• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Considering SLI- advice wanted over compatability

Gideon Lorr

Gideon Lorr

Gideon Lorr

Associate
Joined
2 Feb 2008
Posts
777
Currently gaming at 1680x1050, with a 8800gt. When I got my current system, I won't lie that I slightly regret getting over hyped and paying extra for the motherboard I have, which is a EVA 780i sli board. Not that I've had any issues part from the noisy NB cooler, but I've not made use of the sli function yet.

I've been looking around to source a second card, however, I can't find one of mine (or it's second revision with a new cooler):

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=2435

Now I know that in general, it is possible to use cards made by different manufacturers in an sli board, providing they have the same clocks and so on- would the card I have being on a different pcb board/layout etc to other 8800gt's make it incompatible with a standard 8800gt? Or is it a case of simply asthetics/there to fit the cooler used?
 
Last edited:
AFAIK they need to have the same BIOS. I'm not sure on the status of that card's BIOS; it may be custom, it may not be.
 
Its an epidemic this SLi gaming at low res. :D

Ive got it, its the new craze isn't it, see who gets SLi for the lowest res. :p
 
Last edited:
LoadsaMoney said:
Its an epidemic this SLi gaming at low res. :D

Ive got it, its the new craze isn't it, see who gets SLi for the lowest res. :p
Click to expand...

I used a 9800GX2 at 1680x1050 which is essentially 8800GT it was all it was good for if you remember I had to upgrade for anything higher..
 
Ok, for SLI you need a card with 2 idetical cores, ie an 8800GT can only be paired with anothr 8800GT. The brand is irrellivenat.

For instance im running SLI using an EVGA 8800GTX ACS3 KO Superclocked card running at 626/2000 and a standard Point of View 8800GTX with 575/1800 clocks and it works great. The POV card runs at the same speed s the EVGA no problem at all.
 
Yeah pretty much any 8800GT will do - you don't need to worry about manufacturer, BIOS, etc. and for the most part clock speeds aren't a worry as generally even the most generic bog standard card will do the same conservative overclock as any factory overclocked model.

8800GT SLI is worth doing on any res over and including 1280x1024, tho a single 8800GT will give playable fps in most things at those kinda resolutions.
 
Rroff said:
Yeah pretty much any 8800GT will do - you don't need to worry about manufacturer, BIOS, etc. and for the most part clock speeds aren't a worry as generally even the most generic bog standard card will do the same conservative overclock as any factory overclocked model.

8800GT SLI is worth doing on any res over and including 1280x1024, tho a single 8800GT will give playable fps in most things at those kinda resolutions.
Click to expand...

Hmm, doesn't sound like getting hold of another card will be much of an issue then, thanks for the information.

Are there any recent sets of benchmarks for sli'd 8800gt's, which take into account new drivers?
 
Get a good SLI board and two good cards, and you'll be laughing for ages. Tri-SLI/Quad-SLI are a waste as the gains over dual arent worth it. 8800GT cant Tri-SLI, just saying for reference :)
 
MooMoo444 said:
Get a good SLI board and two good cards, and you'll be laughing for ages. Tri-SLI/Quad-SLI are a waste as the gains over dual arent worth it. 8800GT cant Tri-SLI, just saying for reference :)
Click to expand...

Not sure what would happen if you flashed it with a modified 9800GT BIOS - you wouldn't be able to hardware bridge it physically so could be a minor performance drop but might let you software bridge them in tri-SLI :D
 
I've 8800GT's in SLI since the launch of the 9800GX2 last year, purely down to economics, 9800gx2 at launch €500, 8800GT 512mb x 2 = €300, I was having some of that!

I'd go for it OP, for what, maybe £80 to get the 8800GT you're almost on a par with the performance of a GTX 260. Unless you have a 8800gt with 256mb memory in which case, get rid!


LoadsaMoney said:
Its an epidemic this SLi gaming at low res. :D

Ive got it, its the new craze isn't it, see who gets SLi for the lowest res. :p
Click to expand...
 
The cards don't need the same manufacturer, BIOS nor do they even need the same clockspeeds.

As long as they are from the same family i.e GTX 280 + GTX 280, it does not matter if one card is overclocked, superclocked, XXX or whatever. Just make sure the slowest card runs in the PCIe1 slot (usually closest to CPU) and it's all good.
 
w3bbo said:
The cards don't need the same manufacturer, BIOS nor do they even need the same clockspeeds.

As long as they are from the same family i.e GTX 280 + GTX 280, it does not matter if one card is overclocked, superclocked, XXX or whatever. Just make sure the slowest card runs in the PCIe1 slot (usually closest to CPU) and it's all good.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for clarifying that :)
 
w3bbo said:
The cards don't need the same manufacturer, BIOS nor do they even need the same clockspeeds.

As long as they are from the same family i.e GTX 280 + GTX 280, it does not matter if one card is overclocked, superclocked, XXX or whatever. Just make sure the slowest card runs in the PCIe1 slot (usually closest to CPU) and it's all good.
Click to expand...

Why would you put the slower card in the top bracket, most factory overclocks are tiny and I dare say any card could do it?
 
The reason I said put the slowest card in the top slots as putting the faster card uppermost can causes issues should the slower card not being able to match the faster one.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom