Crossfire upgrade queries!

[warlicrox1394]

ok so heres the deal guys
i have a pretty decent gaming rig with a radeon hd 5750 1gb g-card
but i want to upgrade my rig and have another hd 5750 in crossfire :hmm:
but i have several questions regarding an upgrade
but before that here's my current config

MSI K9N6PGM2 D:
AMD Phenom x4 9550
3 GB of memory
Powercolor Radeon HD 5750 1 GB
Seagate 2 TB hard drive

and here are my queries-
1) Please suggest an affordable crossfire compatible motherboard with 2 PCIe x16 slots and an am2+ socket which also supports DDR2 memory

2) Is my Tagan Stonerock 500W PSU enough to provide juice to two hd 5750s in crossfire if not please suggest a PSU that is sufficient

3) Is crossfire worth it? (lol stupid question i know)

oh and main purpose is gaming

thanks in advance

 

[toyota]

that cpu is a bit of a turd so don't expect to get full use out of adding a second 5750.

 

[darckhart]

not only that, but let's say you find a mobo deal ~80, and a 5750 deal ~100... you're already in price range of a new card (which when OCed should put you at performance > 5750 CF). of course the new card is going to be limited by the rest of your current setup, but hey, you can hang on to that for the new build....

 

[cusideabelincoln]

1) Please suggest an affordable crossfire compatible motherboard with 2 PCIe x16 slots and an am2+ socket which also supports DDR2 memory

You'll need to look at motherboards with an AMD 780 or 790 chipset, and also make sure it is DDR2 as some are DDR3. We can't recommend one without knowing where you live.

2) Is my Tagan Stonerock 500W PSU enough to provide juice to two hd 5750s in crossfire if not please suggest a PSU that is sufficient

Yes, the 5750s are low-power cards.

3) Is crossfire worth it? (lol stupid question i know)

This is up for you to decide.

You should preferably be using two 5750s at 1080p. Lower resolutions will introduce a (bigger) CPU bottleneck, as toyota mentioned.

So if you need more GPU performance, adding a second 5750 would provide a decent boost.

But having to change motherboards in the process doesn't make it quite as attractive. From purely a performance standpoint, you would be better off getting a single HD 6850, which should cost close to what a new board and another 5750 will cost and should provide similar or better performance.

Swapping motherboards will give you access to much faster processors, like the Phenom II X4 940 (the fastest you can get for AM2+), so there are benefits to going with a new board.

 

[tyl998]

I'd recommend a PSU switch just on principal, since it is one of the most important components in any system (a really bad one can fry your entire system). If you plan on upgrading to a more powerful card later on, I'd say you should just get an Antec Earthwatts 650 and you'll be set for all of your Crossfire needs.

 

[warlicrox1394]

Thanks for the replies guyz :thumbsup:
considering all you've suggested
tell me what you think of this
how about i ditch crossfire for a while and just buy a phenom x6 1055t and a new motherboard and hang on to my 5750 that should improve performance right to some extent right?

 

[ZimZum]

What resolution are you gaming at?

 

[warlicrox1394]

I'm using an LG W2043T
res=1600x900