Jump to content

SLI / Crossfire certified configs

Go to solution Solved by WaterproofBeanie,

If a motherboard is rated for 4 or 3 way SLI / Crossfire but not for 3 and 2 way does it mean the mother board cannot run 3 and 2 way configs. For example can the ASUS X99 Deluxe run 2 way SLI / Crossfire? And can the ASUS X99-E WS run 3 and 2 way SLI / Crossfire?

Those ratings are 'up to', not exclusive. You can run 2, 3, and 4-way sli/crossfire on that board. Just bear in mind that quad sli/crossfire is not the same as 4-way crossfire, it is two dual-gpu cards.

If a motherboard is rated for 4 or 3 way SLI / Crossfire but not for 3 and 2 way does it mean the mother board cannot run 3 and 2 way configs. For example can the ASUS X99 Deluxe run 2 way SLI / Crossfire? And can the ASUS X99-E WS run 3 and 2 way SLI / Crossfire?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

If a motherboard is rated for 4 or 3 way SLI / Crossfire but not for 3 and 2 way does it mean the mother board cannot run 3 and 2 way configs. For example can the ASUS X99 Deluxe run 2 way SLI / Crossfire? And can the ASUS X99-E WS run 3 and 2 way SLI / Crossfire?

Those ratings are 'up to', not exclusive. You can run 2, 3, and 4-way sli/crossfire on that board. Just bear in mind that quad sli/crossfire is not the same as 4-way crossfire, it is two dual-gpu cards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

If a board supports 4 way SLI/Crossfire, it will support 3 and 2 way as well. That board supports up to 4 way SLI/Crossfire, therefore supporting 3 and 2 way as well. 

 

With a 28 lane CPU, two cards would run at x16/x8 and with a 40 lane CPU, would run at x16/x16, not that it makes a difference to performance. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

It all depends on the bus speeds of the PCIe slots. SLI requires all slots to be running at a minimum of 8x speed. AMD allows for speeds as low as 4x on the PCIe bus.  For example, a motherboard may have 4 full length PCIe Slots, but checking the rated speeds, often you will find something like this:

PCIe: 1@X1650, 2@x8x8, 3@8x4x4x, 4@8x4x4x1x. This means you will have no problem with 2 way sli (hence 2 slots each at 8x speed) but in short, if its rated for 4way SLI/crossfire its rated for 3 and 2 way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

If a board supports 4 way SLI/Crossfire, it will support 3 and 2 way as well. That board supports up to 4 way SLI/Crossfire, therefore supporting 3 and 2 way as well. 

 

With a 28 lane CPU, two cards would run at x16/x8 and with a 40 lane CPU, would run at x16/x16, not that it makes a difference to performance. 

This is not always the case, even with a 28 lane CPU, lots of high end gaming boards come with a PEX chip which allows for additional PCIe lanes then what the CPU is rated at. Thus allowing for the 4 way SLI.  Notice how on the Z97 platform, boards are either 2 way SLI supported, or 4 way SLI supported, this is due to the PEX chip. Boards that have it can do x8x8x8x8, boards that don't do the x8x4x4x4 or something along those lines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×