• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

SLI cooling / heat problems?

J

joecuddles

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
1,103
I'm just wondering how they're going to address this.. It's my understanding that currently, the x800XTPE and 6800UOC run pretty hot. If you were to put two of these side by side in a case, like SLI, would you not run into a heat problem? And for those who like to watercool, how in the hell are you going to get a WC setup going with the cards side by side like that?

I don't see SLI having much room for OC potential or WC potential unless you can move the cards. Two cards, side by side, running that hot can't be good.

Am I overestimating the heat output of two 6800UOC's side by side?
 
Good point! I beleive they will have to use the lower end cards for SLI to remove that risk. Considering the Ultra takes two slots, it wouldn't work according to the few pictures out of the SLI configuration.
 
I remember having 2x Voodoo 2's in SLI and if I put them side by side I would have heat problems. I had to leave a pci slot inbetween emtpy.

I'm pretty sure 2x 6800 ultra OC side by side is gonna require special cooling. Like fans that blow outside the case.
 
I'm surprised noone has ever mentioned this. Unless motherboard makers place PCI-E slots farther apart and have the connector longer so that you can actually seperate them (as of now I believe it's just a small chip connector).

I bet we'll see Zalman and other places coming out with extremely enlarged cooling systems that enclose both cards and provide adequate cooling.. which would be quiet, I'm sure </sarcasm>

Looks like all those people trigger happy to get 6800's in SLI may have a slight problem on their hands unless cooling is addressed shortly :)
 
joecuddles said:
I'm just wondering how they're going to address this.. It's my understanding that currently, the x800XTPE and 6800UOC run pretty hot. If you were to put two of these side by side in a case, like SLI, would you not run into a heat problem? And for those who like to watercool, how in the hell are you going to get a WC setup going with the cards side by side like that?

I don't see SLI having much room for OC potential or WC potential unless you can move the cards. Two cards, side by side, running that hot can't be good.

Am I overestimating the heat output of two 6800UOC's side by side?
Click to expand...
you know that is a really good point, never really thought about it, but also im not planning to get SLi anytime soon as it is quite expensive. also, i think the first gen of SLi will have several problems but if nvidia has a second gen of the tech, then it will be far better implemented. again great point, they have to have like pci exhaust fans or something along those lines to channel proper air flow.
 
I think those who can afford SLI can also afford appropriate cooling. Cooling is pretty much the last thing that any graphics card manufacturer would ignore.

Plus, alienware already has it running and I'm sure NVidia has done it in testing phases.

If you're worried about overclocking potential, I don't think people who run SLI setups overclock anything, nor do they need to.
 
People will overclock anything, especially the rich enthusiasts. And I know they've been running SLI setups already, and I know Alienware is supplying them as well. I've never seen and temps from anything, we've never seen how long they run for, how hot they get, how hot the case gets, etc.

Just because it runs, doesn't mean it runs well, or for long, or cool enough. And once it hits mainstream (rather than Alienware only) I'm curious to see the kind of cooling setups people pull out of the air.

As I said, am I overestimating the heat from a 6800UOC? Won't two of them side by side cause a problem? They could have easily run the benches for 10 minutes and shut them off immediately. People do it with extreme overclocking all the time, I don't see why NV PR or Alienware PR wouldn't do the same.
 
seasponge said:
i have a feeling sli is going to be a big flop, unless you are rich
Click to expand...


How could SLI be a big flop???

Advantages:
1. Nvidia has only added a connector to the top and a bridge PCB connecter = cheap
2. Not too much development on new hardware
3. A motherboard with a PCI-E 16X and a PCI-E 8x can't cost too much more than just one slot.
4. Almost twice the performance
5. Easy upgradability, just slap another card in and you've just doubled your performance.
6. Upgrade later on down the line when your performance is lack luster and by then, I'm sure the 2nd video card will be a lot cheaper.

Disadvantages:
1. Costs another 500 bucks for an Ultra for almost twice the performance
2. Costs extra for the extra PCI-E 8x slot (but can't be much)
3. Double the HEAT, but the motherboards will be designed with a PCI-E 1x slot in between the two slots designated for the video cards to ensure you can fit 2 double slot Ultras
4. Mostly enthusiasts will go this route, so not that many people will buy it, but there really aren't too many costs going into it. I think it's an excellent route for the enthusiast market.
5. You'll need a better power supply, but you shouldn't have gone cheap on it in the first place. Good excuse for an upgrade.

SLI is the enthusiasts dream. No really new expensive hardware to buy, and it only costs that of another video card. One could only praise Nvidia for doing this. It's the next best thing to dual cores, heck, I think it would be considered dual cores.
I plan on selling my 6800 Ultra AGP when the Nforce4 comes out and get dual 6800 Ultra PCI-E's with watercooling and overclocking the crap out of them, not out of need, but then why else would I be on this forum. ;)
 
Even if you were to have 2x 6800 Ultra in SLI wouldn't you need a 4-5ghz+ cpu to even begin to see it's potential?
 
No. You gain about a 77% increase, based on NV/Alienware results. One card renders the top half, one card renders the bottom half of the screen, they have a load balancing system to keep things in check.
 
btf said:
Even if you were to have 2x 6800 Ultra in SLI wouldn't you need a 4-5ghz+ cpu to even begin to see it's potential?
Click to expand...
and doesnt current CPUs limit just one 6800 ultra or is it the other way around?
 
sli I don't think was really ment for gamers though, its more beneficial for high end 3d artists. Whats the use of sli for games right now the cards are being limited by cpu as a few of you have mentioned.
 
joecuddles said:
No. You gain about a 77% increase, based on NV/Alienware results. One card renders the top half, one card renders the bottom half of the screen, they have a load balancing system to keep things in check.
Click to expand...


Aleinware wasn't true SLI, they are using software in the middle thats why they only get 77% boost. Also Alienwares setup will work for ATI cards too.
 
You will most likely not see the potential until you start running the really high resolutions with high levels of AA and AF.
 
You're saying that there wasn't SLI in place with the Alienwares, and that they're running their own software to run with both cards?

Now that I think of it, I never thought of the fact that they can run x800XTPE's as well... Well then. I stand corrected, and it seems we have yet to see any benches regarding SLI :)

We could expect the same performance, logically. Technically you should be expecting at least 90%, with two cards.
 
joecuddles said:
You're saying that there wasn't SLI in place with the Alienwares, and that they're running their own software to run with both cards?

Now that I think of it, I never thought of the fact that they can run x800XTPE's as well... Well then. I stand corrected, and it seems we have yet to see any benches regarding SLI :)

We could expect the same performance, logically. Technically you should be expecting at least 90%, with two cards.
Click to expand...


nvidia's sli doesn't use a software component that I'm aware of. I might be wrong haven't really looked into that much but I haven't been able to find anything about that according to tech docs. Alienware I'm pretty sure developed the motherboard on thier own (hence called Video Array) so it will be complient with both ATi and nV cards.
 
Damned Alienware and their proprietary technology!! Someone better release a mobo like that... I want two x800XTPE's!
 
joecuddles said:
Damned Alienware and their proprietary technology!! Someone better release a mobo like that... I want two x800XTPE's!
Click to expand...


Just buy an alx man lol nice systems hehe :cool:
 
I would, but I like money :)

My new system will be just as fast as one of those, minus the dual x800XTPE's, I'll 'only' have one :p
 
why do i have a feeling that sli will be a flop (unless you are rich)?

when i buy a video card (which is rare for me to do), i can only afford a card that is several generations old. thus, buying two cheap ass cards would not be of much benefit to me when i can buy one semi good card.

my budget on video cards is never over $200

i have a feeling that since i am forced to buy old generation cards, one $200 card would probably yield better performance than two even shittier $100 cards. do you see what i am saying? i am with you on the upgradeability part and that sounds good and all, however when it comes time for me to upgrade i would bet that buying a single better and newer (though still not cutting edge of course, but newer in relation to what i currently have) card would be better than adding another old crappy ass card. a new single card might take advantage of new software etc.

for example: what would be better dual directx 8 cards or a single better directx 9 card that can actually take advantage of the software.

this is why i believe sli is not for the poor person (unless they get tricked).

don't get me wrong it sounds awesome if you have the money.
 
Well it's not like you HAVE to use SLI.

They just have it there for the few people out there who want to run Doom 3/Far Cry w/8xAA/16xAF @ 1900x1440 on their spanking new 30" Apple LCD and have a quad-monitor setup for productivity when not gaming... that's all.

I don't see any disadvantage of that to normal users, and certainly none to the more privileged of us. In fact, one might even call it an advantage.

As a plus, the cards are the same price as their ATI competitors that don't have that as an option, so it's not like you can complain "I'm not gonna pay extra for this BS"

Now, if NVidia made a graphics card that ONLY let you run it in SLI mode... yeah that's a flop:p
 
It's another option for the high end and it will be great if they can get it to work well. I'm still always disapointed that the cards are behind the new games performance wise, so it would be nice to have the option and possibility to run a new game maxed out in a high res with decent AA & AF levels without having to replay it three or four card generations later to see it how it should have looked / run when it was new.

Will this nvidia SLI, in theory allow more than two cards?
 
im not complaining, just confirming that it really isn't a solution in any practical sense. then again i don't use aa or af. and like i said, im sure it will be awesome if you can afford it. for me = flop, maybe i will be surprised though, who knows
 
Ephemera said:
Will this nvidia SLI, in theory allow more than two cards?
Click to expand...

I don't believe so... I could be wrong, but the connectors look like they can only handle a pair
 
seasponge said:
im not complaining, just confirming that it really isn't a solution in any practical sense. then again i don't use aa or af. and like i said, im sure it will be awesome if you can afford it. for me = flop, maybe i will be surprised though, who knows
Click to expand...

Well the only thing I must say is that people keep saying it isn't a practical solution, but IMO spending $400 on a GeForce 6800 GT isn't a practical solution (when you can get a non-ultra for $280 and still play everything on high w/AA/AF at 1280x1024).

As a result, people can say it's impractical, but just like those who had $500 to burn on their current graphics card, it's not out of the question that some people might have $1000 to burn. (or perhaps more reasonably, $800 to burn on 2x GeForce 6800GT's down the line)

I mean honestly, not too long ago, 6800 Ultras were going off eBay for over $800... those people could (and most likely will) easily buy 2x 6800GT's and get way more performance than their current Ultra's... or they could just get another ultra:p

The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of rich people out there... just none on these forums:p

Computing is one of the cheapest hobbies in existence (compared to photography where my dad just spent $6000 on a single camera... WITHOUT A LENS!!!... the lens cost another $5000)
 
I don't think heating will be an issue. I have my GT right next to my Sweetspot capture card and this card heats up when I'm running my gamecube for a few hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top