Sli noob might have made a boo-boo
Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Sli noob might have made a boo-boo
i think ive screwed up and need some advice from a hardware expert since i'm lost in a world of acronyms.
my 8800gts bit the dust the other day so i decided my pc could do with a new gfx card. something a bit more potent. i figured i could make one giant leap, for cheap, by upgrading to sli 9800gt, thus more than doubling my gfx performance. i am an avid gamer (bf2, bf2142, cs:s, racedriver grid, nfs shift etc.) and i do alot of 3d modelling in rhinocerous.
on ocuk i saw this card https://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =GX-096-BG and rashly ordered 2 of them so i could have sli. i had assumed that all i needed to do was plug the two cards into my mobo and hey presto, sli. however on reading an sli installation tutorial i think i may have been a bit naive.
my mobo is a P5W DH Deluxe http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=m4cR4iaPdABNLtQa on the Asus site it says the mobo is crossfire compatible but no mention of sli. i dont know much when it comes to chipsets and i have read some refereces (from back in 2006) where people say my mobo does not currently support sli but an update will make it available. can someone who knows their stuff please advise me on weather or not i need to cancel my order? if so, is there an equivalent (price and performance) ATI card you could recommend? (i have never had an ATI card so i dont 'get' their numbering system as well as i get nvidias.
do i need a bridge, or attachent component? if so where do i order one for my board?
my power supply is 750w + intel q6600. win xp sp3.
sincere thanks
david
First off your board will not run sli, it has an Intel 975X chipset. You need an Nvidia chipset to run sli save for a select amount of newer Intel boards (i5/i7 kind of newer). The reason is not that the hardware does not support it but a licensing thing.
There was talk that the 975x may support sli, however i believe that fell through and was never licensed.
It's possible the "update" that you referred to is a hacked Nvidia driver that was worked up by Asrock if I remember right. Because Asrock didnt have Nvidia's permission to hack the driver (which Nvidia won't give freely, Why would they) was taken down and more or less disappeared from the web because it was a single driver revision and is now old.
Lastly If you are going to get new cards the best thing for you to do would be to get one bigger card as opposed to two smaller cards as your performance doesnt "double" in sli or crossfire, it is higher but nowhere near double.
The 4870's are nice and xfx now makes ati cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
is a good upper mid range and is 1 series behind right now but far surpasses the 8800gts. If you go for that card make sure to register it to get the double lifetime warranty.
A step up from that card is the 4890.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
many thanks, since your suggesting one big card rather than 2 cheaper sli/xfire. would you go for a new nvidia or ati? as ive said ive never hand an ATI and i am a bit unsure about them. ive heard that in the last few years nvidia have been better than ati. what would you recommend for my price range (up to £150 or there abouts)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/prod [...] &subid=939
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/prod [...] subid=1403
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/prod [...] subid=1515
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/prod [...] &subid=927
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/prod [...] subid=1410
Message edited by mindless728 on 11-07-2009 at 11:43:25 PM
If you are getting it from overclockers this would be your link
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] ubcat=1403
newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
But you need a PSU that has 2 6pin PCI-E connectors.
I've been an Nvidia guy for a long time but ATI fixed the driver issues they had and now companies that I trust make ATI cards, also upper mid range pricing is being won by ATI right now.
My roommate has a XFX 4870 and he loves it.
I would personally get the 4890, it should be a bit quicker.
though the 5770 may overclock better and does support DX11, I prefer to get a High end card a series old, over a lower end card of the newest series.
Message edited by insaneclowngod on 11-08-2009 at 12:01:00 AM
That was going to be my next question. Is one an older series? I take it the first number (4xxx and 5xxx) is the series and the second number (x8xx) is how high end it is. I try to avoid overclockig and my gut feeling is to go for the older higher end one. Thanks for the advice all. I'm still listening if anyone else has an opinion
If you are not going to overclock (the only real benifit to 5770) my reccomendation stays as it was. 4890 from xfx. Some people may care about Dx11 but nothing is out for it yet (there will be) and look at Dx10, the eye candy increase was minimal and the FPS was cut in half. I have not researched Dx11 yet but as of right now am not concerned.
And yes you pretty much have the naming structure down. First number = series, Second = Subseries 3&4 are more for the model. To me unless you are comparing cards that are 2 series apart i.e. Radeon 3870 Vs Radeon 5770, the 2nd number is more important to the preformance, i.e. Radeon 4890 Vs Radeon 5770, which is different by 1 series. Again that may change but for the past 5 or so years been constant.
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