SLI / CrossFire FAQs

[samanosuke47]

Thank you very much for this guide. It has clarified a few questions I've had on sli.

Very well put together.

 

[Maziar]

I'm glad you found it useful.

 

[Reynod]

Yeah ... good work.

I learned a thing or two too !

 

[Maziar]

Thanks Reyond ,I'm glad you liked it.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

i planning to buy ati hd 4870 with core 2 quad 9400/9550/ i3/i5, ram 4gb and i want to know which motherboard is best suitable for this config.

 

[bkreutz]

Hi!

I have a Asus M2N-E SLI moteherboard with AMD Athlon 64 5600 processor and 4 GB of 800Mhz DL DDR3. I am considering buying a new graphic card so that I can play newest games (the new Gothic and so).

For what I read in you forum it s better to have two mid-range gpu than one high-range gpu. But I was heard by our local computer store, that when you are using dual-chanel ram, it is actualy better to have one really good gpu. If you are using triple-chanel ram, than it is better to have two mid-range gpu.

What do you guys think about that?

Also, which gpu (or two) would you suggested for my PC for abour 300$?


Regards, bk

 

[Maziar]

to kiran098730
Please ask your question in the motherboard's section, not in this thread.
to bkreutz
No that's incorrect,dual channel and triple channel aren't the factors to choose a VGA.
You can use 1 or 2 VGAs with both dual/triple channel RAMs without any problems.
As for a suggestion,well HD 5850 would be a great choice in your price range.

 

[bkreutz]

Hi Maziar! Thanks for quick answer.

About your suggestion - don't you think that I should use Nvidia graphic card, as my motherboard is based on Nvidia nForce chipset?

 

[Maziar]

There isn't any problem running a single Nvidia card on an ATI chipset or vice-versa.

 

[Maziar]

Oh sorry, didn't see your reply first.

 

[bkreutz]

I am thinking of buying the card you have reviewed yesterday.
Asus ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/1GD5

For now I would buy only one, but (beacuse it is new) this card would still be selling in a 6 months time, so I can get another one then and use them with SLI connection.

Do you think that this is still beacause I don't have up-to-date motherboard? Will this card even get me work for me as well as it should?


Thnx, bk

 

[Maziar]

What's your motherboard and what resolution do you play at ?

 

[bkreutz]

What's your motherboard and what resolution do you play at ?

I have a Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard. As far as resolution is consirned, I am also buying a new monitor with full hd resolution which connects to hdmi port. So I guest 1920 × 1080 would be great.

 

[Maziar]

A GTX 460 is a good choice, and adding another one will give you a great boost in performance.

 

[michael_marius]

Hi! I didn't understand very well if nVidia GeForce 9500GT (Gigabyte), 1024MB, 128Bit and nVidia GeForce 8600GT (XFX), 256MB, 128Bit will work together in SLI can someone help me?

My old nVidia GeForce 8600GT has two condensators exploded but still works 😀, now i bought nVidia GeForce 9500GT, the main idea is that the old video card had a bigger score in Windows 7, 6.6 on both Graphics and Gaming Graphics. The new card nVidia GeForce 9500GT scores only 4.9 in Graphic and 6.3 in Gaming Graphic.
I want to change the condensators and make them work in SLI mode, is it worth?

Many thanks, waiting for your answer!

My English is not so good sorry for eventual mistakes!

 

[Maziar]

Did you even read the first page ?
the cards have to be the same in order to work in SLI mode, so you can't SLI a 8600GT with a 9500GT.

 

[dogman_1234]

If you do, the perfomance on the lower end card will be your GPU status.

 

[Maziar]

If anyone needs my e-mail,its located in my profile,please don't ask for it in this topic.

 

[Maziar]

Edited again.
Now the questions are bold so they are easier to find, and i edited the info about using 2 or more cards with different clock speeds.

 

[relaxgman]

is it fine to put a card on top of another wont that affect the vents?

 

[Maziar]

As long as you have a good cooling solution in your case,then it will be fine

 

[pabloottawa]

Hey guys,

Quick questions about setting up 2 5850s in crossfire. Each of the two cards have 2 connections for power.... Together they have 4- 6 pin connectors.

My Power supply is a Cooler Master silent power pro 700 (RS-700-AMBA-D3) and it currently has 2 native 6 pin power connectors. Although this is fine to run one card and can even run 2, how do I configure it to run 2 cards if both cards need EVERYTHING CONNECTED? I have the adapters but each adapter needs 2- 4 pin connectors from the PSU meaning that altogether they need 4- 4 pin connectors which I simply do not have.

I've done countless and countless searches and can't find one damm tutorial on how to properly setup 2 video cards in crossfire that have need 2- 6 pin connections EACH????? i mean, how can this be???? there's tons of information and tutorials and videos on 5850's in crossfire mode but not one tutorial, video or forum post mentions ANYTHING about the connections that the power supplies need to feed these monsters. Can someone please help me. I am getting really frustrated.

 

[dogman_1234]

Tutorials? Really?

So, basically, you need to find out if yiou need to power both cards and access the x-bridge to link both cards?

 

[pabloottawa]

No man,

I need to find out exactly how everyone else does it. I mean all the threads I've seen and all the sites I've looked at trying to find an answer to this mystery says nothing about this dillema so it leaves me thinking that it's not that big a deal and everyone who is crossfiring 5850s are doing it fairly easily without a PSU that has 4- 6 pin PCI-E connector cables.....

I know I'm sounding dumb here but I have really made an effort to find this answer on my own but it seems that no one else is having this issue but me so what am I missing????? I'm totally stumped.


EDIT!!! i RE READ MY POST AND I JUST REALIZED THAT IT'S NOT ALL THAT CLEAR..... iT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CROSSFIRE BRIDGE AT THE TOP... i KNOW i HAVE TO CONNECT THEM THERE.... IT'S ALL ABOUT THE 2 POWER CONNECTION POINTS AT THE BACK. HOW IS EVERYONE ELSE DOING IT AND WHAT PSUs are you using to do it with???? how are you connecting the PSU to the cards and what adapters/splitters/fancy cables are you using?

 

[dogman_1234]

I take it you have 2 cards that are 4 AND 6 pins connecting from the PSU. Did you try looking in the box you got the cards in? They came with connectors that will allow your native PSU to connect and power your Dal GPU system.