SLI and motherboards

[bandieramonte]

Is this motherboard:

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel

compatible with two 8800 GTS 512mb? I'm thinking it is because this motherboard has two PCI EXPRESS 2.0 slots, which is exactly the interface required by this new GTS. But, what worries me is that this motherboard is not any nforce of nvidia which is supposed to have the best SLI performance (I think).

The default motherboard I want to purchase is the

EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX motherboard

but this one doesn't have PCI 2.0 slots, and I heard somewhere that is better to connect this new GTS cards to this kind of slots because it has more features. (I would have to connect the video cards to the older x16 slots...)

So I need help in deciding which of these two motherboards I should choose. I know that the nforce 780i can suit these needs, but the problem is that I will and have to purchase urgently from newegg.com (before new year) and right now they don't have 780i's in stock.

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

[FZ1]

You cannot run NVIDIA SLI on the Intel X38 & X48 chipsets. The 680i chipsets will support SLI. I hope this answers your questions.

[bandieramonte]

And how come is that? Can't I just connect each of my two 8800 GTS 512MB cards on each of the PCI EXPRESS 2.0 slots of a x38 motherboard?

[dicecca112]

hardware wise it can, but you need two things for SLI, hardware and software support. The drivers for SLI will not install on that motherboard

[bandieramonte]

So, the only way to connect my 8800 GTS 512mb cards in PCI 2.0 slots is to find a nforce 780i motherboard right?

What's the difference between connecting these video cards in PCI x16 slots and in PCI 2.0 slots?

[InspectahACE]

yep..either a 780i or the 680i motherboard...intel doesn't like sli yet...if ever actually lol..shouldnt be too much of a difference puttin the cards in a pci-e 2.0 slot compared to pci-e 1.0..they're both running at the full x16 speeds..just 2.0 has more bandwidth allowance than the 1st generation...as far as how noticeable of a difference between the two thats well...who knows..but as far as SLI is concerned...has to be an Nvidia chipset...not intel..just like how ATI Crossfire needs the AMD chipsets(or intel if you have them too..since they support Crossfire..)

[unfaithfulsfan]

Hi! Sorry for hijacking this thread but it's one of only 11 threads that mention EVGA and the only thread that addresses this particular motherboard.

The board is installed in a desktop PC that belongs to the son of one of the friends of my wife. What I'd like to know is whether this board can handle Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I'm pretty sure it will handle Vista Ultimate 32/64 bit.

I appreciate all answers....much more than you all know.

Thanks!

Jack

[pwcmed]

If it can run Vista just fine than it will do even better with 7.

[Major_A]

If my ASUS Eee PC 1000HA can run Windows 7 comfortably then just about anything can. I've also ran Windows 7 (the beta) on an Athlon XP with an nVidia 2 chipset. Keep in mind too that the beta wasn't nearly as polished and functional as the current Win 7 SP1 build.

[unfaithfulsfan]

Thanks, guys, that's kinda what I had thought (hoped). I saw in the manual that it was Vista capable but just couldn't find any confirmation of 7. Again, thanks for your help!
Have a great weekend! We're going to go see the Bills get slaughtered by their former #1 tackler, Paul Posluszny, and the Jacksonville Jaguars...go Bills, just go

Jack

[Major_A]

Just go... away? To Hell? Another season of high expectations here. Until they prove me wrong and make the playoffs I'm not sipping the Texans Kool-Aid just yet.

For future reference, if you have a computer than can handle Windows XP then it should be able to run just fine with Win 7 x86. Vista, now that's a different monster. If you can just stay as far away as you can from that broken OS.

[unfaithfulsfan]

Just go... away? To Hell? Another season of high expectations here. Until they prove me wrong and make the playoffs I'm not sipping the Texans Kool-Aid just yet.

For future reference, if you have a computer than can handle Windows XP then it should be able to run just fine with Win 7 x86. Vista, now that's a different monster. If you can just stay as far away as you can from that broken OS.

Actually, I shouldn't joke about the Bills leaving with Toronto is licking its chops to snag the team once Ralph shuffles off the ol' mortal coil. Major_A, you sound awfully a lot like my brother in McAllen, TX, wwaaayyyyyy down in the Rio Grande Valley. He has become conditionally tolerant of the Cowboys but the Texans are his team.

Again, I expect not so much from the Bills this year. They picked up Merriman at the end of last season. He was injured when he got here; 12 minutes into his first practice he sustained an injury; he played one or two snaps against the Bears, had consecutive sacks on Cutler then had another injury in practice the following week...... My Alabama boy, Dareus is on crutches after getting kicked in the calf during practice. They got rid of their #1 tackler--to Jacksonville--as well as their leading WR Lee Evans...Actually I don't mind losing Evans so much because every defense over the last two seasons has shut him down. But now word is circulating that my main Ironman, Fred Jackson, is upset because Spiller's getting all the snaps (C'mon, Freddie, it's the flippin' PRE-season).

Chan's got his work cut out for him. And I'm sure Buddy Nix has several folksy, country boy analogies for everyone to puzzle over. One radio show refers to him as the NFL's Ross Perot.

Oh, one final thing, just what the hell is that 26-line unbroken string of pharmaceuticals? How in the world did it get in here? I know it was reported already and that I haven't been here a lot this year but gee whiz! Has that been happening a lot lately?

Thanks again!
Jack