ChefDude

can i SLI one manufacturers
GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI PCI Express
with another, the same spec as above, from another manufacturer?

Iain Young

Personally I wouldn't bother. I used to have a SLI system, and have sworn I'd never do it again. Far too many driver/incompatibility problems (the nvidia sli driver aren't great), a lot of games don't work or have problems with the setup, and it's an expensive way of getting some extra graphics processing power.

I have read of some people having success with different card manufacturers, but I've also read of other people having no luck at all. All seems a bit hit and miss...

ChefDude

i think i suspected as much. even then, 8600gts in SLI is still not a match for an 8800gts.

thanks - i play games about once a month and wondered if i could get a cheap fps jump with an sli set up.

chrisUK300

iTrader: (10)

you can mix and match maunfacturers "usually", as long as they are the same card ie 2x8600gts.
Personally Id just chuck a better card in rather than mess around with SLI, its not really worth the hassle to be honest, and can lead to expensive mistakes as I found out

Daz34

Yeah get a better newer card & let the old one run the physics

ChefDude

"...let the old one run the physics "

heh? how does that work?

Iain Young

Depends on your setup. In theory, depending on your mobo etc, you can have two cards in the machine (not SLI), but only have one connected to a monitor, and have the other dedicated to processing physics stuff.

About 2 games support it, and even then it's more flaky than SLI (from what I've heard - not tried it myself)

bighead

iTrader: (1)

no need for sli, just get the 9800x2 gpu card ....awesome performance compare to my old 8800gtx

ChefDude

Thanks Iain, that now makes sense.

bighead, i have a big queue of purchases - somehow the g/f found out about Bose quiet comfort 3 headphones lol - ahead of a super gfx card I don't really need. the original thought was, "oo £50, sli, double performance" - but not really valid. I'll wait til something in my pc breaks and i'll stealthily slip in a better card

Daz34

PhysX Performance with GeForce

As Iain says there isn't much support out there at the moment but you can expect that to change. If you are only gonna get pennies for your current card when you upgrade then it might be worth keeping it for this though.

bighead

iTrader: (1)

yes you dont really need , but if yr a gamer ..... its a "must" have

chrisUK300

iTrader: (10)

go for an ATI card, they are the better value for money cards at the moment. I can recommend the 4870x2 just put one in mine its awesome

RA Dunk

i run 2 X 8800 GTX cards in mine with SLI mode and never had any probs to date

Iain Young

Good for you. Until recently I ran 2 7800s in mine, and had no end of problems

RA Dunk

funny how some people seem to be ok with it and others get loads of bother with it though

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

few years back I used to run 2 x 6600 gt in sli and I had no probs either