Quick SLI question

[Guest]

I'm currently running a single EVGA 7600GT 256mb graphics card on an ASUS mobo that supports SLI with two PCIE slots. I would like to add a second identical card and run SLI. This card is no longer in production so I had to look on ebay where I've found several for sale. However, I notice that the exact model number varies a bit from card to card.

For example, my card is EVGA 256-P2-N553-AX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3

....but one on ebay is listed as EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3

Is the difference between N553-AX and N615-TX just a version?

I haven't looked into SLI in awhile, but my original understanding was that you need two identical cards. If I bought this card on ebay with the slightly different model number, would it still run with my existing one?

Thanks for your help.

 

[tomasf]

look at th gpu an memory speed. if they match you´r fine.

 

[Guest]

Specs for my card (N553-AX) say the following:

GPU GeForce 7600GT
Core Clock 580MHz
PixelPipelines 12
Memory Clock 1500MHz(effective)
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

Specs for the card on ebay (N615-TX) say the following:

GPU GeForce 7600GT
Core Clock 560MHz
PixelPipelines 12
Memory Clock 1400MHz
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

So....yeah or nay? Looks like the memory clock is a tad off, but I don't know what 'effective' means, and the GPU is identical.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[daedalus685]

Yeah, it will work fine. I believe SLI will downclock the faster card to the speed of the slower, unlike Crossfire, but it realyl doesnt make a difference.

Effective means that that is the speed after the DDR multiplier is applied. (double the base speed)

 

[orangegator]

Unless you can get a second card for free, you'd be better off getting a newer, single card.

 

[Guest]

Unless you can get a second card for free, you'd be better off getting a newer, single card.

I can get the second card for around $50-$60. What newer card can I get for the same price that would outperform a pair of the 7600GT?

 

[daedalus685]

a 4670/9600 would probably be close.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

+1^. Please reconsider going to a single card. Unless you're playing only games from 3 years ago, 2 X 7600 GTs in SLI gets smoked even by one 8800 GTS 512.

 

[Guest]

Ok I'm looking at new single cards as suggested. These quesitons have probably been asked a lot before, so thanks again for your help.

As I look at the specs, which ones should influence my choice the most? I know memory isn't everything, so is it a combination of memory size and memory speed, or does clock speed weigh in higher or lower than those?

The 9600 was mentioned. Here are three 9600 cards from the same manufacturer. What is better:

A 128-bit card with 1GB of memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150340

or a 192-bit card with 768MB of memory -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150320

or lastly a 256-bit card with 512MB of memory -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150397

 

[uncfan_2563]

yeah dont waste anymore on a 7600GT. go for the 9600GT or 4670... plus they'll be quieter and cooler

 

[daedalus685]

There is realyl no need to get 1gig on a card like this. That much memory is only needed if you do a lot of graphics work or play at extreme resolutions (which really won't be possible on this card anyway). 512mb is fine, and the 256bit memory bus would perform far faster.

The GT is better than the GSO as far as the naming goes. But you acn derive that fromteh specs usually.

Careful if you compare ati to nvidia based on spesc though. They work differently and should be compared based on benchmarks.

 

[Guest]

Ok understood. The price for the 9600GT is fine and I can probably get $50 or so for my existing 7600GT on ebay.

So are we saying that the 9600GT is more or less the best card at this price point? If not I guess now I need to see what legit competition might be.

Thanks again, this is great.

 

[orangegator]

edit: never mind. It's ddr2, which is no go.