What kind of PSU for 9600GT SLI? HDMI question too.

[Slayn]

I looked at SLI zone for reference but I dont know how complete it is. It does not list the 9600GT but I assume its the same as dual 8800GT but maybe a little less. I found what looks like a good PSU but it isnt listed. I dont see why not. Opinions?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159058


Also I am looking at cards with HDMI and a few of the 9600GT cards come with them. This 9600GT says "HDMI with adapter". It looks like all it has is DVI to HDMI but how exactly is that going to work, if you use the adapter it wont carry over the audio through the DVI adapter will it? I see a SPDIF connector but I dont understand. Good price tho $120 after MIB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500038

Then theres this Palit one with an actual HDMI port on the back. Any opinions? $125 after MIB.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814261002

[eggyhustles]

that 700 watt should be more than enough i assume(don't take my word for it lol)..i have a evga 9600gt on a 430 watt antec psu and it runs fine

[Trap05]

Coolmax would not be a good power supply.

I believe you're correct about the DVI to HDMI you would have to use the spidif connector but I'm not sure how exactly. If you have use for the HDMI audio I would get a card that actually has a HDMI port on it.

[jiggamanjb]

This is what I found. Seems a little low on the 12v though.

9600GT SLI............................450W .........................28A

I'd get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702006
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

The SPDIF attaches to the mobo and the other end to the video card. It will then carry audio over the HDMI.

I have the Palit and like it.

[Slayn]

Ok understood abou the Palit but what about the other cards. They use an HDMI adapter but audio wouldnt carry over from the DVI port through the HDMI adapter I assume. I will either get two Palit or if I cant use the MIB for two I will just mix in one of the Zotac guys.

[jiggamanjb]

In addition to the card, there are a few bundled extras, including DVI-to-VGA and DVI-to-HDMI converters, a S/PDIF cable, an S-Video/Component combo cable, a driver CD and an instruction manual. The most notable inclusion is the DVI to HDMI converter, as we briefly mentioned that all of Zotac’s ZONE series cards would be able to pass audio over DVI and this is the gizmo that helps to make that possible, but it isn’t all that is required.

With AMD’s Radeon HD 2600- and HD 2400-series graphics cards, there is an audio controller inside the company’s Unified Video Decoder and this allows the card to pass audio from the audio codec to the HDMI connection (on the graphics card) without needing any additional connectors. Because Nvidia’s graphics cards currently don’t support this feature, a S/PDIF connector is required to pass the audio from the audio codec to the graphics card (and thus to the HDMI port) – this is included in the box and works well providing your motherboard or soundcard has a pin header for S/PDIF out.

[Slayn]

I will be honest I did not understand that explanation but basically you are saying with that adapter I can get audio through the HDMI just the same as an actual HDMI port on my graphics card, essentially theres no difference correct? I guess I will go with Zotec since I can get two MIB instead of only one like the other product. I just never heard of Zotec I think its a Chinesed based company.

[jiggamanjb]

I will be honest I did not understand that explanation but basically you are saying with that adapter I can get audio through the HDMI just the same as an actual HDMI port on my graphics card, essentially theres no difference correct? I guess I will go with Zotec since I can get two MIB instead of only one like the other product. I just never heard of Zotec I think its a Chinesed based company.

YUP!

[tanooki]

I believe that the same company that produces Sapphire cards also makes Zotac.

[NettieZoom]

You are better off just getting a single 8800GTS 512mb over SLI 9600GT, you could always add another GTS down the road..

The 9600GT is just not worth it unless you are getting it dirt cheap as they have half of their stream processors disabled which kind of cripples them compared to the 8800 series.

You can pick up a 8800GT 512 for sub $150 now and a 8800GTS for $175ish, with those cards so cheap it makes the 9600GT less desirable.

[Trap05]

I believe that the same company that produces Sapphire cards also makes Zotac.

I thought it was PowerColor actually but I could be wrong.

[ratbuddy]

You are better off just getting a single 8800GTS 512mb over SLI 9600GT, you could always add another GTS down the road..

The 9600GT is just not worth it unless you are getting it dirt cheap as they have half of their stream processors disabled which kind of cripples them compared to the 8800 series.

You can pick up a 8800GT 512 for sub $150 now and a 8800GTS for $175ish, with those cards so cheap it makes the 9600GT less desirable.

The lack of SPs doesn't seem to hinder the card one bit. The HD 3850 has something like 320 SPs, and still gets it's butt handed to it by Nvidia cards with less than half that number. 9600GT still performs somewhat close to an 8800GT, and if you are on a budget, and can find a pair of 9600GT's for ~$220, it's worth it over the GTS. If you plan to upgrade later, GTS (later SLI) is a great choice..

[EchoTheDolphin]

The lack of SPs doesn't seem to hinder the card one bit. The HD 3850 has something like 320 SPs, and still gets it's butt handed to it by Nvidia cards with less than half that number. 9600GT still performs somewhat close to an 8800GT, and if you are on a budget, and can find a pair of 9600GT's for ~$220, it's worth it over the GTS. If you plan to upgrade later, GTS (later SLI) is a great choice..

I'm just going to quote what's said over and over again: Unless you have the fastest card that's currently out and want more, there's no reason to go SLI.

[jiggamanjb]

I'm just going to quote what's said over and over again: Unless you have the fastest card that's currently out and want more, there's no reason to go SLI.

^ Everyone should put this in their sig ^

[Slayn]

Someone posted this in another thread but please argue against 9600GT sli please.

http://techreport.com/r.x/gpuvalue/avg.png

Whole article here http://techreport.com/articles.x/14686/1

You can get a 9600GT for around $150 and they all have between $10 and $30 MIR each card. So theoretically you can have two 9600GT for $250 after MIR and it will probably beat the crap out of anything around $350-500.

[Niku-Sama]

some are even chaper than that, i looked at that palit card and i almost went for it except theres nothing cooling the ram really. no ram sinks on that.

so i bought the EVGA one since it has a lifetime warranty and i can potentally step up to a different card soon

[ratbuddy]

I'm just going to quote what's said over and over again: Unless you have the fastest card that's currently out and want more, there's no reason to go SLI.

Saying it over and over doesn't make it true. If you already have an SLI board, right now, for $220 or so, the best possible performance comes from a pair of 9600GTs, no question about it.

[Slayn]

some are even chaper than that, i looked at that palit card and i almost went for it except theres nothing cooling the ram really. no ram sinks on that.

so i bought the EVGA one since it has a lifetime warranty and i can potentally step up to a different card soon

Yeah.

[ratbuddy]

Yeah I dont like the quality of the other products and i work at evga so I can RMA them rather easily haha.

Ohhhh, so riddle me this.. Why don't we have an EVGA rep on these forums? And why do they rip so hard on next day shipping (over $100)

[Slayn]

Yeah I knew that was a mistake to mention that...

[Shiggity]

Someone posted this in another thread but please argue against 9600GT sli please.

http://techreport.com/r.x/gpuvalue/avg.png

Whole article here http://techreport.com/articles.x/14686/1

You can get a 9600GT for around $150 and they all have between $10 and $30 MIR each card. So theoretically you can have two 9600GT for $250 after MIR and it will probably beat the crap out of anything around $350-500.

8800GTS 512 SLI isn't there and that's probably THE best price : performance atm...

[Shadowmonk]

Zotac is out of Germany, i bought (2) 8800 GTS 512 and they run very cool and OC very well 790/1900/1100 in SLI

[Neural Net]

I thought it was PowerColor actually but I could be wrong.

I heard it was owned by XFX.

[Slayn]

8800GTS 512 SLI isn't there and that's probably THE best price : performance atm...

Well lets compare apples to apples. Right now on newegg.com you can get two EVGA 8800GTS G92 for $250 each with one having a $30 MIR. So about $470. You can get the EVGA 9600GT for around $150 each and $10 MIR. Thats $290. Now that is a huge difference in price. You can also find much cheaper ( albeit cheaper in quality as well ) 9600GT cards and maybe a little cheaper GTS cards. I've seen the Zotac for $119 each after MIB. Even EVGA vs EVGA thats around $200 difference. I dont think I will see $200 in performance honestly. So best bang/buck is the 9600GT IMO. IF I am going to buy two 8800GTS honestly I will just buy a GX2 instead.

[Niku-Sama]

thats strange the GTS isnt on there, but in all reality what he says is true, pretty costly to get 2 GTS's and you can OC probally a minimal ammount to make up the difference in performance.

and i have to say in all honesty, if you work at evga why the hell are you lookin at another brand?
is there something the public should mabe know? shouldnt you get a discount?

[Slayn]

I do not get a discount so I go after whatever is the cheapest of off newegg. Also the EVGA 9600GT does not have HDMI its only the 9800+ so far. I figured out eventually I dont care about HDMI though so thats a moot point. I will probably go for a single 8800GT and then still get a big PSU for whenever the 9900 series comes out.

[Niku-Sama]

you can always get a DVI to HDMI adaptor

[NettieZoom]

You can get a 8800GT for sub $150 on the Egg right now, I was not saying the 9600GT is not a good card but for a couple bucks you can pick up a 8800GT which is better period lol.

When playing games at higher resoultions with alot of eye candy the difference between the 9600GT and the 8800GT really grows.

[Slayn]

Yeah will probably end up doing that since I am going to be running at a higher resolution most likely.

[Gibbo3771]

that 700 watt should be more than enough i assume(don't take my word for it lol)..i have a evga 9600gt on a 430 watt antec psu and it runs fine

lol Dont take his word for it, i have a SLI 9600GT and i had trouble running it on a Cooler Master 650Watt PSU i had to go to a 1200Watt ToughPower, but i suppose it all depends on your complete rig setup, Etc CPU, Motherboard and how much power your cooling solution cost.

Dotn know if im too late to tell you this:)

[Slayn]

No you are not, thanks for the consideration. I dont like to skimp out on the psu and will go at least 800w if not more for when the new gpu's come out I can step up to them.