Buying a motherboard for my rig, CrossFire/SLI x4/x8 mode question

[Gremo]

Hi guys! I need to buy a motherboard (max 170$) for the i7-4770S processor, with few important requirements. I've looked at the following models: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H, ASRock Z87M Extreme4 and MSI Z87M-G43. What would you buy, considering than the most important thing to me is stability and quality of the components? My requirements are:

MicroATX form factor
Otherwise it won't fit in my case.

VGA + HDMI or HDMI x 2 or HDMI + DVI-I or HDMI + DVI-D
I'll will not buy a discrete graphic card in a few months (maybe november or december), so I need to use the HD4600.

2-way AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI (best both)
Planned upgrade of the rig.

Chipset Z87
Even if the i7-4770S CPU doesn't support overclock, maybe I'll buy a Broadwell K processor in the future. In addition, I own an SSD and I like to enjoy the new optimization ("lake tiny", thus H87 is not an option).

Max 32GB RAM support
Who knows...

I have not included a few motherboards supporting only CrossFire because the PCI Express x4 mode when two graphic cards are inserted. For example the Z87M Extreme4 supports two cards with AMD CrossFire/NVIDIA SLI at x8, while the model Z87M Pro4 (seems to support) it at x4.

 

[svenge]

You really should get a board that supports x8 for the second PCIe slot, as SLI won't accept x4 (but CrossFire will).

Of the three models you listed, I'd get the Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H.

 

[Gremo]

You really should get a board that supports x8 for the second PCIe slot, as SLI won't accept x4 (but CrossFire will).

Of the three models you listed, I'd get the Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H.

Thank you for your answer, now I understand why there are some boards that only support crossfire with x4. For the GA-Z87MX-D3H specifications:

Support for 2-Way AMD CrossFire™/2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ technology
(PCIEX16 and PCIEX8)

So it's implicit that, when two cards are present, we get PCIEX8 for both? Unfortunately it seems that this board has a lot of instability problems...

 

[adnank77]

If you can expand the budget a little bit then I would recommend ASUS MAXIMUM GENE VI ..

It's a MicroATX Mobo with all the goodies of high end ..

 

[Gremo]

If you can expand the budget a little bit then I would recommend ASUS MAXIMUM GENE VI ..

It's a MicroATX Mobo with all the goodies of high end ..

It's ~250$ here, a bit too expensive... and it lacks VGA output (only HDMI x 1)

 

[adnank77]

It's ~250$ here, a bit too expensive... and it lacks VGA output (only HDMI x 1)

Just for my understanding .. You are asking SLI or CrossFire .. So why do you need onboard VGA ?

 

[Meghan54]

Just for my understanding .. You are asking SLI or CrossFire .. So why do you need onboard VGA ?

I think the answer can be found in the OP's op......like here (bolded for simplicity):

VGA or DVI-I output
I'll will not buy a discrete graphic card in a few months (maybe november or december), so I need to use the HD4600.


2-way AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI (best both)
Planned upgrade of the rig.

To the OP, I'd also recommend the Asus Gene motherboard. I understand the cost problem, but the boards in Asus's ROG line have proven outstanding for reliability and component quality.

As for the problem of no VGA/DVI output, just use something like this to convert the HDMI to DVI:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA27J0T24430

I'm sure a shop local to you could source such a cable.

 

[Gremo]

To the OP, I'd also recommend the Asus Gene motherboard. I understand the cost problem, but the boards in Asus's ROG line have proven outstanding for reliability and component quality.

As for the problem of no VGA/DVI output, just use something like this to convert the HDMI to DVI:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9SIA27J0T24430

I'm sure a shop local to you could source such a cable.

Maximus Gene VI is expensive here and it has only one HDMI output. I need to connect both my PC monitor (HTMI) and an old LCD TV (VGA|HDMI|DVI-D to HDMI adapter|DVI-I to VGA adapter).