Will a standard 8800GTX play nice with a OC 8800GTX in SLI?

P

Predator6sic6

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
221
Right now I have a eVGA 8800GTX superclocked and I want to get in on that $299 8800GTX deal on newegg. The one on newegg isnt the supeclocked version will it work in SLI with my superclocked card?

Thanks
 
It should work, but the superclocked card will most likely down clock itself to run at the slower speed of the other card.
 
i had an acs3 gtx paired with an oem gtx and had to under clock the acs3 to maintain system stability. because of the unusual dimensions of the acs3 card it had to go into the to the first slot. and the card in the first slot is the one you have to plug your monitor into. since i was unable to run gtx sli with the stock clocked card in the primary slot, i don't know if you can avoid my problems by forcing sli to run according to the speeds of the stock clocked card by placing the superclocked gtx into the bottom slot.
 
I think I'll just wait until I can get a good deal on the superclocked version. I don't want to have to deal with any hassle.
 
You will not have any problems at all......I'll say it again, at all.

As long as you fullfill this simple rule.....both cards have to be the same type.....
I mean two or three GTX or Ultra or GT 512.....you get the picture.

I have three GTX in SLi. One is a reference card: 575 Mhz, one is OC to 600 Mhz, the third is OC 2 to 620 Mhz all three are factory, no user OCs
My Tri-SLi works without a hitch, I use the fastest card as the master and RivaTuner sees it at it factory OC, by that I mean the card IS NOT dumbed down to the lowest common denominator..........I think that is a common misconception. Another example, my son's box has 8800 GTs in SLi. One card is a reference at 600 Mhz, the other is a factory OC at 640 Mhz. Both run independantly. The Master is the 640 card. Both are XFX branded. No problems whatsoever and his MB is a 650i which only has 8x PCI-e lanes.
My triple-SLi runs on a 680i board with two 16x lanes and one 8x lane.

I have been using SLi for a long time. I have not seen the cards throttle down to the lowset clock in any of my set-ups, and I think this is my fourth or fifth go around.

I do usually play it safe and use the same brand....BFG has made a good deal of cash off me......but I dont even think that mattersd all that much since the cards are made by the same OEM anyway, BFG just slaps a decal on the top and road tests them.

I you need suggestions, give me a holler.....but at 299 I'd snatch one up in a minute if I needed one.
If somebody is saying they've had problems, it can generally be boiled down to user error; not enough power, aggressive user OCs,unstable systems, NOT the SLI. If you SLI the main thing you need to do is have a stable computer as a foundation in the first place. If you overclock the hell out of your foundation and it runs on the edge all the time, it just wont perform well when you add more sensitive components.
I have found SLi and triple SLi to work out of the box without a hitch, each and every time, period. I've only had one problem, and that was due to a faulty Power Supply cable.

All you have to do is make sure you meet the requirements and have a stable system.
 
It will work. The card in the primary slot is the card the other will take the lead from. Meaning if it's the OC'd one, the other will be clocked to match. If the Stocker can't run stable at the OC'd "stock" settings, either lower the primary card's OC or swap the card's slot positions.
 
It will work. However in my experience all the cards will clock down to the speed of the slowest card. I experienced this in SLI and 3-Way SLI.
 
Kowan said:
It will work. The card in the primary slot is the card the other will take the lead from. Meaning if it's the OC'd one, the other will be clocked to match. If the Stocker can't run stable at the OC'd "stock" settings, either lower the primary card's OC or swap the card's slot positions.
Click to expand...

Look at what I wrote above.
Card #1 620 Mhz
Card #2 600 Mhz
Card #3 575 Mhz

That's the way they came out of the box and thats how they run in my computer in three-way.
My "master" is the 620, I have the 575 in the 8x slot and the 600 in the bottom.
I have not attempted to make this perform this way, I have not adjusted anything, I am not some rocket-scientist. Its just how I see it.
Your mileage may vary, but.....the bottom line is it will work no matter how you shake it.
 
magoo
Have you checked with nTune to see if they've defaulted to the lowest clocked?
It allows checking the speed for each card.
 
yup.
as stated.
On another note.....ntune is really poor. I never use it for anything, I did check what you have stated and see it as I have posted.:D
 
I only use nTune for reference myself.
I just checked Nvidia's SLI FAQ section. It's been updated to show now only that you can use differently clocked GPUs. It used to state it would detune the faster to the slower's speed.

Thanks for checking magoo. :)
 
I gotta update from the horse's mouth.
I sent a request to nvidia to settle this controversy once and for all.

I would love to transfer this email to this post but cant for some reason.

According to Manuel, a level II tech (whatever that means):

"each GPU operates at it's manufacturer's clock speed.In SLI mode, regardless of dual or triple, each card operates at its shipping clock speed, even if they are different. Our technology can balence the frame rendering to get the best possible performance amongst the different GPUs."
 
I am in the same boat.. considering a second card. I looked on newegg and can't find this great deal... did I miss it?
 
yeah unfortunately you and me both missed the deal as it was good for 2/29 only. I hope once the 9800 cards come out the price will drop significantly.
 
Predator6sic6 said:
yeah unfortunately you and me both missed the deal as it was good for 2/29 only. I hope once the 9800 cards come out the price will drop significantly.
Click to expand...

I hope they just dont stop making them......this card could very well just cease production, which would be too bad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top