SLI 2 x 16 / 2 x 8

[colinicky]

On the newer motherboards that have 2 PCI-E slots & support SLI ,some have true 2 x 16 others drop to 2 x 8 if using twin graphics cards .I am thinking of using twin 7950 gt Nvidia's am I going to notice a difference between 2 x 16 & 2 x 8 or is there to many other factors to worry about ?

[Steven]

Originally Posted by colinicky

On the newer motherboards that have 2 PCI-E slots & support SLI ,some have true 2 x 16 others drop to 2 x 8 if using twin graphics cards .I am thinking of using twin 7950 gt Nvidia's am I going to notice a difference between 2 x 16 & 2 x 8 or is there to many other factors to worry about ?

on that note I'll go to bed what the fh are you on about

s

[colinicky]

Which bit do you mean ? It made sense when I typed it & I don't know what I'm talking about thats why I asked !

[Diving Dude]

Originally Posted by colinicky

On the newer motherboards that have 2 PCI-E slots & support SLI ,some have true 2 x 16 others drop to 2 x 8 if using twin graphics cards .I am thinking of using twin 7950 gt Nvidia's am I going to notice a difference between 2 x 16 & 2 x 8 or is there to many other factors to worry about ?

l think you'll notice a massive difference, rather than use twin 7950 use the upgraded quad version 7950B. Do not be tempted to use 7950A or 7950C just because they're cheaper, they'll cause you problemo massive later on when they break down your brick wall.......oops l meant fire wall.

Hope that helps

[colinicky]

Originally Posted by Diving Dude

l think you'll notice a massive difference, rather than use twin 7950 use the upgraded quad version 7950B. Do not be tempted to use 7950A or 7950C just because they're cheaper, they'll cause you problemo massive later on when they break down your brick wall.......oops l meant fire wall.

Hope that helps

Howard if I didn't know better I would say your talking out of your 9750arse with the usuall load of 9750b****cks & being a total 9750c***.
Hmmm maybe I do know better

[StuartC]

Originally Posted by colinicky

On the newer motherboards that have 2 PCI-E slots & support SLI ,some have true 2 x 16 others drop to 2 x 8 if using twin graphics cards .I am thinking of using twin 7950 gt Nvidia's am I going to notice a difference between 2 x 16 & 2 x 8 or is there to many other factors to worry about ?

I think you've posted in the Technology thread here thinking that divers with expensive kit habits are also into extreme gaming rigs.....

well, I'm struggling with my Crossfire rig that I built before Christmas.... 2x PCIe X16 slots, but in Crossfire mode they run at X8 and X4, which isn't as good for SLi, but they use internal bridge cables to sync and pass data, so maybe not that bad.

3DMark06 score of 5100 with 1 card, 7600 with 2, but then it dies again and again and again

ASUS tech support currently giving me quotes from the manual in an attempt to drive me mad, but I suspect the bottom line is I need a mobo with a different chipset to actually utilise the Crossfire features of 2x X1950 Pro cards.

You might want to consider going for a dual-GPU card instead of 2 PCIe cards, unless you've got 1 card and are looking to upgrade board and add a card.

And with DirectX10 around the corner, it might be worth sitting tight and waiting for those uber cards to drop in price a little.

Admin: If this post offends any non-techies that shouldn't be looking in this forum anyway, we could both piss off to Overclockers UK Forums - powered by vBulletin and continue this interesting discussion elsewhere.

Oh, and in answer to the OP, surely it depends on whether the game has an SLI profile?
and surely you only get the benefits of the extra power if you're running at very high resolutions?
That seems to be what the benchmark tests on sites like Tom's Hardware and Hexus.net seem to show.

Finally, is life too short to muck around for so long tweaking your kit to perfection and constantly striving for improvements in your setup? (probably equally applicable to some sections of the diving community as the gaming community)

[Steven]

Originally Posted by colinicky

Which bit do you mean ? It made sense when I typed it & I don't know what I'm talking about thats why I asked !

all of it
I won't have much chance if you don't know what your talking about!!

[colinicky]

On the motherboards such as the Asus crosshair you have 2 PCI-E slots that support SLI ,when using 2 graphics cards it still runs at 2 x 16 mode other motherboards PCI-E slots drop to 2 x 8 mode if using twin graphics cards . Hope thats clearer ?

[Timbo]

Steve,,,,,
Don,t try to understand,,
These guys are just showing off with geek speak about pc bits that will be old hat and obsolete in 6 months time,,,

[Steven]

Originally Posted by Timbo

Steve,,,,,
Don,t try to understand,,
These guys are just showing off with geek speak about pc bits that will be old hat and obsolete in 6 months time,,,

Oh right pc stuff - I assumed they were talking about diving stuff (diving forum !}
I'd asked mark cos I thought if it was good he'd have had one first!!!!