# Asus M4A87TD EVO Crossfiring the two 16x PCI-e Slots



## BowlerBitesLane (Mar 9, 2011)

Hello everyone. I am new to this community and somewhat of a noob when it comes to the building and maintenance of my computer specifically when it comes to the idea of crossfiring. I have recently assembled my first computer and am more than content with its performance. In buying the Asus M4A87TD EVO motherboard though, I had hoped that as the requirements for more graphic intensive games increased, I would be able to use my motherboard's Crossfire capability to avoid replacing my current GPU and instead be able to effectively double the PC's graphics capability by adding a second card. 

The concern that I have, is that most forums containing the information relating to Crossfiring my motherboard only mention an ability to crossfire the 16x (blue) to the 4x (Grey) PCI-e Slots. My question then is: Would it be possible to Crossfire two ASUS EAH5770 using the two 16x (Blue) PCI-e slots on this particular mobo and if so, what sort of performance enhancement should I expect?

Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD EVO - Specs & Reviews


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

First of all, you will never double the graphics performance. Depending on the game and settings, the best you can hope for is maybe a 50% improvement.

Now, I'll refer you to your board and users manual to confirm a couple things:
Your board has:
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots ( dark blue runs @ x16 mode, [email protected] x4 mode) 
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 (dark blue)
3 x PCI (light blue)


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

You'll probably find the fps increase is more like 20-30%. Some recent games are well optimized for dual cards, but many games are not.

You'll also find the framerates will fluctuate between highs and lows much more than they would with a single card, which can lead to stuttering. What CPU have you got?

Adding an extra graphics card will increase the system temperatures and power requirements, so make sure the case is well ventilated and the PSU is strong enough.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

You might see a small performance gain for your substantial costs.
One better GPU is commonly the better solution to higher gaming performance.


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## BowlerBitesLane (Mar 9, 2011)

Thank you Gcavan I must have kept misreading the specs to say there where 2 x16 slots. What makes it even more confusing is that theres a typo in the manual that labels both to be x16. 

But now with that out of the way... what situation would be worth crossfiring if it is difficult to see an improvement in the performance between a single card and two cards?


O btw here's my computer specs... Asus M4A87TD EVO, AMD Phenom II x2 555, 3.2GHz, 2x2GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz?, Asus EAH5770 GPU, 700W OCZ PSU, Cooler Master V6 CPU fan, Hitachi 650GB HD, with Asus standard DVD drive


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Adding a second card, you will see a small increase in framerates, but you might also notice what's known as micro-stuttering. This is where the 2 cards don't synchronise properly, causing lag.

It's more noticeable where the framerates in your games dip below the monitor's refresh rate (60fps/60Hz). Above 60fps it's not so bad.

As Tyree said, it's better to go for a faster single card for smoother performance.


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## zraupp10 (Mar 2, 2009)

what board sucks if you are going to do crossfire / SLI you need 2 pcie 16x dual x16 or dual x8.
x4 will not give you much performance maybe 10-25% more performance if you have dual x16 or dual x8 you can get 50%+ and in higher end games even 75% depends on the game


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

That's not quite how it works, zraupp10. Even high-end graphics cards don't use the full PCIE 2.0 x16 bandwidth, so performance increase of Crossfire/SLI doesn't really depend so much on the x4, x8 or x16 slot. In other words, a card plugged into the x4 slot will perform the same as a card plugged into the x16 slot (give or take 5%).


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## zraupp10 (Mar 2, 2009)

koala said:


> That's not quite how it works, zraupp10. Even high-end graphics cards don't use the full PCIE 2.0 x16 bandwidth, so performance increase of Crossfire/SLI doesn't really depend so much on the x4, x8 or x16 slot. In other words, a card plugged into the x4 slot will perform the same as a card plugged into the x16 slot (give or take 5%).


every1 that I know says it has to be dual 16 or dual 8, 4 sucks....


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## BowlerBitesLane (Mar 9, 2011)

zraupp10 said:


> every1 that I know says it has to be dual 16 or dual 8, 4 sucks....


I'd have to say, that this is how I understood this as well. Though in all honesty my experience is limited. I have seen posts however that claim that Crossfiring and SLI are pretty much just marketing gimmics atm. Is there anyone who can bring further insight to this situation? Cause as is, I likely won't bother until I buy a new mobo and focus on overclocking it for the moment.


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## zraupp10 (Mar 2, 2009)

BowlerBitesLane said:


> I have seen posts however that claim that Crossfiring and SLI are pretty much just marketing gimmics atm. Is there anyone who can bring further insight to this situation? Cause as is, I likely won't bother until I buy a new mobo and focus on overclocking it for the moment.


SLI / Crossfire DEPENDS on the game....

if you go to youtube.com people always buy stuff when it comes out and they do tests on it.
Ceossfire and SLI most of the time double its FPS but it depends on the game.

YouTube - LinusTechTips's Channel

YouTube - NCIXcom's Channel

YouTube - TimeToLiveCustoms's Channel

they always has single video cards vs Crossfire and SLI. and may other cool stuff


Can you plz list what game you play? so I can look to see if crossfire is an ygood.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

We commonly suggest one better GPU because you will, in all likelihood, see a performance increase in your gaming and you avoid all the problems associated with dual GPU's.
Twice the cost, increase in power consumption, more unneeded heat inside the case, a small performance increase and few games can take advantage of dual GPU's.


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## BowlerBitesLane (Mar 9, 2011)

The games I am currently playing are Black Ops, Crysis, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Starcraft II, Half Life 2. Though I'm hoping to be able to run Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2 smoothly on my PC when they come out. Also, If I were to buy a new GPU, would it not make sense to Crossfire my old one in the x4 slot anyway just not to waste a perfectly good card?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Measure your framerates while playing a fullscren game with the card in the x16 slot, then move it over to the x4 slot and test again to see how well it performs.


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## zraupp10 (Mar 2, 2009)

BowlerBitesLane said:


> The games I am currently playing are Black Ops, Crysis, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Starcraft II, Half Life 2. Though I'm hoping to be able to run Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2 smoothly on my PC when they come out. Also, If I were to buy a new GPU, would it not make sense to Crossfire my old one in the x4 slot anyway just not to waste a perfectly good card?


well forgot to ask PriceRange, 2x5770 are $200 +

6870 $180 after $30 Mail in + LifeTime Warranty 
Newegg.com - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
XFX is a good Brand I have a XFX GTS 250 and its a GREAT OCer

next one up from that is this 6950 $235 +$8ship after $20 Mail in
Newegg.com - XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

GTX 560 $250 +$5ship
Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

looking @ the graphs I found these video cards will play your game perfectly "Black Ops, Crysis, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Starcraft II, Half Life 2"

The GTX 560 is the best for the game you play BUT you can NOT SLI (in the future WITH that Motherboard)

if you crossfire the 5770 for the price you should get one better card..
if you have dual 5770 now your going to get 75fps+ with the 2, and 30-60 with one depends on the settings and monitor(on them "Higher end gamers you play, you will get 100fps on your lower end games you play)


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## BowlerBitesLane (Mar 9, 2011)

so would I have to buy a graphics card that6 would match the one I have in order to crossfire it then, or could I buy a better one


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

You may use cards by different manufacturer's but the GPU's must be from the same 'family' ; ie HD 57XX or HD 68XX.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

zraupp10 said:


> if you crossfire the 5770 for the price you should get one better card..
> if you have dual 5770 now your going to get 75fps+ with the 2, and 30-60 with one depends on the settings and monitor(on them "Higher end gamers you play, you will get 100fps on your lower end games you play)


That is on paper. Those numbers may or may not be what any given user experiences.


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## amgsport (Mar 25, 2011)

koala said:


> Measure your framerates while playing a fullscren game with the card in the x16 slot, then move it over to the x4 slot and test again to see how well it performs.


I happened to stumble onto this thread - I know its a few weeks old now, but the question above caught my attention.

Out of curiosity, what do you think the approximate/estimated difference in performance would be? I'm stuck in same position as the OP - same board even. I've also got a second GPU waterblock begging to be used - lol. I think x16 v. x4 & I just assume x4 will be a quarter of the speed. I know its not that simple, but I've never attempted to test it.

I will go crossfire at some point, for several reasons - just not sure this board will cut it. Great site here. Glad I stumbled onto it :wave:


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

The speeds should be very similar. Most PCIE cards don't use anywhere near the full x16 bandwidth available to them.


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## amgsport (Mar 25, 2011)

Interesting. I thought there would be a noticeable difference. Thanks for your help.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

If you're going to try it, please post back with your results for each slot (average fps under full load, GPU temperature, and +12V).

FurMark to stress the card and monitor temperature (pushes the card harder than any game). Alternatively, use Fraps to monitor the framerates while playing a fullscreen game (set it to display the fps number in the corner of the screen, but don't use it to record gameplay as this will slow things down). GPU-Z for graphics temperature and fan speed. SIW for PSU voltages and system temperatures.


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## amgsport (Mar 25, 2011)

I will, but it won't be for a few months. Just finished several weeks of upgrading & modding my W/C loop. Need some time to enjoy the results of that effort first :grin:


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## amgsport (Mar 25, 2011)

LOL - your results might be coming sooner than expected koala :laugh: 

Just when my wallet thought it was safe from upgrade madness, NewEgg lowered the price on my GPU. I'm trying to talk myself out of getting it right now :grin:

If I pull the trigger & therefore pull my rig apart again, I'll bench the x16 & x4 slots and post the results.


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