Question about SLIing video cards

[Aardor]

I currently have a EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card. Recently I have been considering SLIing for a performance boost in AOC/other games (1920x1200 really kills your card with graphics settings on high. The problem is, as you can see if you click the link, that card is discontinued. I can't find one much cheaper than $400, which is way more than it's worth.

So my question is: Could I use a different 8800GTX, either different brand, or newer model from EVGA? What about an 8800GTX OC? I have tried to google this, but all I can find is people trying to sell me video cards that can be SLIed. Right now it looks more cost effective to get 2 9800's of some sort and SLI them, or wait till the new cards come out in June (ebaying my current card, either way).

[Aardor]

Huh, well, I apparently have just failed to use google properly on this issue. Just googled "sli different video cards" and found http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c3 which answers all my questions.

[Aardor]

Err..wow. It is very very very stupid that you can't SLI and run multiple monitors, without using a 3rd graphics card and doing some strange enabeling/disabling.

see here: http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=14989

[Kluden]

You got your answer, but for those that don't want to click the link: Yes you can SLI different VENDORS, BUT, the clock speeds will run at the lower speed cards settings.

Also, you just need to make sure they all run on the same core. 8800GTX is the Nvidia G80...so all G80's can SLI fine...you just might have some clock frequency for the GPU/shaders/Memory that will be mucked up...possibly.

I believe I saw a Zotac 8800gtx on sale for $235 last week...might have been Fry's or Newegg. Can't remember.

[Aardor]

Couldn't find the zotac that cheap, probably sold out or deal ended.

I don't know, I have been using 2 monitors for 8+ years at this point, so there is no way I can live without them. I am not sure I want to go through the hassle/extra money of getting a 3rd video card, in addition to the cost of the SLIed card, for a 20-30% performance boost, at best.

[Kluden]

Well, then, My suggestion to you would be to get $500 together and on June 18th, buy the new Nvidia chip. If I remember correctly, your 8800GTX has 768mb of mem on a 384 bit address board, with 116 shader proc units.

The 280GTX, GT280, or whatever the fuck nvidia is calling it, is *supposedly* going to have 200+ shader proc units (240 is the number expected), 512 bit address board, 1gb of ram.

Basically, twice the card you already have, plus you don't have to worry about silly multi monitor issues with a single card.

Then sell your 8800GTX for $200.

[Aardor]

Yeah, that looks like the best option...the new card will undoubtedly out perform the SLIed 8800gtx's, and the cost won't be much more considering it's $330 for a decent 8800gtx (people seem to hate the Zotac) + $80ish for a pci video card, and I would have to cut out my sound card and go with onboard, as well as deal with issues running the 3 cards causes (if any).

[Aardor]

If you happen to see any confirmed specs/prices, let me know. I know ati is releasing a card the same day, hopefully sites will be able to benchmark the cards before they come out.

[Kluden]

I think the rumored specs are fairly accurate for what we will see. Who knows who's card will be faster, but my money is on Nvidia's chip based on the rumored specs.

Of course, the price premium will be there for this. I personally believe we are about to see the next 8800GTX...that graphics card that is so monstrously powerful, its life cycle is 1.5 years...which is insane in the GPU market. Rumor is that the ATI 4870 will etail for $229 (with initial price hike, I'm sure)...that should tell you something right there.

edit: ATI 4870 Release Date: June 16th
Nvidia GT200 Release Date: June 18th


I imagine you will see the concrete specs of each card the first week of June, since that is when the cards will debut at Computex in Taipei(June 3rd - 7th)

[Winnow]

9900's are coming out relatively soon and are supposed to be double the speed of the 9800's so it should be a significant upgrade unlike the 8800-->9800 almost lateral type move.

I can't run SLI due to working three monitors but I plan to use a 9900 as my main card and then either the 9600GT or 7800GT powering the third monitor. I can't believe how fast the 46" became my primary monitor. It's a little impractical for most as you have to set ~ 4 feet away. My current setup looks something like this:



The Keyboard/Mouse table/desk is on rollers and can slide under the table holding the two 24" monitors so I can use those directly in front of me if needed.

Anyway, if using multiple monitors, I'd skip the SLi and go with the most powerful card and then use your old card (dual video in non Sli Mode)if you get a third monitor.

[Aardor]

Winnow, they're actually dropping that naming convention, and the new cards will be 280GTX or 260GTX (I think).

Anyway, if using multiple monitors, I'd skip the SLi and go with the most powerful card and then use your old card (dual video in non Sli Mode)if you get a third monitor.

Yeah, that's what I did right when the 8800GTX came out. I will probably ebay the old card (i assume it would sell for around $200, since they're $300 on retail sites), since using it to power a 3rd monitor would be a bit of overkill.

I just think it's absolutely ludicrous that you can't use dual monitors with SLI mode. Crossfire seems to work fine with dual monitors, and performs better than SLI (meaning that the addition of a crossfire card is a bigger performance increase than the addition of a sli card). Nvidia should have fixed this issue years ago.

[Kluden]

Nvidia looks at SLI more for gaming, on a single large monitor at that. ATI decided, that since their cards are not as fast perhaps, that they will make xfire more expandable, and *attempt* to make better drivers. IMHO, ATI has always had the more stable drivers, especially when it comes to/came to multicard setups.

Yeah, Nvidia is resetting their # system. Get ready to be confused! GT280, 280GTX, GTX280...who the F knows. All I know is, the core for the new card is G200. Not sure how it went from G92b to G200...Also, don't be fooled by the 9800GT coming out...its the same 8800GT just renamed, and may be with an updated G92b chip instead of a G92.

edit: some more pricing details have come out: 4870XT $349 (Retail stores) 4850 $249. These better be pretty damn fast for that much of a price tag increase over the 3000 series. if these are the actual MSRP's, its just going to drive the price of the new nvidia card up up up

[Aardor]

Well the 8800GTX was $650 the first few months it was out, so I wouldn't be surprised if the GTX280 was priced similarly right when it came out. Here's an article that was posted on engadget after I asked all these questions yesterday: http://www.dailytech.com/Nextgen%20NVID ... e11842.htm .

Hopefully they send out test cards after the tech show at the beginning of June so we can compare the cards.

[Kluden]

GTX260 might be the card to own, especially if it does tri sli. It looks like it will be based on the old 8800GTX circuit board too, which should cut down on costs of the GTX 260. The 280 is all new though, so no cost savings there. Plus, with a gimped core, there is always the chance of softmodding/hardmodding to unlock all the unified shaders.

[Aardor]

Well, the 280 and 260 are out, and there are tons of benchmarks. Seems like at high resolutions, with high AA and AF, the GTX 280 has trouble keeping up with SLIed cards (either real SLI or a GX2 type card). There is a good bit of hate about this, but really, it only makes sense given how many more pixels are needed to be displayed at 2560x* or 1920x*.

Going to wait for the 4870/4850 reviews, but I think my conclusion will be to wait for the 4870x2, though the GTX 280 did put up impressive FPS with maxed AoC settings at 1920x1200, according to the [H]ard review.

[Kluden]

I've been reading them all morning as well. Its basically a tad bit better than a 9800GX2 with max rez options and larger screen resolutions.

You can definitely count on some increases in performance with some driver maturity, but not an insane amount. If I were buying today, I would opt for 260, no doubt, and SLI that later down the road. $650 is way too much for the 280.

Overall, definitely a disappointment for me, as I was hoping for the numbers the 280 gets out of the 260. Oh well for nvidia. With the prices, and if the benchies turn out to prove it, and the 4850 is about as fast as a 9800GTX, then I'll be crossfiring two of those.

[Aardor]

I wish my SLI motherboard supported crossfire. I suppose I could get a new motherboard, but then I would have to reOC my processor, which is a pain in the ass.

[Kluden]

I prefer to just buy the fastest card, and not SLI or xfire, I always considered it a large pain in the ass.

But when I went to the core 2 duo CPU, I bought an intel 975x motherboard...so I have the option to go xfire at two x8 lanes, pciexpress 1.0...and with the price of ATI cards now a days, and them stating flat out that "high end ATI is xfire, no more single card high end", well, the choice is pretty easy now that their 4850 is going to be less than $200 once prices settle down.

Amazon, Fry's, and buy.com all had the 4850 listed at $199 before they took the preorder offline. So hopefully, that translates into Newegg offering the 4850 for $175 or so...again, after the initial rush settles down.

[Aardor]

Which board do you use? Do you OC at all? I might just pick one up.

[Kluden]

I have an Intel D975XBX2...or as they call it, BadAxe2. It is THIS BOARD here at Newegg. Amazingly, they still sell it, when it in stock, for way more than its worth...but people still buy it. No official 1333mhz FSB support though, even with it able to easily do 1600FSB OC.

Its dated now by the X38 and X48 board offerings, and I would go with one of those in DDR2 if I were replacing, but I'm not.

It overclocks fairly easy. My ram doesn't like to OC that much, so I have to play with the board strap and ratios to make sure the ram never clocks over 800mhz, or it will crash my system.

Right now, I run an E6600 at a very calm 3.0ghz. I have yet to be processor bound, so I have no use for it to be faster...yet.

[miir]

I my multi monitor 3870 crossfire setup.

[Aardor]

I my multi monitor 3870 crossfire setup.

If the NDA breaking benchmarks from Germany are true, I will probably end up getting a 4850 in crossfire (blah, have to get a new motherboard), since 2 x 4850's out perform the GTX 280. Anyone have thoughts on an x38 vs an x48? x48 has more options for ram/voltage for overclocking, but it sounds negligible. Probably going with DFI for them, since they overclock well, and are cheaper.

[miir]

To be honest, I don't really pay that much attention to the bleeding edge video card scene.
I figure these cards will do me just fine for the next 12-18 months.
Nvidia will probably be releasing thier 780 GTX cards at that time.

[Aardor]

To be honest, I don't really pay that much attention to the bleeding edge video card scene.
I figure these cards will do me just fine for the next 12-18 months.
Nvidia will probably be releasing thier 780 GTX cards at that time.

Definitely. I am upgrading my 8800GTX for more eye candy in AOC at 1920x1200, but do not plan to upgrade for awhile after that. I may still wait for the 4870x2, or get a 4870 now and CF it later.

ATI should have dropped their NDA a week early so benchmarks could be released. With the massive disappointment of the GTX 280 release, this would be a perfect time to build up hype.

[Kluden]

Well, ATI is usually not this quiet...and when they are, it has been good. ATI was loud and stupid with PR about the 2900XT...and it was a flop. I bought a 2900pro and bios flashed it to xt...but the card only cost me like $140...which at the time, was retarded cheap for that card...and believe me, its plenty fast and runs conan just fine at 1680x10xx, even with some detail settings turned on, and above average distances.

Either way...ati is very quiet, which is good, they are holding the reviews because in the past ATI was always accused of being cock blockers for "soft launching" every card they ever made. As in, they would let the reviews out, but the cards would not be available at the time of the reviews. So, no matter how good or bad the 4000 series may or may not be, they won't let us officially know until you can actually buy the things. I know the review cards of the 4850 went out more than a month ago to the major sites...so they have all probably had a harder time keeping their mouths shut since they have been sitting on the cards for so long now.

Another good sign for ATI is that the reviews for the 280 gtx are all kind of "blah". It is my opinion that the reviewers all seem so "blah" about the 280gtx because they have the 4000 series cards as well...and obviously already know the numbers. So, the reason none of them are defending the 280gtx, is because they are aware that for much less money, you can get the same performance, or more, out of ati.