Alright I almost finished my computer research and was about to order my computer, including an 8800gts, when I saw the latest drivers for the ATI HD 2900XT. It seems it performs a lot better and as it is only 50 bucks more I think I will get it. Now here is my problem. I am wanting the Intel E6600 Dual core CPU. I found a pretty nice mobo:

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i

Well see.... I could go for an intel chipset such as the Intel 975x, but when it runs crossfire it changes the PCI-e down to 8x not the full 16x. SO my question is... could I run ONE ATI HD 2900XT in the Asus P5N32-E mobo even though it is then Nvidia 680i chipset?

Could I run two ATI cards in crossfire on this mobo? I am askign this because I want to be able to run the 16x on both PCI-e slots. I plan to get a second card and run either SLI or Crossfire in about two years when prices go down, as it would be an fairly cheap upgrade. I hear that the only thing making ATI cards only work with crossfire on ATI chipsets is software, so... are there drivers that are modded that would let me run crossfire on an Nvidia 680i mobo?

If not, is there mobo for approx $200 that uses the Intel E6600 CPU, yet has Dual PCI-e both running at 16x that supports crossfire?

Thanks greatly, as I can't seem to find the info even after hours of looking

Just a question that you might not have considered - would the PCI-E x8 really be the bottleneck for a system while using the 975 chipset? Personally, I just wouldn't mix nVidia and ATI, but one is a chipset and the other is a video card. If both parties have written their drivers correctly, there shouldn't be any showstoppers.

Just a question that you might not have considered - would the PCI-E x8 really be the bottleneck for a system while using the 975 chipset? Personally, I just wouldn't mix nVidia and ATI, but one is a chipset and the other is a video card. If both parties have written their drivers correctly, there shouldn't be any showstoppers.

yeah I considered that, buut... the ATI HD 2900XT is a full 512bit and because of that my guess is it can use the bandwidth. That is if I get a second 2900 within about two years as a fairly cheap upgrade

So does anyone know if you can run the ATI HD 2900XT in the 680i motherboard?

Or well my real question is, what is a good mobo for approx $200 that supports the E6600 CPU, and the ATI HD2900XT in Crossfire mode with 16x on both PCI-e lanes...