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Another video card question thread (SLI)

SpathotanSpathotan Member Posts: 3,928
in Off-Topic Discussion
Im not savy on the whole SLI thing, so I figured id ask around before I confirm the order on my new parts. Would a single 7600 be better than say 2 6600's, 6800's or 7300's? 

"There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
— Boba Fett

Comments

  • seabass2003seabass2003 Member Posts: 4,144
    Just get 2 7900s.

    In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.

  • VixenHeartVixenHeart Member Posts: 458

    Originally posted by seabass2003
    Just get 2 7900s.


    Not everyone has $800+ to drop on videocards.

    Just get a 7600GT, you'll be fine.

  • shaeshae Member Posts: 2,509

    Originally posted by VixenHeart

    Originally posted by seabass2003
    Just get 2 7900s.


    Not everyone has $800+ to drop on videocards.

    Just get a 7600GT, you'll be fine.

    Well, that wasn't exactly the question asked, gg Vixen...

    Anyways.

    Spa, what do you play? What else do you use the system for? What size monitor do you have? What cpu are you running? How much Memory/Ram do you have loaded? What case do you have?

    These are all thing you have to take into consideration when deciding whether it's worth the expense of investing into a SLi System or to go single card.

    SLi is absolutely fantastic at playing high end games at large resolutions with high detailing, supporting dual monitors, large graphical projects and splicing out new gpi's. On the other hand, if your playing games 6 months and older, have a fairly small monitor and don't need to max every detail out, then a single card solution is a good way to go.

    Things to keep in mind if you decide to go SLi that I've learned over time.

    - Stay away from the 6800 GT's and U's as pairs, it's worth the extra cash to bump up to the either the 7800's or 7900's.

    - Make sure you carry a good low or mid latency Memory Load (RAM). 2 Gigs to be certain your not causing bottle neck.

    - Think ahead, if your planning on going AMD2, then look at the right mobo's that obviously have the x2 16bit PCI-2 slots and not a 1x 16 bit with a secondary 8 bit. There difference is quite literally night and day.

    - PowerSupply, and this cannot be stressed enough, is very very very important. Good, solid, fluid and pure power will make or break a SLi system. A cheapo PSU will have you kicking yourself and cutting up your credit card faster then you believe it.

    - Tinkering, whether you like it or not, a SLi sytem will cause you to tinker, if this drives you nuts, don't bother, it's best to stay away and stay sane.

    - Airflow, best word to describe a SLi set up, FREAKING HOT. Ok, sorry, two. But yeah, it's warm and you need a good case with good air flow to keep those puppies nice and cool. Not so much a worry now though, there's lots of great cooling out in the market for cases, cpu's and gpu's.

    Some good sites to scouring for more info on SLi would be:

    - http://www.nvnews.net

    - http://www.anandtech.com

    and an artical I would suggest reading from anan woudl be: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2673&p=2

    - http://www.hexus.net

    - http://www.amdreview.com

    - http://www.slizone.com

    - http://www.tomshardware.com/

    Hope that all helps even a little, if you have more specific questions, please let me know. I've had 3 SLi systems now and I do have to say, they've all been worth the time and money.


    Important Information regarding Posting and You :)

  • SpathotanSpathotan Member Posts: 3,928
    Thanks shae. This thread had quite a few more post in it before the 16 hour rollback, and I had another one started asking about reformmating but thats a different story.

    Basically im upgrading. Ive modified my parts a million times and im still unsure. Im stuck between either this processor or this one.

    Then I think the hardest part is finding a motherboard, so far I have the AMD setup in my cart with this motherboard. As for a Mobo with the Pent. D 940, I have no idea, all the Intel boards look like trash to me.

    Im gonna go with a single 7600GT, 1 gig of dual channel corsair, 600W power supply, oh and I have a 17 inch LCD. SLi is just to much for my blood right now. And the only games I play are WoW, Oblivion, Empire at War and Heroes of Might and Magic V.


    "There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
    — Boba Fett

  • shaeshae Member Posts: 2,509
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.

    Important Information regarding Posting and You :)

  • SpathotanSpathotan Member Posts: 3,928

    Originally posted by shae
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.
    Trying to keep it under $800. Ive cut back on a few things but then I just end up adding them back, to the cart I mean, thats why I still havnt placed the order. The PS I have chosen is $75, 600W, my current PS is 400W and im not sure if it will be enough for the upgrade, and my current board is AGP and I dunno if ill need a special plug for PCI-E.

    **EDIT**

    A little revision here, I just found the box to my powersupply, Its 430W, dual 12v rails and has the special plug for PCI-E, so I should be ok. Dont imagine my setup needing more than that, the 7600GT calls for a minimum of 350W, im well over.

    "There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
    — Boba Fett

  • asupermaneasupermane Member Posts: 682

    Originally posted by Spathotan

    Originally posted by shae
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.
    Trying to keep it under $800. Ive cut back on a few things but then I just end up adding them back, to the cart I mean, thats why I still havnt placed the order. The PS I have chosen is $75, 600W, my current PS is 400W and im not sure if it will be enough for the upgrade, and my current board is AGP and I dunno if ill need a special plug for PCI-E.

    **EDIT**

    A little revision here, I just found the box to my powersupply, Its 430W, dual 12v rails and has the special plug for PCI-E, so I should be ok. Dont imagine my setup needing more than that, the 7600GT calls for a minimum of 350W, im well over.

    buy a dell 9400, i got one with the 7900 , best thing i ever did

    image

  • VixenHeartVixenHeart Member Posts: 458

    Originally posted by shae
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.
    Another female who's very tech wise.  Where have we been hiding?
  • shaeshae Member Posts: 2,509

    Originally posted by VixenHeart

    Originally posted by shae
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.
    Another female who's very tech wise.  Where have we been hiding?

    Meh... I try not to let my gender dictate my knowledge in anything, if I have an interest then I go for it whether is accepted or not.

    When your female, it just means your dismissed more often then not, which is fine, because I can sit back and laugh when I see the boys running in circles chasing after their tales. It's always worth a laugh.

    Important Information regarding Posting and You :)

  • VixenHeartVixenHeart Member Posts: 458

    Originally posted by shae

    Originally posted by VixenHeart

    Originally posted by shae
    Nice Spa, 7600GT is a very nice card, hope it all works out, looks like you putting a nice little system together there.
    Another female who's very tech wise.  Where have we been hiding?

    Meh... I try not to let my gender dictate my knowledge in anything, if I have an interest then I go for it whether is accepted or not.

    When your female, it just means your dismissed more often then not, which is fine, because I can sit back and laugh when I see the boys running in circles chasing after their tales. It's always worth a laugh.

    It's just nice to see a female who likes something most females don't... that's all.  And I couldn't agree more with you.  Always worth a good laugh. ;)
  • SpathotanSpathotan Member Posts: 3,928
    Lol, ive been owned twice  I know all the basics but I dont really understand all the fine line stuff and compability. Do either of you know if my 430W will be ok for my setup?

    "There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
    — Boba Fett

  • IncendiousIncendious Member Posts: 20

    With the help of a friend who is more tech-saavy than me, I built an SLI system about 6 months ago. I used a 430w PSU and then my motherboard and one of my 7800 GTX's promptly fried. I replaced the PSU with a 500w SLI-rated one, and everything seems to work fine (now).

    Expensive lesson learned: Use only an SLI-rated PSU with SLI cards!

    My specs:

    mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD

    PSU: seasonic 500w SLI-rated

    video cards: (2) XFX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Cards with 450MHz Core and 1250MHz Memory each

    processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core

    ram: CORSAIR XMS PRO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel

    monitor: Dell 24" LCD flatscreen


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