Motherboard PCI specs

[msalton1]

I'm shopping motherboards and notice under the PCI specs:

2-Way CrossFire Support

2-way SLI Support (2-way bridge)

Does this mean that crossfire is supported only with a dual card solution? I have an HD7870 to which I may add another for crossfire later.

Also, I have an existing Sound Blaster xfi Plat that is PCI (works well with my z5500s), so I've been looking for boards that include a PCI slot, but this limits my choices, esp. in the higher end boards. I've looked at an Asus M. Hero, which has no PCI slot but does have onboard Supreme FX audio.

I generally disdain OBA, but am wondering if the Supreme FX is of decent quality. I'm working on a budget and buying a quality sound card isn't included atm.

Thanks!

Salt

 

[Boozad]

I'm shopping motherboards and notice under the PCI specs:

2-Way CrossFire Support

2-way SLI Support (2-way bridge)

Does this mean that crossfire is supported only with a dual card solution? I have an HD7870 to which I may add another for crossfire later.

It means the board will support a dual GPU setup for GTX and AMD cards. Some boards only have support for CrossFire and you can't run two GTX cards in SLI on them. You'll be fine adding a second 7870 further down the line.

I have an existing Sound Blaster xfi Plat that is PCI, so I've been looking for boards that include a PCI slot, but this limits my choices, esp. in the higher end boards. I've looked at an Asus M. Hero, which has no PCI slot but does have onboard Supreme FX audio (works well with my z5500s).

I generally disdain OBA, but am wondering if the Supreme FX is of decent quality. I'm working on a budget and buying a quality sound card isn't included atm.

Thanks!

Salt

Onboard sound on newer boards is generally pretty good, I'm more than happy with mine. I'd recommend trying it out then adding a soundcard later on if you're not happy with it.

 

[msalton1]

Thanks for your comments. Wanted to make sure that the 2 card crossfire setup was supported (the SLI bridge threw me).

As far as the audio, it seems that Asus has just renamed the Realtek 1150 codec to Supremefx for the ROG series boards (the same audio as your Sabertooth). Integrated audio can't compete with discrete audio, but I'd much rather a quality motherboard even if it means laying out for another sound card.

I guess I could pick up a PCI-e>PCI adapter (about $40). I wonder if the sound quality suffers when using one though (anyone know? )

Again, thank you for your response. Very helpful .

Edit: On further investigation, the PCIe to PCI adapters are for half height cards and sometimes cause compatibility issues. Since I don't want to sacrifice quality for a pci slot, I'm thinking I'll put the xfi in another machine and live with the onboard until I find a new card (unless I find the onboard acceptable).