Does this motherboard support SLI?

[Ryken100]

Hey guys, I ordered an Asus P7P55 LX motherboard from TigerDirect, it hasn't arrived yet though. I was looking for a Socket 1156 mother board that also supports SLI, as I already have two 9600GT's running in my current setup. Also, one that was within my budget, as I also ordered a Core i5 processor with it.

As you can see here on the page I ordered it from , in the title it says it's SLI Ready, however I've just noticed that in Additional Technologies under the Specifications section, it only says CrossFire Ready. That got me kinda alarmed, so I did some searching, and I found that alot of places only list it as CrossFire Ready. Has TigerDirect lied to me?

It's clear to me from my searching, though, that the P55 chipset does in fact support SLI, and that non-SLI boards can be made to run SLI, so if it turns out that this board doesn't support SLI out of the box is there a way for me to make it work?

 

[saint19]

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

That mobo have chipset Intel, so, the SLI or Crossfire limitation don't apply here. You don't need worry about this.

 

[Ryken100]

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

That mobo have chipset Intel, so, the SLI or Crossfire limitation don't apply here. You don't need worry about this.

Thank you sir.

And you're completely sure about this? Because some of the higher end P7P55 motherboards list both SLI and CrossFire under their Specification, while the P7P55 LX only lists CrossFire. It's even the same way Asus' website.

Btw, thank's for your response.

 

[saint19]

Pretty sure, but bear in mind that that mobo only support SLI at x4 mode, that isn't a good speed.

So, If I were you, I would buy another mobo.

 

[Ryken100]

Pretty sure, but bear in mind that that mobo only support SLI at x4 mode, that isn't a good speed.

So, If I were you, I would buy another mobo.

Oh ok, thank you sir.

 

[saint19]

Do you already buy the mobo?

 

[Ryken100]

Do you already buy the mobo?

Yeah, I've bought it, but maybe I can send it back.

 

[saint19]

Ok. Do you live in Canada or USA

 

[Ryken100]

Ok. Do you live in Canada or USA

The USA.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

That motherboard does not support SLI. All P55 boards with multiple PCI-E slots support Crossfire, but they have to pay Nvidia a fee to get the board SLI certified. If the board doesn't say that it's SLI certified, it's not. It doesn't matter anyway. Like Saint19 said, the board runs its second PCI-E slot at 4x speed, so it's not a good idea at all to run multiple GPU's on it. The second card will be SEVERELY handicapped by the 4x speed.

 

[saint19]

Well, if you can return it. This are two good options for your.

1- http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083579&CatId=4720
2- http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5570286&CatId=4725 with USB 3.0 and SATA III

 

[Ryken100]

That motherboard does not support SLI. All P55 boards with multiple PCI-E slots support Crossfire, but they have to pay Nvidia a fee to get the board SLI certified. If the board doesn't say that it's SLI certified, it's not. It doesn't matter anyway. Like Saint19 said, the board runs its second PCI-E slot at 4x speed, so it's not a good idea at all to run multiple GPU's on it. The second card will be SEVERELY handicapped by the 4x speed.

I've been searching TigerDirect for LGA 1156 motherboards that support SLI and 2 PCI-E 16X or 8X slots, and I can't find any, at least not for a humane price anyway.

 

[Ryken100]

Well, if you can returned. This are two good options for your.

1- http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083579&CatId=4720
2- http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5570286&CatId=4725 with USB 3.0 and SATA III

It says on both of those that they only have one PCI-E 16X slots.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

That's because tigerdirect's site specs suck. Here are the same two board's on Newegg. The specs on both of them are much better.

ASUS P7P55D PRO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $169.99

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $189.99

The prices are the same as on Tigerdirect. I would just buy it from Newegg.

The specs on Newegg's site for both cards says this: "2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)"

 

[saint19]

It says on both of those that they only have one PCI-E 16X slots.

Check the ASUS's web site, or the link that shortstuff_mt post, are the same mobos that I suggest to you.

 

[Ryken100]

Check the ASUS's web site, or the link that shortstuff_mt post, are the same mobos that I suggest to you.

Oh, yeah, I see now, thanks guys.

I just found out that DDR3 boards are incompatible with DDR2 memory (which I have in my current setup, and was planning to use), and I don't have the extra cash to pay for the motherboard, Core i5 processor, plus 3GB of DDR3.

So what I'm gonna do is get an AMD Quad Core 2.9GHz processor, MSI motherboard, and 3GB of Centon 8500 DDR3 RAM

And it comes out to be cheaper than having just the Asus motherboard and Core i5 alone. What do you think, is this set up good enough?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You don't want 3GB kits. The systems you're looking at use dual channel RAM controllers. You want your RAM in even pairs or they won't run in dual channel mode. Is there a reason you're still hung up on using Tigerdirect? I'm going to continue to provide Newegg links because they're better.

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT - Retail $99.99

 

[Ryken100]

You don't want 3GB kits. The systems you're looking at use dual channel RAM controllers. You want your RAM in even pairs or they won't run in dual channel mode. Is there a reason you're still hung up on using Tigerdirect? I'm going to continue to provide Newegg links because they're better.

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT - Retail $99.99

Well, it's my uncle who's ordering the stuff, and he only uses TigerDirect. I don't think I'll be able to get anything from Newegg.

 

[saint19]

^Ok.

So, with the specifications for the RAM that shortstuff_mt says, I can suggest to you a better configuration for the rig.

1- Athlon II X2 635
2- M4A79XTD EVO, is a better mobo for only $10 more
3- Corsair 4GB 1600 CL7
4- Re-sell all your current parts (RAM, mobo, processor and GPUs) and buy this 5770