p55 has 16 lanes right?

Hey guys,
Since a few days i got now a 5850+5970 in cf on a p55 mobo.
I was expecting that my 5970 was running on 8x and the 5850 on 8x lanes.
But gpu-z is tellin gme that the 5970 is runnin gat 16x and the 5850 at 16x.
The performnce is very good to.
Someone can explain this?
Mobo is msi-gd65
Thnx

 

here's a good read for ya this is why I went with P55 instead of x58.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/p55-crossfire-nf200,review-31800.html

 

you need a P55 board with the NF-200 chip, check the reviews on each motherboard and make sure it has it if you want to get two full x16 lanes

 

Yes, a p55 has only 16 lanes.

Technically speaking, a core i7 or i5 (1156 socket) has only 16lanes.

You are doing a Trifire (5970 + 5850) on a 16 lane platform, which I really do not think is a good idea.

And NF200 chips help in case of 16 lane processors, but only for SLI and not for XFire.

I suggest, migrate to X58 platform.

 

If i follow the review of Tomhardware, they test tri crossfire, so it's ATI, and the difference with the P55 without the NF200 is huge, the P55 + NF200 is only @ ~4fps when the results totally bug without the NF200.. so it work too with Crossfire .... I don't know if the NF200 is used for the CPU and so the P55 PCI lanes are free for 2x 16 or if the NF 200 is now compatible ATI cards ( they have remove the hardware detection, and allow to work with ATI? knowing ATI don't need the southbridge for work in crossfire as the chips are on the cards )

 

No it also helps ati crossfire! Research it.

 

I mean guys this,
I have a p55 mobo,but gpu-z is showing my 5970@16x and the 5850@8x.
My friend has 2x 5870 on same mobo and shows both at 8x how can this be.
Performance is goood btw check so dont think bottleneck lane is huge:

 

wrong

 

unless u have the NF200 you'd also be running in 8x 8x like your friends. Its probably sensing the 2 5870's on the 5970 are running @ 16x between them but not with the CPU. And no not much of a bottleneck at 8x

 

Ok thnx.
So u think upgrading to x58 doesnt make the perofrmance much better right?
Whats ur gpu score with 3x 5870?

 

better at what? Vantage score an i7 X58 MB will make quite a difference or any benchmark that uses allot of cpu. But in high quality gaming no you wont notice a difference.

 

I though the P55 had 24 lanes? so x16/x8 is possible?

 

could be but I read reviews on his MB and it only mentions 16. here's a real good read though. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/p55-crossfire-nf200,review-31800.html

 

A nvidia chip helping ATI crossfire!! Thats awesome

Thanks Krogtheclown and Sash, I'll research on NF 200 bridge chip....