Dual Video Cards

[tmx]

^ i like to know which PSU you used, a very important factor for sli.

[agent0002]

INCREDIBLY SORRY!

 

cannot believe i didn't realize how old this was. extremely embarassing

 

 

 

someone awhile back mentioned diretx10 cards

 

if you can afford one, get it. there's only 1 model of directx 10 cards that currently are out, the nvidia 8800 series. a single one crushes EVERY game that is currently out. even oblivion. 2 7900's in SLI aren't quite as good as one 8800gtx. the only thing you have to worry about is your CPU and PSU (and maybe your wallet) . you need a monster of a PSU to run just 1 of them. recommended 750 watts for single card setup. and unless you have a core 2 duo, your CPU will be a bottleneck, guaranteed. if you've got the above mentioned parts, get an 8800 if you can. if not, then SLI would be a good choice.

 

some people kinda question how much performance gain you get from using 2 cards over 1. the gain ranges anywhere from 60% to 100% gain. definitely worth using.

 

one more card i want to mention is the 7950gtx (think that was it). it is 2 7900's that fit into 1 PCI-E slot, you don't even need an SLI motherboard to use it. if your motherboard has 1 PCI express slot, you can use it. and second to the 8800's, it is the best single slot card that you can get.

 

regarding vista's price: i believe it will be 200$ for the business version. I think the business version is equivalent to XP Pro. (i happen to have the vista business version ISO image on a hard drive and can burn as many DVD's of it as i want for free. :P)

 

regarding the differences between SLI and crossfire, crossfire is much more flexible then SLI. in SLI, you have to use the same brand and same type of card. for example, you have to have two sapphire 7900gt's, you cannot mix a *powercolor 7900gt and a *sapphire 7900gt. actually they might have fixed this and you can cross manufacturers now. i still wouldn't take any chances. also, if you have an 7900gt, you cannot mix it with a 7900gtx. in SLI you connect the cards by a small "bridge" inside your case.

 

in crossfire, you can combine two cards of any type, as long as they are in the same family. for example, you can use any x1600 with any other x1600. like a powercolor x1600xt can pair up with a sapphire x1600 PRO. the only bad thing about this is that is one card has 512mb of memory, and the other has 256mb of memory, the card with 512mb will "shut down" 256mb of its memory to match the other cards. the same goes for pixel pipelines and i think core and memory clocks. in crossfire (except for x1950, x1600, and x1300) you connect the cards using external cables, which some people find ugly or stupid.

 

finally, NForce motherboards, which are the primary SLI motherboards, are pretty much famous for having sweet chipsets. like their onboard sound is better the most sound cards. Crossfire motherboards, however, leave alot to be desired i think. also, i don't know if there is core 2 duo support for any crossfire chipset. i think the the NForce sli 610i or something like that has core 2 duo support.

 

*: i do not know if sapphire or powercolor manufacturers these cards. i am just using their name as an example.

[Stampede]

This is an old thread, but I think I will let this post slide. I doubt however that the original post cares much anymore. Be sure to check the date of threads before posting in them.

 

Thanks!