Legit Reviews

I'm thinking of building a 9600GT SLI box, my problem is I don't know which mobo to get, and I'm concerned with future GPU upgrades....so do I need a PCIe2 mobo or will any P35 chipset mobo do the trick?
I don't want or need the most expensive mobo, but I want either an ASUS or Gigabyte with their HQ capacitators

Current cards don't even saturate the PCI-E port, so theres currently no benefit to PCI-E2.

Okay, but what about general compatibility, for ex, whenever ATI/Nvidia release their next gen cards, will they slot into a P35 mobo?

P35 supports 1 16x and 1 4x crossfire, not sli.

The new cards are backwards compatible. A 1.0 card in a 2.0 slot or a 2.0 card in a 1.0 slot, either way will work.

What's the chipset name I need for SLI these days?

really any of the NVIDIA chipsets... 650i, 680i, 750i, 780i, 790i... just remember the 6xx series doesn't play nice with new 45nm processors.

Apoptosis wrote:really any of the NVIDIA chipsets... 650i, 680i, 750i, 780i, 790i... just remember the 6xx series doesn't play nice with new 45nm processors.

really?
the ASUS board i have in my signature supposedly supports the new 45nm processors according to ASUS...
i was/am planning on upgrading to a 45nm quad once they're out but do you have any info on that topic that might make it impossible or more trouble than its worth to consider?

ibleet wrote:P35 supports 1 16x and 1 4x crossfire, not sli.

How does the 4x PCI-E affect the video cards performance, whether CrossFire or SLI? Is it noticeable difference in performance over 2 16x slots? I am wanting to try and make an upgradeable computer, but I hate to have to spend $250+ on a board with 2 16x slots if a single 16x paired with a 4x will work just as well.

The computer I will build will not be a full top of the line setup, looking at a 6750 processor with 8800GT and DDR2 6400 memory.

Gameros wrote:

ibleet wrote:P35 supports 1 16x and 1 4x crossfire, not sli.

How does the 4x PCI-E affect the video cards performance, whether CrossFire or SLI? Is it noticeable difference in performance over 2 16x slots? I am wanting to try and make an upgradeable computer, but I hate to have to spend $250+ on a board with 2 16x slots if a single 16x paired with a 4x will work just as well.

The computer I will build will not be a full top of the line setup, looking at a 6750 processor with 8800GT and DDR2 6400 memory.

4x slot will definatly slow down an 8800GT. If you eventually want to take the SLI route, you'll have to get a board based on a nVidia chipset. Don't forget that often it is a better idea to get a new single better card then SLI older cards!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131232
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130159

Those 2 offer 2 16x PCI-E2 slots and are reasonably priced.

Zertz wrote:

Gameros wrote:

ibleet wrote:Don't forget that often it is a better idea to get a new single better card then SLI older cards!

I tell people that too, but sometimes it might make sense to just get the second card for ~$150 (price by the time I need to upgrade) than to go and spend $300 on the "next new thing".

even if you get a mainstream newer card vs. going sli will see improvement unless you game at like 1600x1200

martini161 wrote:even if you get a mainstream newer card vs. going sli will see improvement unless you game at like 1600x1200

Can you rephrase that? Are you saying that either choice will see improvements? Or that the single main stream will be better than the SLI? I wouldn't do SLI (or CrossFire) right now, I am just thinking down the road it might be cheaper to get a lesser second card than a new mid-high range card.

Gameros wrote:

martini161 wrote:even if you get a mainstream newer card vs. going sli will see improvement unless you game at like 1600x1200

Can you rephrase that? Are you saying that either choice will see improvements? Or that the single main stream will be better than the SLI? I wouldn't do SLI (or CrossFire) right now, I am just thinking down the road it might be cheaper to get a lesser second card than a new mid-high range card.

Buying a new mid-high end card is often better than buying a second card. With a single card you get relatively equal performance between every game, SLI... you never know.

You can't use a lesser card in SLI. Both cards must have the same GPU. I agree, its better to upgrade to a single card.

what i was saying was unless you have a big monitor, then its better to go single card vs sli even if the single card you upgrade to is a midrange as a new middle ground card will get better performance vs two old high end one unless you need a big frame buffer (aka if you have a big monitor)

A good compromise is to find a board that does 8x 8x for SLI, while still giving you 16x for the first card when not using SLI.

Dan