Gigabyte 990FXA UD5 Motherboard Review

The Ninjalane 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: 5.25
Optimized: 2x
Max Support: 5x

NVidia SLI
AMD Crossfire

As indicated by the PCI Express layout chart there are a total of five 16x PCI Express slots on this motherboard with three using bandwidth earmarked for video cards with the remaining slots hardwired to 4x lanes each.  Slot two and four are the primary video card slots and run at a full 16x each when only a single card is installed.  Slots 4 and 6 both share bandwidth when a third video card is installed into the system.

For best video performance you will want to populate slots two and four with video cards. 

The GA-990FXA-UD5 is optimized for dual card configurations with a triple card configuration possible given the dual slot heatsink standard.