SLI MoBos do I have to directly have 2 VGAs ?

Phrik

Phrik

Gawd
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Jan 3, 2006
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If I buy a SLI mobo like the P5N32 Striker, do I have to have 2 nVIDIA graphic cards right away, or can I buy 1 first then buy a 2nd later... ?

Thanks for info !
 
If budget is an issue, why go with the Striker over the P5N32-E SLI? Same board essentially...$100 cheaper ($100 closer to another video card ;) ).
 
menlatin said:
one is fine. You SHOULD get two though. :D
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That depends 100% on the resolutions that he is running. Anything less that 16x12 and he'll see little to no gains with a dual GPU solution. That's the main reason that I don't run Crossfire/SLI in my rigs.... my resolution is 12x10 so there is no need. My e-penos is big enough. :D
 
Poncho said:
That depends 100% on the resolutions that he is running. Anything less that 16x12 and he'll see little to no gains with a dual GPU solution. That's the main reason that I don't run Crossfire/SLI in my rigs.... my resolution is 12x10 so there is no need. My e-penos is big enough. :D
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On the flip side of that, if you're running something big like 1920x1200, dual graphics is almost a must with newer games to get good framerates with eye candy :(. Unless you have $600 to spend on a single video card that is.
 
I got 2x 20" wide monitors, where I will be buying 2 more wide 24" (don't ask, I really do need many monitors). I'm running 2 computers 1 has 2 of 20" wide monitors and the other PC with 2x 19" normal LCD monitors.

Anyway, on my PC with the 20" monitors they are all set at 1680x1050...

I changed my mind of getting X1950s for Xfire and now going for 8800GTXs in SLI. I was thinking I could use all 4 DVI connections and use 4 monitors... possible ?

Money is not the issue. Possibilities is the issue to me.
 
If you're really running Crossfire or SLi mode...it's 1 output only. You can run the cards separate to get use of all of the DVI outputs.
 
When running SLI, you are limited to 1 monitor (IIRC). You can run 4 monitors with the dual DVI connections on both cards, but you can't run them all at the same time in SLI.
 
Edit last post: or your could get a Matrox TripleHead2Go and use a DVI to analog converter, then pipe it to 2 screens, but they all operate as 1/3 of one large horizontally spanned display...and ATI support is very iffy.
 
Aaaah... so SLIing will only give me 1 output. But if not SLIed capable of using all outputs.

Note to self: No SLIs.

Right ?

No Matrox...... bad experience.

Anyone has more advice about my needs ?
 
Here's is what I would do if you want to run multiple monitors. Get a GOOD card for your primary 2 displays (you'll only use 1, maybe 2 when you game) and then get a "so/so" card for your other 2 displays. There is ZERO reason to buy 2 8800s for a multiple monitor setup. Make sure you stick with the same brand of card so you don't run into driver issues. My suggestion is to get an 8800 and a 7800 (maybe even less) for the 2 other monitors. This will cut down heat and power useage. Just my .02c.
 
Oh.. the only thing that may make you need both cards to be high end would be if you do some type of 3d rendering/autocad/etc on all of the monitors. In that case you should probably be looking at the matrox line or the quadro line since they cater to this type of work more than the gaming lines.
 
Yeah, if you're not using SLI, you could get something like an 8800GTX and something less. Poncho said a 7800 (or less). I'd say a 7600GT (or maybe even a 6600GT if you're really on a budget), but it really depends on what you're doing.
 
Is SLI switchable by driver settings in Windows, or do I have to always unplug that SLI connector ?

I also game every weekend. I'm working into getting a multi purpose PC.

For media and storage (and I mean a lot)
For gaming hence the possible need of SLI (better if switchable)
For work hence the need of multiple monitors

Money is not the problem at all. Of course I just can't buy everything at once. I've planned all for 2 months.
 
I can enable/disable crossfire right in Windows. I'd assume you could do something similar with Nvidia (I ran SLI way back when it came out 2 years ago, but I don't remember what it did...maybe a reboot of Windows).
 
kirbyrj said:
I can enable/disable crossfire right in Windows. I'd assume you could do something similar with Nvidia (I ran SLI way back when it came out 2 years ago, but I don't remember what it did...maybe a reboot of Windows).
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Anyone else's idea about toggleing SLI from within Windows ?
 
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