8800GT in SLi?

DevilBoy916 · 6 Dec 2007 at 15:02

Hiya Guys

I have read a few threads on the above subject so far, and am still undecided on whether to go for 2 8800GT's.

I have got a bit more money than expected for my new build in January, so I was thinking, why not just get to cards to future proof myself a bit more.

I have a samsung 22" monitor already, and will be getting the Q6600 processor (As is usually the case!).
Soooo. Worth getting an SLi mobo, or just go with one, and upgrade the card next year some time if I need too.

Cheers!
DB

P.S. If SLi is recommended, which MOBO is best for SLi and a Q6600?

DevilBoy916 · 6 Dec 2007 at 15:07

And I suppose a follow up question would be, as I have to wait until january until I have the cash for the build, is it worth getting a Mobo that supports PCIE2.0 and SLi.
So I am even more future proof!

lay-z-boy · 6 Dec 2007 at 15:12

DevilBoy916 said:
new build in January

If it's in Jan then wait and see what the prices are then and what is around the corner. 9 series could be close by then.

Also, stay away from nvidia boards as the chipsets are as hot as the sun and the boards in general seem to suffer a large number of problems.

If you really want an sli board then wait for 780i or 790i but x48/x38/p35 boards are in general, are rock solid.

Overslop · 6 Dec 2007 at 15:46

I have a BFG 680i mobo and it's a great overclocker and very reliable. The FSB runs at 1900Mhz

. Couldn't recommend it enough and when I had a SLi setup it worked great!

MumboJumbo · 6 Dec 2007 at 15:49

1900MHZ fbs?? thought they were 1333mhz?

Also ive been put off sli purely because of the mobo i was going to get sli but have desided to change. Also the new 9800GTX coming out in February has put me off.

I think the 9800 will blow the 8800 GT away even when in sli so id rather save like 200 quid although i was going to get GTS sli so id rather save 270 quid and just get the 9800 GTX around june instead.

pieman109 · 6 Dec 2007 at 16:38

I think he means that mobo will do 1900mhz when overclocking?

Overslop · 6 Dec 2007 at 16:40

It is 1333mhz at default but I have it permanently OC'd to 1900Mhz.

It's 100% stable at that speed.

Don't know why people would criticise that motherboard tbh (looks glaringly at lay-z-boy).

MumboJumbo · 6 Dec 2007 at 16:46

Because it has a lot of problems and has been bodged from the start. Seems like some get good boards and others have nothing but trouble with constant RMA's

Ben M · 6 Dec 2007 at 16:50

wait until february for new gen cards if your build isn't for a while

imho one gtx> gt sli

ergonomics · 6 Dec 2007 at 17:03

Ben M said:
wait until february for new gen cards if your build isn't for a while

imho one gtx> gt sli

perhaps you're right in performance, but 2 GT's will almost certainly be cheaper than a 9800gtx. i guess it would be down to preference, if 2 GT's can max crysis with framerates always over 30, is it necessary to get the GTX, and spend the extra £150 or whatever the overall cost will be.

DevilBoy916 · 6 Dec 2007 at 17:47

Looking at the proces of the GT cards, they are around the £180 mark.
So 2 cards in SLi is around £360.

I've seen some benchmarks that claim SLi only improves FPS by 5-10, so is it worth it?

The other thing is, If I go for one card, and a P35 Mobo, it is likely that the next time I upgrade, the next gen cards that use PCIE2.0 will be out, so i'll have to do a complete overhaul anyway!

So I suppose, if I can afford it, Duel GT's will give me the power I need for quite some time, and then I can upgrade when I need to with an overhaul at some point in the future.

UNLESS. I get a GTX card, and an SLi mobo, and buy another GTX when prices go down next year sometime...

Choices choices.

ergonomics · 6 Dec 2007 at 17:51

depends entirely on the game. a game like enemy territory quake wars can see an 80% gain with sli, whereas some dont see as much, maybe 40-50%. i can say i definately see an improvement in crysis with sli. one overclocked GT @16x10 stays around 25+ fps most of the time, sometimes dropping a bit lower in a tight scene, with 2 overclocked GT's it rarely goes below 30-35fps, averaging around 40, which i think is great.

Ben M · 6 Dec 2007 at 17:56

DevilBoy916 said:
UNLESS. I get a GTS card, and an SLi mobo, and buy another GTS when prices go down next year sometime...

Choices choices.

MumboJumbo · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:12

DevilBoy916 said:
Looking at the proces of the GT cards, they are around the £180 mark.
So 2 cards in SLi is around £360.

I've seen some benchmarks that claim SLi only improves FPS by 5-10, so is it worth it?

The other thing is, If I go for one card, and a P35 Mobo, it is likely that the next time I upgrade, the next gen cards that use PCIE2.0 will be out, so i'll have to do a complete overhaul anyway!

So I suppose, if I can afford it, Duel GT's will give me the power I need for quite some time, and then I can upgrade when I need to with an overhaul at some point in the future.

UNLESS. I get a GTX card, and an SLi mobo, and buy another GTX when prices go down next year sometime...

Choices choices.

Sli gives an average of around 45% but on quite a few games your looking at 60-85% which is well worth it. id of gone sli if it wernnt for the 680is being crappy.

The averages are brought down by the games which to be honest dont really need it in the first place and therefore dont show much of an improvement.

Overslop · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:35

8igdave said:
Because it has a lot of problems and has been bodged from the start. Seems like some get good boards and others have nothing but trouble with constant RMA's

Really? I'm surprised to hear that. Not that I've really looked into it at all, just that mine performs so well and I love the features. Oh well, guess I just got lucky then!

Rroff · 6 Dec 2007 at 18:56

I'd say you got lucky (doubley so) as the 680i boards when stable have great features and are very fast...

However I've been through 3 of them myself, and all 3 were very unstable - the biggest problem being the northbridge which wouldn't run stable on too low a voltage, but push up the voltage and it would become unstable because it was too hot - I eventually ripped out the default cooling and put in a big heatsink and 60mm delta and got it stable with the CPU at 3.6 for a couple of months before it decided to fry itself...

Changed to a P35 board and so far I've been very happy with it - 2000MHz FSB totally stable is a breeze and I've got the memory up to some crazy speeds.

http://aten-hosted.com/images/spi3.jpg
http://aten-hosted.com/images/3500spi.jpg

both totally stable.

ssmacc · 6 Dec 2007 at 19:42

what about SLI and 650 boards? (sorry to jump in on the post but i might GT SLI or new GTS...)

willhub · 6 Dec 2007 at 20:48

ssmacc said:
what about SLI and 650 boards? (sorry to jump in on the post but i might GT SLI or new GTS...)

I dont think you should upgrade that GTS at the moment, its only 1 month or so untill the 9800's unless thats feb then its 2 months, I think you should wait.

ssmacc · 6 Dec 2007 at 21:26

willhub said:
I dont think you should upgrade that GTS at the moment, its only 1 month or so untill the 9800's unless thats feb then its 2 months, I think you should wait.

If the 9*** is a month away i'd wait, but A) do we know that and more importantly b) I've just sold the GTS 640!

to sli or not...

Big.Wayne · 6 Dec 2007 at 21:45

DevilBoy916 said:
The other thing is, If I go for one card, and a P35 Mobo, it is likely that the next time I upgrade, the next gen cards that use PCIE2.0 will be out, so i'll have to do a complete overhaul anyway!

The 'Next Gen' PCI2.0 cards are out? thats the 8800GT but they do work in older PCI-E x16 slots so no worries there!