows you to use the intergrated GPU on your motherboard and the graphics card together giving you even more connectivity.
 
Bezzaboy1234 said:
Most £80 + GPU's have more than 1 connection, take for example the ATI radeon 6850, Supports up to 4 monitors.

I think you are getting slightly confused over GPU's and monitors, You do not need two GPU's to run two monitors, Like you don't need 4 cpu's to run 4 programs at the same time, 1 average GPU will power up to 4 monitors.

The motherboard you linked earlier has what its called "Hybrid crossfire X"
This allows you to use the intergrated GPU on your motherboard and the graphics card together giving you even more connectivity.
Click to expand...

Ow i see so the "Hybrid crossfire X" would join the lets say 1GB memory from the GPU with the 512MB memory from the intergrated GPU thus giving 1.5GB total graphics memory? Is that correct?
 
Nope. It means the onboard GPU works together with the discrete GPU. The memory stays seperate. How much are you willing to spend in total?
 
Orcvader said:
Nope. It means the onboard GPU works together with the discrete GPU. The memory stays seperate. How much are you willing to spend in total?
Click to expand...

Im looking to spend between £50-90 on the GPU but looking more towards the £50 mark as i only really need it to run EVE online maybe a few other online MMO's and a bit of recording

Sorry could you explain exactly in a VERY childish way how they work together then? as my understanding was it was one or the other unless do you mean the GPU i would put in the PCI-E slot would go around the intergrated GPU taking longer to reach the CPU where as if they work together the GPU in the PCI-e slot use's the intergrated GPU as a short cut.
 
The integrated GPU will generate some of the frames, while the discrete GPU will generate another set of frames. This means they take in turns in producing a frame. This is how they work together, as hybrid crossfire.

If you can find a cheap 5770/6770 they will do, EVE and most other MMOs will run fine on it but the 6850 I specced earlier is a bargain with much better performance for the price.
 
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