noob sli question about GTX 280..

[Keltik THC]

im going to order another GTX 280 although OCuk dont stock them anymore, after all that waiting

im a total noob to Sli, just wondered if someone could help..

some people have told me that i can use any GTX 280 at all, as long as its a GTX 280 and it will work with my POV... i thought i would have to have identical cards.

so anwyay, i cant find identical cards but i can find almost every other GTX 280 that isnt POV...

so can someone confirm if i can buy any GTX 280 and put it in with the standard POV?

my POV is just standard,...

Video Memory : 1024 MB
Core Clock : 602 Mhz
Memory Clock : 2214 Mhz
Shader clock : 1296 Mhz
Memory Speed : 0.8 ns GDDR 3
Memory Bus : 512 bit
RAMDAC : Dual 400 Mhz
Stream processors : 240


im pretty sure the Gainward is exactly the same, which i can get... but if i wanted would say the EVGA SSC Superclocked edition work?

648 MHz GPU
240 Processing Cores
400 MHz RAMDAC

Memory
1024 MB, 512 bit DDR3
2322 MHz (effective)
1448. GB/s Memory Bandwidth

??

thanks for any input, going to order it as soon as im sure what will work.

 

[setter]

I think you should be fine with any gtx, if one card is slightly higher clocked, it will default to the speed of the slower card in sli.

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Yes, any brand of 280 will do, just put the faster one in the Primary slot, as then the second card will clock up (if SLi still does that).

 

[Keltik THC]

Yes, any brand of 280 will do, just put the faster one in the Primary slot, as then the second card will clock up (if SLi still does that).

seriously? so the faster the card i buy, as long as its in the top slot will automatically overclock the slower card?

its a shame i missed OCuks sale last week, totally gutted... but i cant wait any longer, im going to have to give it a try.

edit: so instead of going for one of the EVGA superclocked editions would it be better to get another 2x XFX 280s for Tri Sli? wouldnt be much difference in price from what i can find between the top end EVGAs and 2x XFXs. would 3 GTX 280s fit in the P6t? would 750w be enough for Tri-Sli?

 

[littlepuppy]

If you do want a POV im sure you could find one one a certain auction site for not too much, I just sold one, so could have helped u out otherwise I know what its like though, it is nice to have identical cards in the rig..

 

[littlepuppy]

PS keep your eye on b grade, and maybe ring ocuk and ask to be let know if a POV comes back in?

 

[littlepuppy]

Found these 2 at the mo.. Good prices

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-025-GW

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-022-EA

 

[Keltik THC]

Found these 2 at the mo.. Good prices

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-025-GW

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-022-EA

no way, i checked the b grade the other day and couldnt spot anything... thanks man.

EDIT: im pretty sure the p6t deluxe only allows normal sli and not tri... i guess that will save me some cash.... i guess its the EVGA superclocked.. C'est la vie

 

[Keltik THC]

thanks littlepuppy, finally ordered the EVGA superclocked from OCuk... first B grade item ive ever ordered, i trust OCuk it will be fine though... i was going to order a new chair because my back is dying, but i guess it will have to wait another month!

cant wait to get the EVGA GTX 280 on thursday!

 

[MR.B]

MASSIVE waste of money buying the EVGA superclocked. I've had two 280's in the past and both overclocked considerably more than that EVGA, they were the cheapest 280's i could find aswell. Dont even think i've ever seen anyone not be able to clock any 280 higher on the core than that EVGA.
Why spend over £50+ more when it takes literally 1 minute to overclock a 280 to a higher speed?

Also for the price your paying for a B grade 280, you could get a 285. I know you're not looking for one but just pointing that out.

 

[Keltik THC]

MASSIVE waste of money buying the EVGA superclocked. I've had two 280's in the past and both overclocked considerably more than that EVGA, they were the cheapest 280's i could find aswell. Dont even think i've ever seen anyone not be able to clock any 280 higher on the core than that EVGA.
Why spend over £50+ more when it takes literally 1 minute to overclock a 280 to a higher speed?

Also for the price your paying for a B grade 280, you could get a 285. I know you're not looking for one but just pointing that out.

the b grade EVGA price wasnt much different from standard 280.... plus i like EVGA and it coems with 10 year warranty... i know i could get a 285, i could afford 295 if i wanted to but i already have a 280 and seems a bit pointless buying a 285 or 295 just to discard a relativley new 280 that i already have... under £300 for EVGA 280? i think thats fine.

 

[Keltik THC]

oh well, Overclockers just phoned to say that they cant find the EVGA in the warehouse... so i swapped it for the only other available GTX 280 which was the B grade Gainward... shaved £60 off the price and i suppose as Mr.B says i can just OC it myself... kind of miss the 10 year warranty though, but i'll probably end up buying some Dx11 cards in the next 2 years anyway.

i suppose theirs worse things in life than being forced into downgrading from an EVGA to Gainward for my Sli config... my lust for EVGA will have to wait a bit longer i guess.... im still cursing the fact i missed the big OCuk sell off last week, i could have got the same card brand new for about the same price... but i guess it will have been tested by the trustworthy OCuk staff so will be just as good as the brand new version... i hope...