8800 GTX IN SLI

[KOONSKAU]

hi guys bought some parts for three pcs yesterday from overclockers and between us we had a difference of opinion and i hope you guys can help

I currently believe that an intel quad core 6600 is best suited to running in an intel chipset motherboard and then running a single 8800gtx because you cant run sli on intel chipsets (nvidia wont let us play )

one of the guys i was with bought a quad core 6600 and an asus nvidia chipset mother board. our argument was that unless you are going to get the second 8800 gtx card and run them now then why bother getting nvidia chipset

what would you guys have done should he have got the other card ? he had the money with him . Is anybody running 8800 gtx in sli and think its fantastic / not worth the extra money

Is he as we were calling him a muppet ? thinking he has upgradeability to sli and probably never will

 

[Sukh]

The reason buy sli capable boards is that in the future the price of high end cards will fall, look at the prices of the GTX now compared to launch. So when the new generation comes out you can add a second card and keep up a bit, and the driver issues should be sorted so you should get a decent performance boost

Saying that, I have had a crossfire capable board and didn't add a second card, just upgraded and bought a 8800gt

 

[PhillyDee]

I see what you are saying about the chipset, but then again, at least he has the option to go SLI if he ever wants to. If you have similar systems on the quads, how about you both benchmark them? And then hp you are correct

 

[Rroff]

You'd be crazy to buy an nVidia chipset board unless you were certain you were going to go SLI... and buying right now its madness to buy 2x 8800GTX when you can get a 9800GX2 and stick with an intel board...

The only nVidia 6 series chipset board that was every any good is the Gigabyte N650i DS4/DS4L (once you put a fan on the NB) for 8800 series cards the dual x8 only instead of x16 in SLI mode does not hold you back - but the support for quad core 45nm CPUs is iffy.

I haven't tested the 7 series yet but reports aren't positive generally...

 

[Tee Hee Johnson]

You'd be crazy to buy an nVidia chipset board unless you were certain you were going to go SLI... and buying right now its madness to buy 2x 8800GTX when you can get a 9800GX2 and stick with an intel board...

The only nVidia 6 series chipset board that was every any good is the Gigabyte N650i DS4/DS4L (once you put a fan on the NB) for 8800 series cards the dual x8 only instead of x16 in SLI mode does not hold you back - but the support for quad core 45nm CPUs is iffy.

I haven't tested the 7 series yet but reports aren't positive generally...

I read a review at pcper yesterday, the 790 i think...? Gave some VERY impressive benchmarks, the boards memory controller was a lot better than intels!

 

[grs_link]

No I have to agree with Koon.. unless u indeed have the second gfx.. there isn't much point on getting an sli mobo.

I am sticking with a cheap solution with a single pci-e lane (abit ip35-e)

When i'll have the money for the second gfx then i'll go for an sli mobo... where prices will have fallen for them as well

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Doesn't have to go SLi, he can get whatever mobo he wants, he's not limited in any way, i had a Giga. DS4 crossfire board, and i had an 8800 GT in it.

 

[Rroff]

I read a review at pcper yesterday, the 790 i think...? Gave some VERY impressive benchmarks, the boards memory controller was a lot better than intels!

was thinking of 780/750 specifically as I've not seen much about the 790 yet... and tbh reviews are one thing with these boards - actually using them 24x7 is another - the 6 series give up very impressive benchmarks and are generally short term stable - but long term running they are horrendous (and review sample boards don't generally turn up DOA).

Memory bandwidth/latency doesn't really count for much these days - atleast not with current generation intel hardware.