SLI question

Mr.T · 28th October 2005, 3:33 PM

as you can tell from my specs its time to upgrade my GFX card.. but in doing so i wanna make sure I get one that i can use as SLI when i save up some more cash and can do a complete revamp of my PC.

Are all 6600 GT's (pci-e) SLI compatible? Or only special ones?

and is SLI only 2 identical cards? ie 2x6600GT not 1x6600GT + 1x7800GT??

"ThE ProFeSSoR" · 28th October 2005, 4:42 PM

The new nvidia drivers allow you to mix the brand of 6600gts to work in SLI. And SLI will only work the both the cards are the same model, ie. 2x6600gt

Mr.T · 29th October 2005, 10:35 AM

ok damn. Cross-fire looks good...

what about the cards, is every 6600/6800 GT SLI compatible?

Boxman · 29th October 2005, 11:50 AM

AFAIK with new drivers, all the 6600's and up are SLi capable. Don't know about the budget 6xxx under the 6600's though.

Phat_Jad · 29th October 2005, 11:54 AM

Are you asking if 6600 can mix with 6800, answer is simply no because the two cards decode one half of the page and youd being looking at the fast maybe 50fps on the bottom and 30fps at the top which just would not happen but if someone some how forced it that would..... Just grab 2 6600GT if your going to play high res games if not just grab one coz theyre fine....

Mr.T · 29th October 2005, 8:06 PM

yea cool might grab a 6600GT then when I upgrade.

cheers for the help.

Spindleshanx · 29th October 2005, 8:16 PM

Sorry been out of the game a while, and will semi hijak the thread to ask a question everyone probably knows. Using say, dual 6600's in sli, does sli have many advantages over a singular high end gfx card? Basically is it worth getting the best card, or two reasonably great cards in sli?

cacophony · 29th October 2005, 8:22 PM

Not really.
As of yet, there aren't many games that take advantage of SLI.
Basically 2x6600GT's = 6800GT at the moment.
Youd see a bigger performance hit once some games start to use it.
I'm not sure how 2x6800Ultras perform compared to 1x7800GTX.
i'd gather not much.

SLATYE · 30th October 2005, 12:11 AM

As a general rule, SLI is good in two situations:

(1) If you're upgrading, but you want to keep your current card. Even this one isn't too good any more, but it was originally one of the big reasons - rather than buying a new top-end card and selling the old one, you can just buy one which is the same as what you've got already.

Unfortunately, it fails because of Nvidia's strange pricing strategy. When the 7800GTX was released, people with 6800 Ultras could have bought another and run SLI (to get something similar to 7800GTX performance) - but the 7800GTX cost less than a single 6800 Ultra.

(2) If you've got more cash than you know what to do with. In this case, a pair of 7800GTXs is a reasonable proposition.

28th October 2005, 3:33 PM	#1
Mr.T Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Radelaide Posts: 133	SLI question as you can tell from my specs its time to upgrade my GFX card.. but in doing so i wanna make sure I get one that i can use as SLI when i save up some more cash and can do a complete revamp of my PC. Are all 6600 GT's (pci-e) SLI compatible? Or only special ones? and is SLI only 2 identical cards? ie 2x6600GT not 1x6600GT + 1x7800GT?? __________________ ...cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home? Intel i5 2500 \| GB GA-Z68P-DS3 \| 8GB G.Skill Sniper 1600 \| Radeon HD 4870 Last edited by Mr.T; 28th October 2005 at 3:33 PM.

28th October 2005, 4:42 PM	#2
"ThE ProFeSSoR" Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ghetto Posts: 658	The new nvidia drivers allow you to mix the brand of 6600gts to work in SLI. And SLI will only work the both the cards are the same model, ie. 2x6600gt __________________ Prepare the way for what I came to say today. BF2 STATS

29th October 2005, 10:35 AM	#3
Mr.T Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Radelaide Posts: 133	ok damn. Cross-fire looks good... what about the cards, is every 6600/6800 GT SLI compatible? __________________ ...cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home? Intel i5 2500 \| GB GA-Z68P-DS3 \| 8GB G.Skill Sniper 1600 \| Radeon HD 4870

29th October 2005, 11:54 AM	#5
Phat_Jad Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sydney, Mona Vale Posts: 301	Are you asking if 6600 can mix with 6800, answer is simply no because the two cards decode one half of the page and youd being looking at the fast maybe 50fps on the bottom and 30fps at the top which just would not happen but if someone some how forced it that would..... Just grab 2 6600GT if your going to play high res games if not just grab one coz theyre fine.... __________________ SLI-DR \| AMD Opteron 146 \|\| Artic Cooler 64 Pro\|\| G.Skill 2GBZX \|\| Elsa 7800GTX \|\| 36GB RAPTOR \|\| Antec P180 \|\| Silverstone ST60F Trades: MagicSun, Hellspa, Keeni, tamille, Barista, Chatmaster, seselete, Dukkie, panterica 7800GTX Owners Club [COLOR=Blue]#57[/COLOR] WTB - Opteron Dual Core (165,170) or trade with my Opty 146 @ 2950Ghz

29th October 2005, 8:06 PM	#6
Mr.T Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Radelaide Posts: 133	yea cool might grab a 6600GT then when I upgrade. cheers for the help. __________________ ...cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home? Intel i5 2500 \| GB GA-Z68P-DS3 \| 8GB G.Skill Sniper 1600 \| Radeon HD 4870

29th October 2005, 11:50 AM	#4
Boxman Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Victoria Posts: 1,794	AFAIK with new drivers, all the 6600's and up are SLi capable. Don't know about the budget 6xxx under the 6600's though.

29th October 2005, 8:16 PM	#7
Spindleshanx Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 327	Sorry been out of the game a while, and will semi hijak the thread to ask a question everyone probably knows. Using say, dual 6600's in sli, does sli have many advantages over a singular high end gfx card? Basically is it worth getting the best card, or two reasonably great cards in sli? __________________ (I pwn at alliteration)

29th October 2005, 8:22 PM	#8
cacophony Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Adelaide (5000) Posts: 522	Not really. As of yet, there aren't many games that take advantage of SLI. Basically 2x6600GT's = 6800GT at the moment. Youd see a bigger performance hit once some games start to use it. I'm not sure how 2x6800Ultras perform compared to 1x7800GTX. i'd gather not much. __________________ <_< Last edited by cacophony; 29th October 2005 at 8:23 PM.

30th October 2005, 12:11 AM	#9
SLATYE SLATYE, not SLAYTE Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Canberra Posts: 25,776	As a general rule, SLI is good in two situations: (1) If you're upgrading, but you want to keep your current card. Even this one isn't too good any more, but it was originally one of the big reasons - rather than buying a new top-end card and selling the old one, you can just buy one which is the same as what you've got already. Unfortunately, it fails because of Nvidia's strange pricing strategy. When the 7800GTX was released, people with 6800 Ultras could have bought another and run SLI (to get something similar to 7800GTX performance) - but the 7800GTX cost less than a single 6800 Ultra. (2) If you've got more cash than you know what to do with. In this case, a pair of 7800GTXs is a reasonable proposition. __________________ Main system: Phenom II X4 920 \| 8GB (4x 2GB) DDR2-800 \| Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 v2.0 \| Leadtek Geforce 9600GSO 384MB \| Enermax Modu82+ 525W \| 1TB Hitachi HDD \| 3.5" + 5.25" FDD Laptop: Compal EL80 \| C2D T7200 \| 320GB Fujistu HDD \| 2GB DDR2-667 \| GF Go 7600