Yes 3 Way-SLi is extremely cool, like 3 8800GT/GTS on a motherboard that supports it will boost your performance even more. Lets take Striker II Formula for an example, it supports 3 way-sli, 2 PCI-E 2.0 X16 and 1 PCI-E 1.0 between the two, Nvidia's Latest 780i chipset, great performance and overclocking potentials, but i have a few questions that i need you guys to clear me out. - the 2 PCI-E 2.0 X16 is far apart, if you want to SLi 2 cards, will the 3 way-Sli connector act as a normal SLI connector? - Ok if you do 3 way-sli wouldn't the PCI-E 1.0 X16 slot slow down the other 2 PCI-E 2.0 X16? - When Sli-ing, does the cards has to be exactly the same? What if one card is made by MSI and one by eVGA and the other one by ASUS OC version, will it still work? - Some of you might know that 8800GT gets very hot, wouldn't 3 Way-Sli have heat problems? - About the motherboard, reviewers say that ASUS Striker II Formula's Chipset gets very hot, will that be a problem if you're a extreme Overclocker that Overclocks to the max? - Last question, If i have a OCed quad-core, 3 8800GTS, um...5 hard drives, 1 DVD writer, lots of fan on the case(like Antec Nine Hundred) will 800w be enough? because in this review: http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Cinematic_Gaming:_ASUS_Striker_II_Triple_SLI/5503-3.html OCed QX9650, 3 8800GTX and a hdd, it idles over 300w, and on Load its over 500w, sometimes over 600w on peak...so shouldn't 800w be enough? -Should i buy OCed 8800GT or standard 8800GT and which company is better?
Make sure you get a quality power supply, 800wats will be enough. Get a PSU from a brand like Corsair, OCZ, Antec and PC Power and Cooling to name a few. Get the standard 8800GT, you can save the money from buying a overclocked one and spend it on something else. You could just overclock the cards for free if you wanted, but 8800GTs get real hot, 90C with stock clocks on load, so a aftermarket cooler is a must (if you can fit it). The best companies are XFX, EVGA and ASUS. In the mean time, check out maxishine's profile: http://youtube.com/user/maxishine He's got videos of TriSLi 8800Ultras
after market cooler, to be honest it doesn't look that great, i like stock cooler but they are not that good. so which after market cooler do you recommend? Sorry guys, i want to learn more about components, computers etc, thats why i ask lots of questions Power supply: Antec TruePower Quattro 850w CoolerMaster Real Power Pro1000 1000w OCZ Odin GT 800w (Above)these are the ones i know that i could get it in South Africa (Below)these are the ones that i don't think i could get it PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad 750w Corsair 750TX 750w which one should i get for the (above) ones and which one should i get for the (below) ones if i could get it Oh does 3 way sli really boost your gaming performance that much, some people say that when you add the 2nd card, its slower than the first and ther 3rd card is slower than the 2nd...is that true?
I would go with either the antec or the OCZ, I think Antec is a tad bit better quality though... I think either the cards come with a SLi connector or you can buy one. They sell them in different lengths. If you are using a x16 graphics card (8800GTX, Ultra etc) then no, but for scenarios like the 8800GT, there might be a lowdown - although not by much and definetly not noticeable. Yes, there probably would be some heating, but according to Maxishine's video, his games and benchmarks run fine without crashing. Yes, it most defently will be. If you are a extreme overclocker or want to overclock you CPU to 4Ghz and beyond, watercooling on the chipset and CPU is a must. If you only overclocking to say, 3.6Ghz tops then just a aftermarket cooler on the CPU is all you need. (Air is fine) Well, 3 8800GTS would be cutting it short but I think that system would probably use 650-700watts on max load, with some overclocking of course.
what if you just want to only OC your E8400/E8500/Q9300/Q9450 to 4GHz or beyond, do you still need water cooling? um...are you talking about the Power Supply or Aftermarket VGA cooler? Then Sli is better than 3 Way SLi, because not all the card won't be running there fastest.
Well not really. If you already have a highly clocked CPU, you could get away with just a Thermalright CPU cooler or a Zalman, but I wouldn't suggest keeping you CPU at that speed 24/7. I only go to 4GHz just for benching, and that's it. Power supply. Well if you can get a motherboard with all x16 slots, or 2.0 slots then every card will run at the same speed. Some motherboards have 2x PCI-e 16x slots and 1 PCI-e 4x slot, and therefore would halt the card to 4x instead of letting it run at 16x. All of the other cards that are in 16x slots will run at 16x.
well, you can't 3-way SLI with 8800GT.so it seems i have to change my mind from 780i chipset back to X38, nvidia's chipsets are extremely hot, and thats not what i want...
Just forget about duel/tri GPU gaming. It's not really worth it. I mean, I love playying Crysis with 2 3870s, but then in games where CF doesnt work, it sucks. Wait for the 9800GX2 or get the 3870x2 - both are great cards. (3870x2 is now the best card in the world, over the 8800ultra)
yeah but i don't want the extra PCI-E 2.0 X16 go to waste, i want to use the full potential of my motherboard, but ATI's card aren't that powerful except HD3870 X2.
Forget the full potential of your motherboard. By a cheaper board, get a single fast card like an 8800GTX or if you must, an HD3870X2, and save the money. Seriously. Just because you have money doesn't mean you get anything better by spending it. That's not from a jealousy point of view, that's just the truth.
lol, i don't have that much money to spend, i can only spend for a good motherboard and a good power supply, as for the graphics card, in South Africa they are overly priced and/or they don't even have the cards for eg. 8800GTX (if you convert them straight from Rands to dollars) R6500 = $850+ My uncle is coming to SA so i want to ask him to buy me a HD3870 X2 from overseas for much cheaper price. I was thinking of buying a HD3870 and another one later, BUT as you have said, it doesn't boot the performance that much. So i'm having trouble deciding, if i should buy a nvidia gpu and use it on a CF moterboard, or should i stick to ATI cards on a CF mobo. oh well, i'll have to wait and see, since i won't be buying a card for next 2 months, i'm really waiting for the new Graphics Cards to come out. Thanks for your advise sammorris
Gigabyte is the only company that makes single slot, but it's not a X38 chip and PCI-E 2.0 X16, yes yes i know it doesn't increase the performance that much but, it's future proof, the component that i'm buying will last me much longer, atleast 4 years, or until DDR3 is DDR2 price point. HD3870 X2 is basically same price as 8800GTX in South Africa
Realistically, you're not going to add a second graphics card later, so it's pointless having an SLI or Crossfire board at all really. The gigabyte boards are compatible with quads, and I think the new P35-DS3 (no letter suffix) is penryn compatible as well. That's all you need, save yourself wasting money on technologies you'll never use.
ok if thats the case then it's ok to buy a quite expensive PSU like Antec TruePower Qauttro 850w? but i don't even need that much power, even an OC HD3870 X2 and QX9770 don't use that much, so 500w - 600w PSU should be enough?
you should know that i can't get Corsair PSU ASUS P5K Delux WiFi - R2300 (P35 Chipset) PCI-E 2.0 ASUS P5E - R2600 (X38 chipset) PCI-E 2.0 ASUS Blitz Formula - R2700 (P35 Chipset) PCI-E 2.0 ASUS Maximus Formula - R3000 (X38 Chipset) PCI-E 2.0 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R - R1900 (P35 Chipset) PCI-E 1.0 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - R2400 (P35 Chipset) PCI-E 1.0 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 - R3200 (X38 Chipset) PCI-E 2.0 Most of Gigabyte mobo doesn't support PCI-E 2.0, and there isn't much choice compare to ASUS mobo, seriously don't know which one to get...they are all good PSU choice Antec TruePower Quattro 850w - R2400 Gigabyte Odin GT 800w - R1800
sorry, my bad, I deal with a lot of people on the forums! As for the PSU, if you're importing a graphics card, why not a PSU too? Just make sure it's the right voltage for your area! With regard to PCIe2.0 it doesn't really make a damn bit of difference, not yet anyway. You can go with the X38-DQ6 I suppose. Can you get something like a 700W Thermaltake Toughpower in SA? They're good units...
Lol, i know you deal with lots of people, anywho, ASUS Maximus Formula is more of a performance than a Overclocker mobo. Last time i've checked at my locall computer shop, Maximus is about R2999, they don't have X38-DQ6 but instead they have X38-DS5 cost about R3400 so i presume that DQ6 would cost about R3600. Guess i'll have to check again. X38-DQ6 VS Maximus Formula: http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Gig...mula_-_The_Battle_of_the_X38_Giants/5306.html yes i am having a hard time choosing. Thermaltake 700W is about the same price as Gigabyte Odin GT 800w. I'll rather go with extra 100w at about the same price. So you still recommend Thermaltake PSU? Yes, PCI-E 2.0 doesn't make a difference just yet, but all the latest cards starting to support it, so i rather have it than needed and not have it. To be honest ever since i've started posting in AD, my knowledge of computer has increased quite a lot all thanks to you guys, but still it's not enough.
