[Rand al Thor]

I currently have an xFx Geforce 6800GS Extreme, 256MB DDR3, 450MHz, 1.05GHz, and I want to get a match for it to run it in SLI. My question is does it have to be the exact same card? I'm looking at a

POINT OF VIEW GeForce 6800GS 256MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 425Mhz/1GHz

and I know its clock speeds are slightly lower, but would I be able to SLI them, or are there checks in the BIOS or something that would just crash any attempt? I just can't find a match anywhere (for Ireland).

[CP5670]

No, they just have to be same model, ever since the 80 series drivers came out in 2005. You can mix and match brands as needed. The faster card will just clock down to match the slower one.

That being said, there is little point in using SLI as upgrade option on old cards. The midrange 7900 and X1900 cards will be faster, and SLI still carries many of its own problems with software compatibility. If you sell your existing card on ebay or something, you should be able to make up most of the price difference.

[Scuddie]

Aside from CAD/Rendering, why would ANYBODY want SLI?  It's more trouble than it's worth.

[Rand al Thor]

Right, fair nuff. Idea banished.

[Nuke]

i dont want sli but i do want a dual card setup in order to drive 4 monitors. would make a really cool flightsim setup. sli would just be a little bonus for other games that just dont use multiple monitors.

[DeepSpace9er]

Just drop $550 on an 8800 GTX and you will be all set!

[wtf_cl0vvn]

YOU'RE having trouble SLIing...

I have a 7900 GTX...nVIDIA built those for about 2 months, maybe less, until the 7950 and then the 8800 came out. I've trawled everywhere and I cant find a match.

Think I'll just sell it to someone who wants to SLI and then use the money to buy me a nice 8800....

[neoterran]

there is really nothing nice about the 8800 at the moment. By the time games come out to take advantage of it, it'll be obsolete.

[DeepSpace9er]

it may not be top dog anymore but it most certainly wont be obsolete

[Nuke]

its quite a powerfull hunk of silicon. it will run circles around midrange cards for at least a couple years.

[DeepSpace9er]

I love my 8800GTX.. runs everything extremely smooth and its 10x more quiet than my old 6600GT.

[Nuke]

was gonna get the gtx model but i wasnt entirely sure it would fit in my case. so i got the gts instead.

[IceFire]

What kind of case Nuke?  I'm about to buy a new system myself...I'm not sure if I want to cram a 8800GTS in there.  Not sure how hot they run either...  I think I'll wait for the 8600 GTS.  Its surely going to be smaller and more power efficient if slower.  I can live with a bit slower.

[Nuke]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144110

mind you the psu that comes with it sucks. i got a replacement last year, no easy task as i had a very small amount of space to work with this case is only 1.5 cubic feet. its 120 mm fan, along with the dual fans in the new psu gives me a ****load of cfm. you can feel the intake breeze a good 6 inches away from the vent holes punched in the sides and in the face. all fans blow back so its also really quiet.

its a good case for a very minimalistic system. space is scarse and system assembally and upgrades are a *****. it cant take an 8800gtx without some modifications (thias means sawing holes in some hard to get to places), but the gts fits well. im gonna be retiring it for a slightly more standard mid or mini tower. i still want a small case cause of the shipping cost and cause i dont like too much weight if i ever have to move it.

[CP5670]

The 8800s are excellent pieces of hardware but their drivers are in a pretty poor state, both on XP and Vista. There are all sorts of problems, some general and some game-specific, that weren't there on the 7 series cards.