Might need a new motherboard...

[Emptyvoid]

So recently I've decided to buy a second identical graphics card so that I could crossfire the two. Unfortunately, I didn't check the specifications of my motherboard thoroughly enough to see if it could even effectively crossfire. Apparently, it cannot (one of the PCI 2.0 Express slots is 16x, the other is 4x....). So, I was hoping to get people's opinions on what motherboard I should get now that will support crossfire along with all of my other parts.


ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM4

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL


XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card *I bought a second one of this card*


ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard *This is my current motherboard*

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX


OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ...

Also, I also wonder if my power supply will be able to handle a second graphics card. I don't think it will be an issue but of course I'd like to know what other people with more tech experience feel about it.

What do people think of this motherboard?

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

 

[flipp1234567]

i don't see any problem with the motherboard, but i prefer to buy top seller items... quality over price is my policy, well a mix...


i chose this one a while back:
MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

its been doin well so far. 200$, and voted best of the best. 20$ MIR and its easy to use. looks sick too (even though you won't see it if its in a solid case )

pick whichever you want. read reviews, thats what i did. the motherboard you chose has a lower "one egg" percentage than the one i suggested, but most of them were disappointed at the DOA status of it. also appears to have some fatal errors, which i havent gotten, and the ASUS equivalent of it is much more pricey than it, approx 300$ compared to its 200$. if you aren't going to hardcore overclock, i would recommend this board because it seems that the errors come fromthe use of the bios...

 

[Emptyvoid]

i don't see any problem with the motherboard, but i prefer to buy top seller items... quality over price is my policy, well a mix...


i chose this one a while back:
MSI 890FXA-GD70 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

its been doin well so far. 200$, and voted best of the best. 20$ MIR and its easy to use. looks sick too (even though you won't see it if its in a solid case )

pick whichever you want. read reviews, thats what i did. the motherboard you chose has a lower "one egg" percentage than the one i suggested, but most of them were disappointed at the DOA status of it. also appears to have some fatal errors, which i havent gotten, and the ASUS equivalent of it is much more pricey than it, approx 300$ compared to its 200$. if you aren't going to hardcore overclock, i would recommend this board because it seems that the errors come fromthe use of the bios...

I looked at that very one as well and I think if I do end up getting a new mobo, it'll be that one.

What I think I'll end up doing is saving this graphics card and down the line when I have a bit more cash, get that mobo that you suggested.

Also, the only concern I have with that mobo is my power supply good enough to handle it along with two gpu's? I'm not too tech savvy with power supplies but a lot of the reviews I read for that mobo is that you will need an 8 pin cpu conncetor. Is this (1 x 12V(8Pin)) from my power supply that 8 pin cpu connector? The more I read about this board the more I like it.

 

[flipp1234567]

well, most power supplies come with the 8 pin. and yes that 1x12V 8 pin IS the one that you need. The Wattage requirement of one card (full load) is about... im not sure, like 400 watts maybe? (could be overexaggerating it alittle) with two it should be more but not by much,like 100-200W (if its 400 and this is at full load) and since almost nothing can bring a gpu, even 2 gpus to max load, so 700 should be more than fine.

 

[Emptyvoid]

well, most power supplies come with the 8 pin. and yes that 1x12V 8 pin IS the one that you need. The Wattage requirement of one card (full load) is about... im not sure, like 400 watts maybe? (could be overexaggerating it alittle) with two it should be more but not by much,like 100-200W (if its 400 and this is at full load) and since almost nothing can bring a gpu, even 2 gpus to max load, so 700 should be more than fine.

Ok since my power supply can more than likely handle the two gpus, along with everything else I'm going to go ahead and order that mobo.

 

[flipp1234567]

alright. cool. glad i could help.

 

[Emptyvoid]

I've been reading around and checking what else I will need to do with a new motherboard.

With a new mobo I'll have to reinstall wins 7. I don't think that should be an issue because worst thing is I have to call and explain how my other mobo 'died'.

However, what will happen with my hard drive? Will it seamlessly work with the new mobo? (I doubt that is the case). What is that I will have to do in order to have my current hard drive working with the new mobo, without any loss of data?

 

[flipp1234567]

with the new mobo you will have to reinstall windows 7 like you said, but you should most likely back everything up from you rharddrive onto a USB because all of your data in your hard drive has drivers and such for your old motherboard. So you can wipe the hard drive while having everythin backked up, and then reinstall windows.

Other times, from other experiences, the hard drives WILL WORK without anything, but you will have to hunt for drivers for the new motherboard. (if your getting the MSI 890FXA-GD70, it comes witha disk so it shouldn't be a problem).

 

[Emptyvoid]

with the new mobo you will have to reinstall windows 7 like you said, but you should most likely back everything up from you rharddrive onto a USB because all of your data in your hard drive has drivers and such for your old motherboard. So you can wipe the hard drive while having everythin backked up, and then reinstall windows.

Other times, from other experiences, the hard drives WILL WORK without anything, but you will have to hunt for drivers for the new motherboard. (if your getting the MSI 890FXA-GD70, it comes witha disk so it shouldn't be a problem).

I'm sorry if I'm being dense, but I want to make sure I understand you correctly. Yes I am getting the mobo you suggested, the MSI 890FXA-GD70. If the disk has the drivers on them, do I still need to back up my hard drive? Reason I ask is because I have over 800 GB of stuff on my hard drive, so if I do back it up it will probably be only my documents and such.

Thanks for being patient with me flipp.

 

[flipp1234567]

its fine. unfortunately i cannot give you a 100% confident answer since i've never really done it (use old hard drive on new), i don't think you NEED to, but if it doesn't work, then you should for insurance measures.

ive only backed up files once, and it asked me what files i wanted to back up, documents, music, pictures, whatever i wanted, so i would assume the same for yours.