Dumb SLI Questions

[Oblivion Nut]

Basically the only thing I know about SLI is you stick two cards in one Motherboard and you get better performance.

 

Could someone please tell me...

 

1.) Can you have both cards overclocked in SLI mode?

 

2.) With the new 80. drivers, Nvidia says you can have cards made by different companies. Like one Asus and one MSI. I think thats what they say. Is this a good idea?

 

3.) would it be a bad idea to use a factory overclocked XFX 7800 GTX (490/1300)

with a manualy overclocked Asus card(stock-430/1200, OC- 490/1300) in SLI?

 

4.) Once I buy my second card, what are the exact steps to get SLI working.

Anything special I need to do?

 

5.) when do you think 7800 GTX prices will fall. With the release of the 1800 XT, I would think soon.

 

6.) what is SLI anti-alaising.

 

7.) is it true that the current generation of new Nvidia cards can not do AA/AF at the same time as HDR?

 

Sorry for all the dumb questions. I tried using the search function and google but that doesnt change the fact that I am retarded.

[oliveryochest]

Can you have both cards overclocked in SLI mode?

yes

With the new 80. drivers, Nvidia says you can have cards made by different companies. Like one Asus and one MSI. I think thats what they say. Is this a good idea?

I haven't tried it myself. I would stick with the same model and company just in case.

would it be a bad idea to use a factory overclocked XFX 7800 GTX (490/1300)

with a manualy overclocked Asus card(stock-430/1200, OC- 490/1300) in SLI?

Not that I know of

Once I buy my second card, what are the exact steps to get SLI working. Anything special I need to do?

Just make sure you switch the jumpers in SLI mode and enable SLI in the Nvidia properties.

when do you think 7800 GTX prices will fall. With the release of the 1800 XT, I would think soon.

It should fall once the 7800GTX 512MB comes out

what is SLI anti-alaising.

Technic used to minimize the "stare step" effect sometimes seen along the edges of 3D objets.

[Dynomutt]

check out this article for a full explanation of SLi AA http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=53847

[Fight Game]

In my opinion...SLi isn't really neccessary. You won't see an improvement, unless you are running one of the very newest, power hungry games, and at resolutions higher than 1024x768 and with all the eye candy and AA / AF turned on. It also doesn't work with many older games, therefore when playing one of these, you'll have to disable SLI mode, and only run 1 card anyway (which is a pain in the butt to switch back and forth). You already have a 7800GTX (and overclocked), which should be handling everything you can throw at it. If, for some odd reason, you need more performance, then I suggest buying another gig of ram. This would be much cheaper, and probably yield better performance, that is, unless you are playing games at 2048x1536. Also, each generation card that comes out is about equal to 2x the previous in SLi (depends on exactly what you're doing of course), so save your money and in a few months when another new card comes out, sell the one you have and buy the latest greatest. Again, all my opinion. Now all the people that have 2x7800GTX's can come and (try to) correct me.

[Angry_Games]

SLI does show an improvement if you are running 1600x1200 or higher with AA and AF maxed out along with all other details

 

but it really only shows serious improvement at super widescreen resolutions like 1980x1440 or whatever

[Trevor]

I'm never going to run sli or crossfire in my life, I'd rather use the money on hard drives or a good widescreen monitor or a new case. Plus I don't mind running 30fps(as long as it's steady) and I will feel better not to have blown another 500$ on a video card and spent it on a dell 2005fpw.

[Fight Game]

...and just a reminder about fps...human eye can't really tell a difference with anything over 72-75fps. But, some say they can see a difference at up to 100. So if you're playing games that are doing 70+, you'll be gaining nothing any way.

[red930]

Yeah..I'm kinda feeling stupid for getting mine, the difference isn't all that noticeable except in FEAR right now. And in that case, I really don't need everything maxed. Ah well, debt is fun anyways...

[Oblivion Nut]

Thanks for all your input.

 

But if SLI is such a bad idea then why do we all have SLI boards?

You said the next generation of cards will be better than 2 7800 gtx,

Are you sure about that? 2 6800 gt in SLI are better than 1 gtx arent they?

 

Also, I have 2 sticks of 512 at 1T in my rig right now at 3.3v.

I have 2 more sticks of 512(same gold VX mem), Lets say I want to put in the

other two sticks. Do I have to do anything with voltages and do I have to change it to 2T?

[red930]

Also, I have 2 sticks of 512 at 1T in my rig right now at 3.3v.

I have 2 more sticks of 512(same gold VX mem), Lets say I want to put in the

other two sticks. Do I have to do anything with voltages and do I have to change it to 2T?

You've got a good head start on your settings but you will have to tweak them extensively to get back up to your new max OC.

[Angry_Games]

Yeah..I'm kinda feeling stupid for getting mine, the difference isn't all that noticeable except in FEAR right now. And in that case, I really don't need everything maxed. Ah well, debt is fun anyways...

SLI makes a good bit of difference in FEAR, and you can imagine that newer games that utilize Unreal3 engine etc will probably need this extra card power to run in the high res with options turned on...and maybe many of us will be looking to buy a second card for SLI at that time, as hopefully drivers will have matured even further, and games will be able to truly take advantage of SLI and Crossfire

[Angry_Games]

2 6800 gt in SLI are better than 1 gtx arent they?

 

no

 

only in super high resolutions with everything maxed to the tilt would 2 be better than a single 7800GTX...and then again it also depends on the game itself...but for hte most part, a single 7800GTX with the extra 8 pipelines and faster RAM makes up for the lack of 2 gpu's and 2 sets of memory from 2 6800's of any flavor