I had to RMA a friend's video card and xfx didn't send the exact card in exchange, so I'm wondering which card would be better as the primary adapter. The card they sent back is a standard edition 9500GT with 512MB vram and 550mhz core clock. The other card on the table is an older 8600GT XXX edition with a faster core clock but only half the onboard vram.

Which should I install as the primary card or would it even matter/work? Both cards are around the same performance but I'm not sure what would be better. I'm thinking the 9500GT since it's newer and has the most vram but the 8600GT is a tad faster.

I will probably try both configurations but I'd like some input first in the mean time, thanks!

They won't work in SLI because they're not the same card.

the rule with SLI is that the cards must be of the same series ie. 8xxx,9xxx, and the same model GT,GTS,GTX, but there are some combinations that will work if the core is the same.

sorry to bump this... but i was unable to log into TS for over a week :-(

so yea that's kind of a bummer that they won't work together in SLI. i told the techs at xfx that i was using the SLI before one of the 8600GTs crapped out but i guess they didn't have anymore and sent a different series anyways. my friend is cool with it though working with the Phsyx acceleration. he doesn't really need SLI on his tiny monitor anyways so all is good. i was going to inquire about another 8 series but i don't think i'm going to bother. he can just buy something on ebay if he upgrades and decides to use the bridged cards for SLI...

And it can even be pickier than that, not sure how much better it has gotten, but I've heard this as bad as that 2 different branded of the same cards wouldn't work in SLI together occasionally.

Actually when it comes to SLI, the Card MUST be the same Series 8xxx 9xxx Ect. Ect. also, they must have the same VRAM and the same either 128-Bit/256-Bit Memory Interface. If the Cards are Different Clocks, I would reccomend that the Card with the Lower Core/Memory Clock be placed as the Master in the SLI System, you won't get the best Preformance out of the two Cards because the Higher Clocked Card is being Underclocked.

In Example, the Reference GTX 260 runs at 576 Core and 1242 Memory, lets say you wanted that one and you got it, then a few Months later, you want to SLI Two Cards and got a GTX 260 Overclocked Edition from EVGA, the Core/Memory Clock on it is 626/2106. You would want to put the EVGA Card in as the Slave in SLI because the SLI System in question would Overclock the above Reference GTX 260 to 626/2106 to help alleviate any Preformance Issues, if you Switched the Cards, the EVGA Card in question would Underclock down to 576/1242, I hope this Anwsered any Questions reguarding SLI.

Have a good one Guys. =)

Even though you can do that, I strongly recommend using both exact cards for sli.

I would also reccomend it, but I wrote that just to clear things up a bit. =)

i would have preferred using the same exact card but like i said they didn't have any XXX edition 8600GTs in stock so they sent the 9500GT. i had a feeling the sli wouldn't work as soon as i unpackaged the replacement card but he's happy with the additional vram and physx so w/e. i'm just glad the motherboard i sold him didn't turn out to be faulty.