Gigabyte 990FX Gaming Motherboard Review

The Hardware Asylum Multi-GPU index is a portable set of data we can use to determine the multi-GPU potential of any motherboard.  A higher index number indicates a favorable condition for multiple graphics cards while a lower number indicates a hindrance in one of our leading indicators.  Since the Index is not dependent on system architecture it can be applied to any motherboard regardless of processor or chipset generations.

Index: 6.5
Optimized: 2x
Max Support: 3x

NVidia SLI
AMD Crossfire

As indicated by the PCI Express layout chart there are a total of three 16x PCI Express slots on this motherboard with two of them using bandwidth earmarked for video cards.  Slot two is your primary video card slot and will run at a full 16x when only a single card is installed.  Slot five will also run at 16x when populated with a video card and is one reason the Multi GPU Index is so high on this motherboard. 

The motherboard is clearly designed for dual card configurations given the proximity of the last full width PCI Express slot located at the bottom of the motherboard.  There is plenty of room between the cards for dual slot coolers and watercooling setups.  During my tests I hooked up two EVGA GTX 780 Classified HydroCopper cards in SLI and despite a huge mess of wires and tubing the system ran flawless.  It wasn’t quite as fast as running a single GTX 980 Ti but was still fun.

Many of you will have noticed the metal covers over the PCI Express slots.  The intent of these metal covers is to reinforce the PCI Express slot and prevent them from breaking.  Typically the slot is a friction connection made from the pins sitting in the plastic connector.  By adding these metal covers the slot now has a mechanical connection to the motherboard via solder points that will prevent pulling the slot up and splitting the slot from sideways pressure.

Bottom line, they make the plastic stronger