5850 crossfire and matx - Anyone tried it?

[Fox5]

Has anyone put a crossfire setup into an matx case? It seems like there would be overheating problems, as one card blocks the airflow to the fan of the other. Actually, it seems like this problem would occur in any crossfire setup, as the spacing between the two slots is the same.

 

[MarcVenice]

I've done sli and cf on a matx-mobo. Asus Gene II I think it was (matx x58 mobo). There's no problem whatsoever, because it's exactly the same as with most regular atx-mobo's.

Sure one gpu does run a little hotter, but nothing to worry about really.

 

[Skott]

I've seen 5870 CF but can't say I've seen one with a 5850 CF yet. I imagine someone has done it though. Case choice will be a big determining factor in how hot things will get.

 

[cbn]

Has anyone put a crossfire setup into an matx case? It seems like there would be overheating problems, as one card blocks the airflow to the fan of the other. Actually, it seems like this problem would occur in any crossfire setup, as the spacing between the two slots is the same.

Questions:

1. Do all mainboards have the same spacing between PCI-E slots? I thought some Xfire bridges were longer than others.

2. Have you considered using HD5970 in place of two HD5850s. Power consumption seems to be pretty good with the dual GPU card considering it has two highest bin Cypress cores running at "Green" speeds. The Dual GPU card would also be easier on the power circuitry of your mainboard since only 75 watts of the total juice is going through PCI-Express. (In contrast, Two HD5850s would put 150 watts power draw through the mainboard's power circuits)