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What do I need to run 2 9800 GTXs in SLI?

kissenger

kissenger

kissenger

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10 Apr 2008
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Can anyone tell me the answer?

I'm building a PC and I plan on running one Gx2 for now, but it would be nice to have the option to SLI at some point down the road.

I figured I'd need a decent power supply at 750W or higher, but I guess I'll also need a pretty slick mobo. Will this one do the trick:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-235-AS

On top of that I suppose I'd also need some extra cooling. It all sounds very expensive.

Maybe I'll be better off not bothering to make my machine SLI-able and saving some money by getting a slightly cheaper PSU, mobo, cooling system, etc?
 
if you want to run SLi, you need an nForce series chipset either 6series or 7 series.

the best is the 790i but thats DDR3 only, 780i is a good alternative that uses DDR2.
 
well u cant run two 9800gts as its not sli board u can run one 9800gtx in it do if u want to run two i suggest 780 board with two x16 pcie2 lanes if they make such ones. and they quite expensive around 180£~230£.

why not buy a decent mob and other parts and have one graphics card and buy second one later when u have some more cash
 
Upgrading my mobo so that I can run 2 9800GX2s would add about £100 to my budget. It doesn't seem worth it. I guess I'll just stick with the P35.
 
It will, but it will run one at 16x in the first pci-e slot and the other second pci-e slot will only run at 8x so the gains will be limited. (in other words, one card will run at full speed whilst the other will be crippled to half).

You need either a 680 or preferably a 780 chipset to run sli with two 16x pci-e slots. (Full speed on both).
 
I just checked wikipedia on the 750i. This is what it states:

nForce 750i

* Codenamed C72P
* Addition of the nForce 200 PCI-E bridge (previously codenamed BR-04)
o Connected to the northbridge via a 4.5 Gbit/s proprietary bus
o Support for PCI-E 2.0 [1]
* SLI
o Slot 1: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce 200
o Slot 2: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x8 slot from nForce 200
* Supports a maximum of DDR2-800 dual-channel memory
* Support 1333 MHz FSB

I guess that means it won't SLI properly..
 
kissenger said:
I'm having a hard time with this: can anyone tell me what is the cheapest mobo which could run 2 9800GX2s, each at x16 PCI-E 2.0?
Click to expand...

If you are mad enough to buy 2x GX2 (that are based on 2 year old tech and a waste of time IMO) then at least buy a good Mobo, not the budget range.

You can get full 2x 16 on 680 and 780, I have owned both and would advise not to get them.

Buy 1x GPU and a 790 and some DDR3 if you really must blow a Wad of Dough (least it will last you years).

I dont know what you intend to do, must want to game on 2x 30" screens at 2560 x 1600 to need 2x GX2 GPU's, buy 1 and upgrade to another later or get 2 next Gens when they arrive.
 
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I only plan on buying one, but I just want the option to upgrade down the line. Also, if PCI-E 2.0 has any benefits, I want to make the most of that aswell (I figure there's no point getting a GX2 if you are limited by having PCI-E 1.1 bandwith).
 
kissenger said:
I only plan on buying one, but I just want the option to upgrade down the line. Also, if PCI-E 2.0 has any benefits, I want to make the most of that aswell (I figure there's no point getting a GX2 if you are limited by having PCI-E 1.1 bandwith).
Click to expand...

It's still pointles... by the time you need another GX2 there will be a single card out that whups both of them together. Not to mention the GX2 Quad SLI is complete and utter tosh. I sometimes wish SLI had never been invented... the amount of noobs who must ***** serious money on it is frightening... :(

Stick with the best single card you can afford.
 
Yes you are right, the cheapest one is this: -


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-261-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1057

Wish people would A; read posts fully before posting and B; Know what they are talking about before offering advice!

Think this is the best option for cutting costs m8, DDR2 plus three pciE 16x slots so maybe you can Tri - SLI eventually ;)

Good luck man :D

*EDIT*

But I have to agree with Richdog on this, SLI is in my opinion a waste of time as hardly any games are designed with this in mind :o
 
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