Satisfactory sli board?

Hey, I ordered a computer, but the company let me down, so i cancelled the order and am going to build a comp myself. I plan on using a single 8800GTS 512 for quite some time, but would like to run sli in the future. Is there a decent mobo that will run sli and overclock nicely?

I have been reading around, and I really like what people have to say about the IP35 Pro, but it lacks sli capabilities. sli isnt a must, but I would really like to have that option. can anyone help me out here? Or, is there even a board that exists with these qualities? Thanks for your hlep in advance.
Paul

with SLI you are really limited to newest 780i boards which run around 300$, second beyond this are 680i boards which are around 200$.

Cheaper than this you can go with a 650i SLI but it will be 8X8 SLI. Even cheaper you could go with NF-4 but not sure if any nforce 4 boards support core 2 duo.

After having an nforce 650i board P5N-E sli, I am planning to avoid SLI in the future because of the multi-monitor issues that exist under windows and linux. I was runing 2X7600GS in SLI but I could not have multi-monitors in linux while SLI was enabled. Additionally, you cannot have multi-monitors under windows while SLI is enabled without having a 3rd graphics card. My opinion is that SLI is not very flexible when it comes to filling any need but added performance, and it is at the expense of certain types of features that you may want as a user. Also, nvidia's chipsets were good but are very expensive for what you get. I'd have to say the 650i SLI was decent but is now kind of outdated. Also, i'm not sure if nvidia 780i even supports DDR3 yet.

Thanks for your input. I have been reading a lot lately and I think I am just gonna get the IP35 Pro. I figure, by the time I wanna run sli, there will be a decent board out there without quite so many flaws as the current ones. Thanks again.

you have one other option. you can get a 680i LT SLI board. The 680i has two PCIe 16's and one PCIe 8 (three way SLI) and costs about $200. The alternative is the 680i LT SLI that is missing the 8x but has both 16x PCIe slots. The 680i LT SLI costs about $150 and eVGA and XFX produce boards with the LT chipset.

moto211 said:

you have one other option. you can get a 680i LT SLI board. The 680i has two PCIe 16's and one PCIe 8 (three way SLI) and costs about $200. The alternative is the 680i LT SLI that is missing the 8x but has both 16x PCIe slots. The 680i LT SLI costs about $150 and eVGA and XFX produce boards with the LT chipset.

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Ah, I don't think I have looked at that one yet. Does it have the same flaws with the quad cores? I think I forgot to mention that I plan on using a Q6600. I have read a lot of reviews where people complain that the 650i-780i boards just don't function well with quads, especially if you plan on overclocking.

It looks like the 680i LT SLI is a cross between the 650i and the 680i. Would you recommend this board? Have you had success with it? Thank yo for your input.

i can't speak from personal experience as to the overclocking ability if the 680i LT chipset a quad cores. i can tell you as soon as i get my tax return though. i have a XFX 680i LT SLI and i'm picking a Q6600 to do a build with. i do have a friend that built a Q6600 rig with that board and he pushed to 3.4ghz stable on air. he did say the board is kind of picky about settings and such but that once the kinks are worked out and the right settings are found, that overclocking is not a problem.

as far as the chipset being a cross between the 650i and the 680i, i don't think this is the case. i think the 680i LT is a fully featured 680i chipset with less PCIe lanes.

moto211 said:

i can't speak from personal experience as to the overclocking ability if the 680i LT chipset a quad cores. i can tell you as soon as i get my tax return though. i have a XFX 680i LT SLI and i'm picking a Q6600 to do a build with. i do have a friend that built a Q6600 rig with that board and he pushed to 3.4ghz stable on air. he did say the board is kind of picky about settings and such but that once the kinks are worked out and the right settings are found, that overclocking is not a problem.

as far as the chipset being a cross between the 650i and the 680i, i don't think this is the case. i think the 680i LT is a fully featured 680i chipset with less PCIe lanes.

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Okay, thank you very much. I can deal with picky settings, as long as overclocking is a possibility. Looks like the 680i LT SLI is my first pick then!

my only other advice would be to purchase from a retailer that has a good return policy. that way, if your not happy with its overclockability, you can return it towards someting else.

btw, tigerdirect.com has a package deal on that board with a oem Q6600 for US$349.99