Sli noob might have made a boo-boo

[irishdave]

i think ive screwed up and need some advice from a hardware expert since i'm lost in a world of acronyms.

my 8800gts bit the dust the other day so i decided my pc could do with a new gfx card. something a bit more potent. i figured i could make one giant leap, for cheap, by upgrading to sli 9800gt, thus more than doubling my gfx performance. i am an avid gamer (bf2, bf2142, cs:s, racedriver grid, nfs shift etc.) and i do alot of 3d modelling in rhinocerous.

on ocuk i saw this card https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-096-BG and rashly ordered 2 of them so i could have sli. i had assumed that all i needed to do was plug the two cards into my mobo and hey presto, sli. however on reading an sli installation tutorial i think i may have been a bit naive.

my mobo is a P5W DH Deluxe http://uk.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=m4cR4iaPdABNLtQa on the Asus site it says the mobo is crossfire compatible but no mention of sli. i dont know much when it comes to chipsets and i have read some refereces (from back in 2006) where people say my mobo does not currently support sli but an update will make it available. can someone who knows their stuff please advise me on weather or not i need to cancel my order? if so, is there an equivalent (price and performance) ATI card you could recommend? (i have never had an ATI card so i dont 'get' their numbering system as well as i get nvidias.

do i need a bridge, or attachent component? if so where do i order one for my board?

my power supply is 750w + intel q6600. win xp sp3.

sincere thanks
david

 

[insaneclowngod]

First off your board will not run sli, it has an Intel 975X chipset. You need an Nvidia chipset to run sli save for a select amount of newer Intel boards (i5/i7 kind of newer). The reason is not that the hardware does not support it but a licensing thing.

There was talk that the 975x may support sli, however i believe that fell through and was never licensed.
It's possible the "update" that you referred to is a hacked Nvidia driver that was worked up by Asrock if I remember right. Because Asrock didnt have Nvidia's permission to hack the driver (which Nvidia won't give freely, Why would they) was taken down and more or less disappeared from the web because it was a single driver revision and is now old.

Lastly If you are going to get new cards the best thing for you to do would be to get one bigger card as opposed to two smaller cards as your performance doesnt "double" in sli or crossfire, it is higher but nowhere near double.

The 4870's are nice and xfx now makes ati cards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436&cm_re=xfx_4870-_-14-150-436-_-Product
is a good upper mid range and is 1 series behind right now but far surpasses the 8800gts. If you go for that card make sure to register it to get the double lifetime warranty.
A step up from that card is the 4890.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438&cm_re=4890-_-14-150-438-_-Product

 

[irishdave]

many thanks, since your suggesting one big card rather than 2 cheaper sli/xfire. would you go for a new nvidia or ati? as ive said ive never hand an ATI and i am a bit unsure about them. ive heard that in the last few years nvidia have been better than ati. what would you recommend for my price range (up to £150 or there abouts)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=939
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1403
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1515
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=927
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1410

 

[mindless728]

ATI 5770

 

[insaneclowngod]

If you are getting it from overclockers this would be your link
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-124-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1403

newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438&cm_re=xfx_4890-_-14-150-438-_-Product


But you need a PSU that has 2 6pin PCI-E connectors.

I've been an Nvidia guy for a long time but ATI fixed the driver issues they had and now companies that I trust make ATI cards, also upper mid range pricing is being won by ATI right now.

My roommate has a XFX 4870 and he loves it.

 

[insaneclowngod]

ATI 5770

I would personally get the 4890, it should be a bit quicker.
though the 5770 may overclock better and does support DX11, I prefer to get a High end card a series old, over a lower end card of the newest series.

 

[irishdave]

That was going to be my next question. Is one an older series? I take it the first number (4xxx and 5xxx) is the series and the second number (x8xx) is how high end it is. I try to avoid overclockig and my gut feeling is to go for the older higher end one. Thanks for the advice all. I'm still listening if anyone else has an opinion

 

[insaneclowngod]

If you are not going to overclock (the only real benifit to 5770) my reccomendation stays as it was. 4890 from xfx. Some people may care about Dx11 but nothing is out for it yet (there will be) and look at Dx10, the eye candy increase was minimal and the FPS was cut in half. I have not researched Dx11 yet but as of right now am not concerned.

And yes you pretty much have the naming structure down. First number = series, Second = Subseries 3&4 are more for the model. To me unless you are comparing cards that are 2 series apart i.e. Radeon 3870 Vs Radeon 5770, the 2nd number is more important to the preformance, i.e. Radeon 4890 Vs Radeon 5770, which is different by 1 series. Again that may change but for the past 5 or so years been constant.

 

[jyjjy]

Please ignore the obvious fanboy.
An HD5770 is my recommendation. An HD4890 is faster but it also isn't DX11, uses a lot more power(and gives off a lot more heat) and is more expensive. The power/heat thing is especially important in terms of both overclocking and crossfiring in the future. You'll want a case with very good airflow to crossfire two HD4890s and, depending on the brand, possibly a better PSU as well.

 

[jyjjy]

If you are going to go with an HD4000 series card just get this;
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-046-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939
The HD4890 is less than 15% better but costs 30% more.

 

[jyjjy]

You are boringly predictable and pathetic, grow up.
He has a crossfire motherboard and was specifically asking for advice on choosing an ATI card. The HD5770 also has advantages besides DX11 such as great power efficiency/low heat (important for crossfire) and 3 monitor support. If I'm a fanboy for recommending the new ATI cards then so is pretty much every tech website on the planet.
I'm just glad for your ludicrous inability to communicate in a manner anyone would take seriously and over the top bias. Otherwise you might really confuse some people as to who to listen to.

 

[jyjjy]

You are even more stupid and ignorant than I thought, which is an impressive feat to pull off. Kudos.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Although the ati crowd is always yepping about a few frames more they may over the nvidia equivalent at 2560x rez, just remember when you buy an ati card, you are stuck with NO PHYSX. You asre also stuck with no CUDA and poor folding. You are also stuck with poor video manipulation, no badaboom and severe blur problems when converting video files to other formats, as well as a severely crippled speed when doing so.

If you're all about saving $5 or $25 for the same framerate that is already over the minimum 30fps for playability at your monitor's highest resolution w/ full aa and af enabled and all the eye candy (likely not higher than 1920x1200 - and even more likely LESS) - then go ahead and get that "great rebate deal" 4890 for $170.

Just remember, no AA in Batman, no PhysX, no Cuda, poor video editing performance and results, no twimtbp, and severe problems with the CCC panel, like when forcing AA.

The nvidia Control Panel is leaps and bounds beyond ati's, it runs lighter, opens faster, has easier and intuitive settings, works better, has pre-built in gaming 3d profiles, and is all around far superior.

On the other hand if you're a sucker for the underdog company that is losing billions of dollars, buy an ati. You can join the crew that hates nvidia and lies all the time to make them sound inferior - when they are CLEARLY far superior.

A GTX260 will handle EVERYTHING up to 1920x1200 without worrying about cranking up the eye candy to the max. you could go for a GTX275 or a 280 and be very happy as well.

If you're bent on DX11 with undetectable eye candy and no real full version games, with far less visual additions than PhysX already provides in a hundred+ games, then go ahead and buy the loser ati card with no real added features, a poor control panel that cripples framerates when forced on, and might save you a couple feelgood bucks while you curse your lamed, hampered, "special needs" system for a year or two to come.

Look, it's not even close. Buy an Nvidia card.
I really don't see how anyone does anything else - can you feel good going into Batman Ark Asy and knowing you're missing half the in game eye candy because ATI STOPPED the Eran PhysX wrapper with their next driver release ? I haven't even yet mentioned the lack of ATI AA driver writing for the same game.

Since ATI can't even send out people to write drivers with game developers and make sure their cards have full function, and have blocked PhysX by thwarting the nvidia supported Eran wrapper - WHY would you go for an ati ?
Is the few bucks (if you even save a few - and you sure won't get a COUPLE OF free games like you often do with Nvidia card purchases) worth knowing you have a crippled incapable card in your system ?
No way, it's not, not ever.

Do yourself a favor - and let the ati fans scream bloody murder - how nothing I've said matters and it's all nvidia's fault...( that ati cards suck)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%20106792634&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

Dont forget, youre also stuck with higher fps in games with ATI
Dont forget, youre stuck with a handful of games that run poorly on mid solutions with Physx, a proprietary product.
Dont forget, youre stuck with CUDA, another proprietary solution that will be dead withing a few years, if not sooner, so why pay for all these things?
To support a company thats lost 16% of its mobile markets?

Can the promotions, get to the facts

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Oh hi jaydeejohn Is that green mold on your shirt ? And your bowtie ? And your.. teeth ? Is that green mold bothersome ?

Have I been spitting when talking ? Better stay away, huh. :lol:


Half the time, perhaps.

And run not at all on ati.

Well in a few years one will already have gotten their use from cuda, so that's ok. Half the games better fps, so that's ok too.
Then there's PhysX that ati won't play, so that's especially valuable. More coverage.



But they gained a 74% sales increase in the 3rd quarter over the prior year. Before that they went up as much and had a stock split.
To not support them means far fewer computer games, with far less money in the channels pushing it. Dumping the other one though...

On the other hand, to support a company that has lost multiple billions years in a row, is steeped in debt, and just recently got a not big enough lawsuit bailout that saved them from filing bankruptcy and reorganizing for perhaps a little more than a year ?
Is it already dumping itself ? Because it sure ain't supporting itself.



So, those are the facts, I got to them just like you demanded.

Since you cant get along with the rest, maybe a quiet time is ripe for you?
Youve broken the ToS here, against me in fact, so, I give you 1 more chance, either you contribute with facts, and stop making like a flame thrower, or go on vacation, period.

 

[jyjjy]

C'mon people. I made a mistake in the other thread of trying to talk to this guy in that other thread. It was a mistake. 10% of what he says is on topic and actually true and it's surrounded by baffling nonsense, outrageous assumptions and arguments against things never said with accompanying smug insulting victory celebrations. Talking will accomplish nothing other than becoming annoyed and encouraging him ever onward with more misguided rants.