"8x in sli mode" noob question ...

noob here with probably a duplicate question...

Many mobo's out there describe the dual 16x pcie slots as 8x in sli mode. is this true for all sli mobo's? are there some where both 16x slots are running the full 16x in sli mode? either way what component limits the 16x speed. is it the chipset?



my projected setup for building my first rig Q1 2008:
Q6600 with heatsink/ duct setup
2 8800GT's in sli
1 150Gig raptor X- purchased
pcp&c 750 quad- purchased
mobo/ram- still researching

Thanks for your input, jart

jdmnash said:

noob here with probably a duplicate question...

Many mobo's out there describe the dual 16x pcie slots as 8x in sli mode. is this true for all sli mobo's? are there some where both 16x slots are running the full 16x in sli mode? either way what component limits the 16x speed. is it the chipset?

Click to expand...

to the forums!!!

Yes, the nVidia motherboards with the 680 or newer chipsets will have the dual 16x lanes while in SLi.

The limiting factor is indeed the chipset

There are no cards that can saturate an 8x lane anyway, so there is no real need for dual 16's

thanks

jdmnash said:

thanks

Click to expand...

No problem

so when it says 4 pci-express slots (16x 16x 8x 4x) it really doesn't matter at all?

dlk289 said:

so when it says 4 pci-express slots (16x 16x 8x 4x) it really doesn't matter at all?

Click to expand...

Well, it "does matter". A 4x slot is 4 times slower than a 16x slot (bandwidth wise). In real world performance, I had no issues running a heavily overclocked 8800GTS, I saw no performance decrease due to the 4x