Replace 8800 Ultra with two single slot cards in SLI?

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thebeephaha

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My 8800 Ultra with it's aftermarket cooling uses three slots.

I want to get two single slot cards, that I can SLI and have similar or better performance.

Any ideas? I've been outta the game for a while so I'm not sure what to get.
 
You can get better performance from one card now, no need to get two in SLI unless you really need to.

What resolution do you game at?
How much are you looking to spend?
PSU?
 
Well I game at 1920x1200, looking to spend, under $500, my PSU is a 900w Cooler Master Ultimate.

The reason I need single slot cards is I have a sound card (PCI), raid card (PCI-E 8x), ethernet card (PCI-E 1x), and want to get add some other misc cards I have.

Currently my 8800 is in the bottom PCI-E slot but because of the cooler its blocking my other PCI.

If I don't need two cards I won't get two but I was still under the impression a 9800GT which is I think the best single slot card, is not quite as good?

EDIT:

Here is my current layout:

mobo.jpg
 
Last edited:
Actually, the best (as my knowledge goes) single slot GPU goes is the HD 4850. The 8800GT/9800GT/GTS150 is probably the second best. Two 9800GT's will beat the 8800Ultra in gaming performance as long as you have a decent CPU to drive them.

If I were you, I'd stick with NVIDIA since you can then have the capability to go SLI whenever you want to, though the HD4850 is a bit faster than the 8800Ultra and about equal to the 9800GTX (original).

Oh, and you can do dual displays with SLI enabled on Series 8 and later cards as well with the new 182 driver set, which I'm doing! :)
 
thatz a Strike II Formula that he is using which is a 780i SLI nForce motherobard
so it will support SLI, and since he has a 900W PSU and if he still wanna try SLI
i would say go for it, GTX 260 SLI!
however the GTX295 is also a good choice
 
SINGLE SLOT

People learn to read.

/rant

I only have room for a single slot card, or two single slot cards in SLI, I no longer can afford to use dual slot cooler cards.
 
thebeephaha said:
SINGLE SLOT

People learn to read.

/rant

I only have room for a single slot card, or two single slot cards in SLI, I no longer can afford to use dual slot cooler cards.
Click to expand...
well they were figuring that two single slot cards are going to take up the same room as one dual slot card. cant you place the other cards you want to use in there with a dual slot video card?
 
Nope, I gotta get my other PCI slot free and that means the bottom PCI-E 16 needs to either not be used or only have a single slot card, and the top PCI-E can't have a dual slot card because my NIC card goes under it.

So I guess what I really want to know, what is the BEST NVIDIA single slot card available?

Thanks everyone, sorry for yelling earlier. :)
 
thebeephaha said:
Nope, I gotta get my other PCI slot free and that means the bottom PCI-E 16 needs to either not be used or only have a single slot card, and the top PCI-E can't have a dual slot card because my NIC card goes under it.

So I guess what I really want to know, what is the BEST NVIDIA single slot card available?

Thanks everyone, sorry for yelling earlier. :)
Click to expand...
well the 9800gt 1gb would be the best single slot cards for sli.
 
How will a single one compare to my Ultra?

Though I did notice they aren't hardly expensive at all so two is likely the way I will go.
 
An 8800GT/9800GT (they are exactly the same card) is slightly slower than an 8800GTS 512MB, which is slightly slower than an 8800GTX, which is slightly slower than an 8800 Ultra. So it adds up to a 9800GT being a solid notch slower than an Ultra, but two 9800GT in SLI should easily outperform a single Ultra. You're far from alone in wanting a more powerful single-slot card, which seems to have gone missing in the GTX 2xx lineup.

I was going to suggest just getting a GTX 260 and a motherboard that has ethernet, decent on-board sound and on-board RAID, but I see from your sig that you are actually running some sort of huge server, so I see why that just won't do.
 
evilsofa said:
An 8800GT/9800GT (they are exactly the same card) is slightly slower than an 8800GTS 512MB, which is slightly slower than an 8800GTX, which is slightly slower than an 8800 Ultra. So it adds up to a 9800GT being a solid notch slower than an Ultra, but two 9800GT in SLI should easily outperform a single Ultra. You're far from alone in wanting a more powerful single-slot card, which seems to have gone missing in the GTX 2xx lineup.

I was going to suggest just getting a GTX 260 and a motherboard that has ethernet, decent on-board sound and on-board RAID, but I see from your sig that you are actually running some sort of huge server, so I see why that just won't do.
Click to expand...

It is kind of disappointing... I wish they were able to make a better single slot card. I would have thought by now they'd have done it. I mean the G80 based cards have been out for a looong time in computer terms now.

I hate to ask in the nVidia section... Would I be better served with an ATI card for a single slot solution?
 
thebeephaha said:
I hate to ask in the nVidia section... Would I be better served with an ATI card for a single slot solution?
Click to expand...

The 4850, which comes in single-slot form, is equal to the 9800GTX+ or GTS 250 (which are slightly faster than an 8800 Ultra), so yes.
 
GTX275 or ATI 4890 or even a cheap 4870 1GB card. All would be a good jump from an 8800GTX.
 
thebeephaha said:
Well I game at 1920x1200, looking to spend, under $500, my PSU is a 900w Cooler Master Ultimate.

The reason I need single slot cards is I have a sound card (PCI), raid card (PCI-E 8x), ethernet card (PCI-E 1x), and want to get add some other misc cards I have.

Here is my current layout:


mobo.jpg
Click to expand...

You can move your (PCI-E 1x) ethernet card down to where you currently have your 8800 Ultra now, into the (PCI-E 16x) slot, which will free up the PCI slot underneath it being a one slot card. That will also allow you to have a two slot card up top (GTX260/280 what ever you want) with greater performance and cover up that small PCIe 1x slot beneath it.

PCI-1x can go into any larger PCI-4x,8x or 16x slot just fine and this is your best bet
 
Yeah moving the ethernet card into the pci-e 16x will do you good.
 
thebeephaha said:
The reason I need single slot cards is I have a sound card (PCI), raid card (PCI-E 8x), ethernet card (PCI-E 1x), and want to get add some other misc cards I have.

Currently my 8800 is in the bottom PCI-E slot but because of the cooler its blocking my other PCI.

If I don't need two cards I won't get two but I was still under the impression a 9800GT which is I think the best single slot card, is not quite as good?

EDIT:

Here is my current layout:

mobo.jpg
Click to expand...

1. Move the Intel Pro 1000 PT to the top pci-e 1x slot.
2. Buy a dual-slot cooler video card.
3. Win!
 
Logan321 said:
1. Move the Intel Pro 1000 PT to the top pci-e 1x slot.
2. Buy a dual-slot cooler video card.
3. Win!
Click to expand...

He is trying to be able to use that bottom PCI slot that is blocked, in order to do that he needs to move the Intel Pro 100 PT to the slot that he currently has the 8800 Ultra in and put back on the orginal fan assembly on the ultra or get a another dual slot card to use in the first PCIe slot
 
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