8800GT and 9800GT sli compatibility

[keios]

Okay, I'm looking to upgrade my current system by sticking in another card and getting some of that shiny sli goodness. I'm currently running an 8800GT, however I've gone online to buy another one and found that they've suddenly become rarer than rocking horse poop. However a little digging about has informed me that the 9800GT is the same card, just with a different sticker on it and multiple sli enabled. So my question is this- can I just buy a 9800GT and stick it in my spare PCI-E slot, hook it up to my 8800GT and have them work in perfect happy symphony, or will I have to perform some dark arcane jiggery-pokery to convince my system they're the same, or am I going to have to bite the bullet and buy 2 entirely new cards?


Many thanks in advance.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Doubtful but very very slim chance if it's the last 8800GT revision and the first batch of 9800GT from the same manufacturer and only then if you were able to flash the BIOS to "trick" the cards into thinking they are the same. I haven't read anything about anyone being able to accomplish this but who knows, this is Tom's Hardware after all and maybe someone has a mod to make it work.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Just get 2 new cards, ebay = ripoff.

 

[maison]

Probably is not.

 

[B-Unit]

The lesson to take away from this? Stop buying nVidia.

 

[Mousemonkey]

The lesson to take away from this? Stop buying [strike]nVidia[/strike]ATi.

I shall have to start using that in ATi threads, with a minor change of course.

 

[daship]

lol damn fanyboys.

 

[B-Unit]

I shall have to start using that in ATi threads, with a minor change of course.

Well, lets recap quickly...

The same chip, released under 3 different names, and none of them SLi compatible with the other 'names' Sounds like a good ol fashioned corn holing to me.

But go ahead and keep giving the a-holes your money, apparently your a fan.

 

[Mousemonkey]

apparently your a fan.

Apparently you're not.

 

[B-Unit]

I was till they started pulling this renaming crap. Ill never buy another nv product.

 

[Mousemonkey]

That my friend is your prerogative.

 

[lucuis]

Okay, I'm looking to upgrade my current system by sticking in another card and getting some of that shiny sli goodness. I'm currently running an 8800GT, however I've gone online to buy another one and found that they've suddenly become rarer than rocking horse poop. However a little digging about has informed me that the 9800GT is the same card, just with a different sticker on it and multiple sli enabled. So my question is this- can I just buy a 9800GT and stick it in my spare PCI-E slot, hook it up to my 8800GT and have them work in perfect happy symphony, or will I have to perform some dark arcane jiggery-pokery to convince my system they're the same, or am I going to have to bite the bullet and buy 2 entirely new cards?


Many thanks in advance.

You're probably better off buying a gtx 275, which is about double or more performance of your current card. If prices aren't right, i'd wait till they are. It's situations like this that make sli/cf stupid.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Or, forget about the SLI. Sell your 8800GT and get one GTX 275. It'll be very close, even faster in some benchmarks, than a pair of SLI'd 8800 GT.

If your CPU and monitor won't bottleneck a second GTX 275, then get another one and rin SLI.

 

[jitpublisher]

Yeah, I always say buy the best single card you can afford, then later add another for SLI or Crossfire. In your case though, you have waited too long.
You are back to the "buy the best single card you can afford".
The 8800GT is little too far gone IMHO.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Yeah, I always say buy the best single card you can afford, then later add another for SLI or Crossfire. In your case though, you have waited too long.
You are back to the "buy the best single card you can afford".
The 8800GT is little too far gone IMHO.

I own a pair of them [:mousemonkey:2] 🙁 but I've got to agree, if I were buying today the GTX275's would be about the top of my list.

 

[CAPP]

I went from a 8800GT 512Mb to 2 8800GT's and couldnt get SLi to work, so I opted to getting a GTX260 OC 898Mb from Best Buy and it works like a dream. The card is 10 1/2" long and covers 2 slots.

 

[keios]

Well, I managed to find a second 8800GT for a mere £30 so it's a bit of a moot point now. Although if you can point me in the direction of a better fresh card for under that I'll happily concede that I made a mistake.

 

[Mousemonkey]

If it's a fully functioning card, then sweet deal.

 

[keios]

It is- a friend of mine just got a large (undeserved because he's a manager) bonus and decided to upgrade his machine, so I'm taking advantage of his good fortune.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Nice, well I hope your experience with SLi turns out to be a good one. I have been running 8800's in SLi for over a year and a half now and have had no problems at all, good luck and happy gaming.