SLI in a Nutshell

[HeatM1ser2k4]

This was such an information thread that I hope you do one for Crossfire( if its still being supported--I've heard conflicting answers)

 

[LoneWolf121188]

rajanm1: I believe that if you have 2 cards installed but with SLI disabled, you can have four monitors. If SLI is enabled, the number of monitors supported drops to one, as I mentioned in the OP.

HeatM1ser2k4: Thank you! I unfortunatly do not know NEARLY enough about Crossfire to do an equally informative post on that, otherwise I definetly would. What can I say, I've always been an nVidia guy.

 

[ChristmasGT]

Great Guide!

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Thank you! Let me know what I can do to keep this updated and current, or if I can improve on it in any other way. I might do a quick section on running the 7950's in SLI, but my guess is that anyone that is looking into doing that already knows what the issues are, etc.

 

[MaxPowers_68]

Just finished reading the sticky. Great, helpful read.

 

[Sam__]

Question: SLI 7900GS 256Mb or Single 8800GTS 320Mb??

 

[Raptord]

Personnaly I'd go with the 8800, because later on you'll be able to SLI that if you need to.

 

[Sam__]

what about performance..how close are they?

 

[Raptord]

I think it'll be fairly equal. 2 7900's might be a bit better, but it's nothing to write home about.

 

[Sam__]

ok...the 8800GTS would be better as i do run two screens...hmm...its a tough one..

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Sometime this week I'll do a full overhaul of this article to reflect the 8 series.

 

[Sam__]

cheers man...any chance you could get some tests from dual screen stuff?

 

[LoneWolf121188]

If you give me some specific suggestions, I'll see what I can do. I'll be getting dual 8600GTS's when they come out, and my friend has a single 8800GTS, so maybe I can do some direct comparisions on my system (I'm running 2x 1280x1024).

 

[Sam__]

could you chuck some 7900GS's in the mix? i wanna see how they fair against the 8800GTS

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Most likely what I'll end up doing is borrowing some graphs from THG or Anandtech and summerizing the info from those like I did before. I don't have acess to any 7 series cards.

 

[Sam__]

kwl...that wud be v usufull as i am trying to work out wether to get sli 7900GS's or a single 8800GTS

 

[LoneWolf121188]

turns out I got buried under a mountain of homework and the update definetly won't happen this week. Soon thought, I promise. I may wait until results from the 8600s get posted so I can do a 8800 vs 8600 comparision instead of a 8800 vs 7900 comparision, which in all reality would make a lot more sense.

 

[Brad_D]

STICKY!!!
Great post

 

[eightballrj]

So, are dual monitors supported in SLI with 8800gts's? I am asking for my roomate. Thanks!!

 

[Lolek]

I've also got a question.

SLI sounds great for gaming, but... What about 3D rendering and animation? Would there be equally noticable gains from hardware rendering with the GPU, assuming the CPU isn't crap?