MoBo with PCIe 16x and 8x run SLI???

leopardforest

leopardforest

New Member
I am researching for my first build (I am going to be converting from a Mac) and I have been looking at all the options with video cards and I am wondering what the requirements for running two video cards in tandem (SLI) are?

I need a mobo with 2 PCIe 16x slots right? Or can i get away with one of them being 8x?

This is a mobo I was looking at

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

Also is SLI really that much better than buying another video card or does it just make it easier to make your current system faster?

Thank!
 
Chipsets, Nvidia/SLI and AMD/ATI is Crossfire. Some of Intels newer chipsets for the i7 can run either SLI or crossfire. But other than those chipsets Nvidia has SLI Chipsets and AMD/ATI has Crossfire Chipsets.
 
The computer that I plan on building will be my work horse as I do a lot of Photoshop and plan to run engineering CAD programs, and gaming. Since gaming is not on the top of my list it sounds like I dont really need to worry about using SLI or crossfire?

The mobo that i mentioned above has both 2 16x slots but only one runs at 8x. So if i had a gpu in the 16x what would i use the other for? besides crossfire.
 
To answer your original question, yes it would run 2 graphics cards. If you buy one graphics card, you put it in the x16 slot. If you buy two, then one goes in each, and the x16 dumbs down to x8. If you only buy one card, the other PCI-E x8 slot goes unused.
 
correct, you cannot use two Nvidia cards in that motherboard. what is your budget for video cards?
 
I was looking to spend under $200. I was looking at the EVGA 9800 GTX+ for about 150ish from newegg. Is this a good gpu? (I have an ibook g4, so anything will be better than what I have now). Any recommendations? Should I choose ati vs nvidia?

As i said before this will be my first build and it wont be till at the earliest July (hopefully prices will drop)
 
I dont really know much about ati. Are the memory and core clock speeds calculated differently than with nvidia?

And what exactly are Stream Processors??

Because the 9800gtx+
Memory:2200MHz
Core:738MHz
Stream Processors: 128

Then 4870
Memory: 900MHz
Core: 750MHz
Stream Processors:800

What exactly should I be paying attention to when looking at these numbers? Is there a multiplier in what makes the asti card better? Is it because the ati card has 800 stream processors where as the nvidia only has 128??

Thanks for you help!
 
ATI and Nvidia use stream processors in a different way. Plus the ATI cards memory is 900/1800, Nivida one is 1100/2200. But the 4870 is a better/faster card. A 4850 and a 9800GTX+ are pretty much equal.
 
leopardforest said:
900/1800, What is the 1800?

So ati vs nvidia? Pros, Cons? I have heard that the drivers for ati are not very good?
Click to expand...

The drivers are a little tricky on Vista 64 bit i've heard, but if you go online and get the Catalyst 9.2 you likely won't have any problems.

ATI right now has the lead, their 4850's are great price/performance cards, most my games are at 1680x1050, maxed out, and games that've been made within the last year and are more intense, i still get it to high settings. my 4850 overclocks to 750/1115 with the stock single slot cooler. the 4870 will be a great card, especially at the price mentioned above. i'd suggest a dual slot cooler regardless of the card, 4850 or 4870.
 
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