Windows 7: is my motherboard xfire ready

hi folks just a quick n simple 1 lol. i wnt to add another hd6850 to my pc. this is my mobo gigabyte ga880ga-ud3h rev 3.1 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...d=3789&dl=1#ov in the manual all i can find about xfire is somethin about ati hybrid xfire. i know this isnt wot i want.
ive read that if i run another card in the other pcie slot then the slave gpu will only run@ x4 instead of x16.
this is where i get lost lol. all i need to know really is. can i run 2x hd6850 in xfire and in terms of performance wot does it mean that the second card will only run @ x4?

all help is greatly apreciated folks, thanks in advance

As you say, the second PCI-E X16 slot will run at X4.

That may still be adequate to support Crossfire. I have no personal experience.

(Hybrid Crossfire is between the onboard graphics and a discrete card. It's supposed to permit power savings by only using the discrete card when it is needed, as in 3D games.)

I wonder whether you'll get any real advantage from Crossfire. You have a pretty good graphics card now - is it falling down on any of the tasks you set it?

hi bobkn cheers 4 the quick reply
nah it chews through any game i try at max settings. but BF3 release next month. they r saying the recomended specs r to run it on medium settings. to run at max 2x gtx 580's or 6950's. i doubt that very much though. its the only reason i would go xfire. id much rather wait n get a 2GB 6970 wen the price has dropped. cant afford a 6970 now thats why i thought xfire 6850's

Hi ganjiry, I know what you mean about BF3, I am sort of considering SLI'ing my 560ti, but I will see how 1 runs the game first.

Don't forget the PSU as well, I would not be happy with my Antec truepower 750 running 2 of my cards, not sure about your PSU with 2 6850s? May be fine but always worth thinking about.

Cheers

Paul.

hi paulpicks.
nightmare enit lol. will have to c how the better runs enit. the alpha ran ok but most of the eye candy n effects were turned off. hopefully it will b ok to hold off n then i can get the 6970 instead. haveu any idea when ati's next gen of cards r due? price drop on the 6's then
wen i bought my psu i used the psu calculater. i did it with all the planned upgrades i had in mind so should b ok

Well I keep hearing things about the 7 series, iirc they are not due til at least the end of the year, maybe even early next year.

okey dokey, cheers chap