Will Asus P5Q Pro support 2* R9 290 in Crossfire?

[prateekprakash]

I have Asus P5Q Pro, and intend to purchase two R9 290. The Asus website says
"2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, support ATI CrossFireX™ technology at x8 link"

Will it support two R9 290 in Crossfire?

 

[Seba]

Even if you could, why would you use even one R9 290 with a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad processor?

 

[nwo]

Yes, the two 290s will work in the P5Q.

What that means is that they will run at x8 link speed, down from the full x16 speed. Either way, you will not be able to notice a difference so you should be fine.

 

[RU482]

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5Q_PRO/

 

[VirtualLarry]

If your intention is mining, then yes, they will work. For gaming, not so well. You will be CPU-bottlenecked to the extreme.

 

[prateekprakash]

Thanks nwo for the confirmation.

VirtualLarry, I am currently using a Core2 Quad Q9550 @3.6GHz on Swiftech H220.
I think Upgrading to a new CPU+Mobo (4770K and z87 board)will cost me about the same as the price of one R9 290.
Since in india a 290 costs Rs.34000, and I can spend a total of Rs.70000, then i'll be left with
i7 4770k= Rs.24000
Asus z87 K= Rs.12500
1 r9 290= Rs.34000
2* 4GB DDR3 RAM= Rs5500

Total= Rs. 76000.

and just 2* r9 290= Rs.68000.

And in my opinion the increment in frame rates will be much higher if I buy 2 r9 290, and upgrade to a 14nm intel later.

 

[Prey2big]

What games do you intend to play exactly?

Maybe you could run BF4 on max settings at a very high resolution and your PC wont look like a travesty.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks nwo for the confirmation.

VirtualLarry, I am currently using a Core2 Quad Q9550 @3.6GHz on Swiftech H220.
I think Upgrading to a new CPU+Mobo (4770K and z87 board)will cost me about the same as the price of one R9 290.
Since in india a 290 costs Rs.34000, and I can spend a total of Rs.70000, then i'll be left with
i7 4770k= Rs.24000
Asus z87 K= Rs.12500
1 r9 290= Rs.34000
2* 4GB DDR3 RAM= Rs5500

Total= Rs. 76000.

and just 2* r9 290= Rs.68000.

And in my opinion the increment in frame rates will be much higher if I buy 2 r9 290, and upgrade to a 14nm intel later.

I think you would be wrong in your assumption. A Q9550 will hold back a single R9 290, nevermind two of them. Your first option would be far more balanced, and game much better. Btw, you don't need the 4770K for gaming, the 4670K is just as good for most games.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I think you would be wrong in your assumption. A Q9550 will hold back a single R9 290, nevermind two of them. Your first option would be far more balanced, and game much better. Btw, you don't need the 4770K for gaming, the 4670K is just as good for most games.

I'd have to agree with VirtualLarry here. 2x 290 + Core2 Quad makes little sense to me. You'd be better off spending that second 290 on a new CPU and mainboard.

Not least because just one 290 will run every game out there at maximum settings, even on a 1440p monitor.

 

[Seba]

Get a Haswell Core i5 (non k), a H81 motherboard, 8 GB DDR3, a good power supply (if your current one is not adequate) and one good graphics card (R9 290 or something else).

You will have a much better gaming PC than puting two R9 290 in your Socket 775 motherboard.

 

[prateekprakash]

Then I guess I'll go for the more balanced option.
It never occurred to me that a fast but older processor could hold me down that much... I guess technology ages out pretty quickly... phew...
Thanks VirtualLarry, Insert_Nickname & Seba for your suggestions.

 

[nwo]

Core 2 Quads can't be compared to any i5 or i7. Even the first generation of i5s and i7s are a huge improvement over the core 2 quad. So yes, a core 2 quad, regardless of OC, would bottleneck any single high end card. Let alone two of them.

Maybe you can get an Ivy bridge i5 3570k +z77 for significantly less than i5 4670k +z87. If so, I would recommend that route. The difference between the two running at the same clock speed is about 5-10%. For gaming, probably much less.