Sli Question

alansweeney100

I currently have a BFG 8800 GTS 320MB and found this on OCUK

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-086-OK

Less than half than what I paid for mine only last August, it'd make you sick!
Is it worth me pairing this one with my BFG, some quick googling has told me I can pair them in Sli even though its different brands.
Will I really see a big difference cause I think this will seriously up the temperatures in my case and want to know if its worth the hassle as I have a fan underneath my BFG 8800 GTS which blows out all the hot air now, but that'll have to go if I buy this new graphics card.
My current graphics card allows me to play Crysis on medium and I'm more than a bit curious what it would look like on a higher quality setting as its amazing as it is!

Anti

Yes you will see a difference in some games, but there have to be "nvidia, the way its meant to be played" games. Ive done sli, and tri sli, and the difference inst that big, untill you start turning up the res and AA and AF levels. Also, are you 100% sure you have an Sli motherboard?

But for that price, if you have a decent monitor 22" or bigger and are sure you have an sli motherboard go for it.

TerrorFirmer

Hah that's nothing, I paid 300 for a 512mb GTS two months ago and got a second one for 180 a few days ago brand new. Video cards are going the way ram has recently.

As for Sli, yes two different vendors will work provided the cards are the same model. As for whether it's worth it...depends on what size monitor you're using? 320mb is a bit limiting in the very latest games that can use 512mb+, but it would still give you a nice performance boost regardless and for that price it is genuinely hard to go wrong.

alansweeney100

My mobo is a BFG 680i sli so should b ok there

I have my PC connected to a s*itty Benq 17" monitor but I only play games like civilisation on that,
For crysis & others I have a 37" lcd Samsung tv connected with a dvi to hdmi lead and I have the sound from mobo optically connected to z5500s
I use the tv on 'gaming mode' dunno if it helps but it looks great, what resolution should I be using on that screen, I can't remember the one I'm using now, I just have it set up on the nvidia software to 'use displays scaling'

RoyalMarine

sli will work amazing on the 37" on high resolution. on the 17" it will do nothing.

nice setup alan !!

witnessmenow

Will it make all that much of a diffrence on the TV? Its resolution prob isnt any higher than the 17".

I was having a discussion with one of my friends who saw my thread and the fact i said i have a 22" monitor when i have 26" tv on its way. He was saying things would look better on the TV, i though the monitor as its higher resolution.

TerrorFirmer

Yeah, the TV will actually be a low-ish resolution scaled up rather then a high resolution.

Sli is still beneficial on smaller monitors though when you're talking about older cards. Obviously, something like 9800GTX Sli on a 17" Monitor would be a waste, but with the 8800GTS 320MB faltering in the latest games at max settings, going Sli is the difference between high/max settings and max settings with AA/AF, even on a 17 or 19" monitor.

I'd say go for it, to be honest.

alansweeney100

No expert on the resolutions myself,
Just noticed something before I was about to click the 'buy button' on ocuk, the graphics card they're selling for £88 has the following
- GeForce 8800 GTS core running at 513MHz
- Shader Clock Speed of 1200MHz
- 320MB GDDR3 Memory running at 1600MHz
- 320-Bit Memory Interface

And I read in a review that my current 880 GTS 320MB comes overclocked from factory;

"BFG overclocked their 8800 GTS OC 320MB graphics card from factory BFG went with a 550 MHz core clock (stock is 500 MHz), shader clock 1300 MHz (stock is 1200 MHz) memory clock is 1.6 GHz which is stock. It is a bit strange to me that BFG didn’t overclock their memory at all."

So will these cards run together in Sli? And if so I'm guessing they'll run at the lower speeds of the new card, I can't get another of my BFG 8800 GTS 320 MB as its not made anymore!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

TerrorFirmer

Don't worry about it. The cards will still work though yes, at the lower speeds, but the factory overclock is not hugely significant (maybe 5-10% gain over stock) - Sli will still give you as massive boost.

dazftw

37" is probably 1360 X 768 something along those lines unless it can do 1080p it will be 1920 X 1080! 17" would be what 1280 X 1024.. I dunno its a very long time since I had a 17" lol.. SLI will probably a nice, noticeable difference.. only really on higher resolutions as anti said.. but its cheap so why not eh?

alansweeney100

Cheers dazftw

I'm down the country at the min, I'll post the resolution that im using on the 37" lcd tomorrow, and if changing it to 1360x768 makes a difference.
Don't have a rashers about these resolutions! 1360 x 768 1920 x1080 they all look like difficult multiplication sums to me

alansweeney100

Resolution I'm using on both the 37" & 17" (cloned displays) is 1280 by 720
Theres a slider I can adjust on the nvidia control panel but the highest it goes up to is 1280 by 1024
How can I change the resolution to 1360 by 768?? looked in the display settings in vista and its the same deal there 1280x1024 is the max on the slider

Mc-BigE

hi all,

Just bought this computer:
Komplett Intel Gamer SLI Edition
Antec Nine Hundred black miditower
Corsair Powersupply 550W
XFX nForce 680i LT SLI, Socket-775,GbLAN, DDR2, SATAII, ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Socket LGA775, 8MB, BOXED w/fan
OCZ nVIDIA SLI DDR2 PC6400 4096MB KIT
Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 512MB,GDDR3, PCI-Express,DVI/Tv-Out
Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 512MB,GDDR3, PCI-Express,DVI/Tv-Out
500GB SATA216MB 7200RPM
NEC DVD±RW burner AD-7200A,
Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Gamer
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng

I've read somewhere (too late!) that SLI doesn't support Dual Monitors, is this true? and whats the solution if so?

thanks in advance

TerrorFirmer

It doesn't, the solution would be to get a basic third card for output.

Mc-BigE

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It doesn't, the solution would be to get a basic third card for output.

i have a ATI x1600 SE 256mb from another computer, will this work for the second monitor?, will drivers clash?, how do i make them all talk?

alansweeney100

Resolution I'm using on both the 37" & 17" (cloned displays) is 1280 by 720
Theres a slider I can adjust on the nvidia control panel but the highest it goes up to is 1280 by 1024
How can I change the resolution to 1360 by 768?? looked in the display settings in vista and its the same deal there 1280x1024 is the max on the slider

TerrorFirmer

You can, drivers do clash but there is a way to add an Ati card as the third one. The only problem in your case is that both PCI-E slots will be in use, leaving you with PCI slots. This isn't a problem, as second hand Nvidia PCI cards like old Geforce 4's and Fx5200 go for anywhere between 10 and 30 euro and you'll avoid the potential driver issues.

Mc-BigE

ok thanks for that, this is my first SLI machine so im a little green, just to clarify, the 2 SLI cards will power one monitor and the other smaller PCI slot graphics card will power the second monitor, or do the 2 sli card combine with the older card and all 3 power both monitors?

sorry for hijacking this thread BTW

AlmightyCushion

Mc-BigE wrote: »

ok thanks for that, this is my first SLI machine so im a little green, just to clarify, the 2 SLI cards will power one monitor and the other smaller PCI slot graphics card will power the second monitor, or do the 2 sli card combine with the older card and all 3 power both monitors?

sorry for hijacking this thread BTW

It's the former. Sli will power one monitor, the pci card powers the other monitor.

TerrorFirmer

Just had to add, blown away by the huge increase in Sli even with a board at 8x/8x. Getting a new 24" monitor soon, can't wait for that.

Call of Duty 1680x1050 max settings 4xAA/8xAF - silky smooth and hits the 91 cap constantly.

Bioshock - 1680x1050 max settings - ultra smooth, was hitting up to 150fps before v-sync...

Very happy!