Will my PC be able to use Dual 8800 GTS?

[blimp01]

Hi,

I have a P5K SE mainboard, a BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640 MB video card, and an Antec Sonata III Case. My PSU is 500W, which came with my case. If I want to get a 2nd 8800 card, I know i will need a new mainboard with 2 PCI - E slots, but will I have to upgrade my power supply and case too? What other upgrades will i need to get?

Thank you

 

[LinkedKube]

well firstly you need a motherboard with two pci E slots that can run sli. So plan on buying a new board. Then you need an identical card.(well as far as name i hear you can pair different 3rd parties as long as its the same card, BUT THAT'S NOT RECOMMENDED)


What kind of processor do you have? And yes I'd suggest a slightly larger power supply. 700watts should be good.

 

[blimp01]

I have an intel core 2 quad Q6600. Also, I have a hard time finding the exact same card. I can find 2 different BFG Beforce 8800 GTS OC 640 Mb cards; the one i have is green but i see some black ones. Do you think the black and green ones would work together?

 

[LinkedKube]

Make sure they have the same core, memory and shader clock speeds, if so then you'll be fine.

That board takes ATI based cards in multi card format( crossfire) not nvidia(which is "sli")

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Your PSU will be ok for two 8800GTS cards.

As for SLI, you can use any two cards of the same model. Nothing else matters, not even memory size.

 

[blimp01]

Can you guys recommend a good mainboard that will support SLi and have 1 pci slot for my sound card, but not too expensive?

 

[LinkedKube]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232

This one should do you well pci E 2.0 for sli with your cards.

 

[blimp01]

If i got the 8800 GTS 512 MB version, would that work ok with the 640 MB one i have now?

Also, are there any big differences between the 640 and 512 mb versions, because there is a 200$ price difference, and the 512 has better stats, and is 200$ cheaper

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

No, you can't use it because of the different BIOS and GPU on both cards. You'd need either another 640MB or 320MB GTS card to run SLI.

 

[blimp01]

do you think getting an nvidia GTX 280 would give me more in game FPS than the dual 8800 GTS's?

 

[LinkedKube]

Not a huge difference i wouldnt think.

 

[nickc]

the nvidia GTX 280 would be a huge difference to the nvida 8800 gts as that is a 2nd generation card.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Two 8800GTS (G80) will give about comparable performance to a single GTX 280, especially since the GTX 280 is as fast as the 9800GX2, which utilizes the higher performing G92 core as opposed to the G80 on the 8800GTS cards you plan to use.

 

[blimp01]

Ok im gona go for the 280 GTX card, do you think my 500W PSU will be fine for this card, There are 2 PCI e power cables, but will the card run stable?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

No, you'll need a new PSU. A GTX 280-equipped system needs around 36-40A on the +12V rail, while your PSU provides only 34A. I recommend the Corsair HX520W and the Gigabyte Odin GT 550W as excellent choices, with the Corsair 550VX being a cheaper and non-modular alternative to both of them.

 

[blimp01]

Ok im also thinging about adding a 2nd 280 card in the future so will i need something like an 800 W PSU? And What brand should i look at for my 280 card. is BFG the best?

 

[blimp01]

Also, do i need to connect the 6 and 8 pin connectors to the card when i get it, so if i had 2 of them id need 2 PCI E 6 pin cables and 2 PCI E 8 pin ones?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

You need only one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector each. And any brand from the top three i.e. eVGA, XFX and BFG will be okay. And for two of the cards, I'd recommend a PSU with at least 60A on the +12V rails as the minimum. PC Power & Cooling's Turbo-Cool 1kW, Enermax's Galaxy 850W and Corsair's HX1000 are my personal recommendations for a GTX 280 SLI rig.