2 Nvidia Cards on non-sli board (for physx?)

[InsaneMonkeyBoy]

Hi all,

Has been a long long time since i've returned to these forums, but i've always got the best advice and info from u guys!

Basically, i am getting confused with the hype of Physx and dedicating a GPU to act fully on Physx.

I have an intel chipset P35 Asus P5KE-E mobo which will support crossfire etc but i am sticking with Nvidia. I currently have a 9600 GT overclocked and want to upgrade to a 280 gtx. Can i whack the 9600 gt into the second (x4) pci express port and dedicate the whole card to physx whilst having the 280 in the pci-e x16 slot??

I'm sure i have read that this is possible but knowing my luck, it has to be in an sli capable mobo?!


Thanks in advance



Jonny

 

[jarulezz]

it has to be SLI because ATI and nVidia uses different i think technologies and it works on a different basis
but there is a mobo which will be coming out that supports both Crossfire and SLI
i think intel will do it but i cant remember what model it will be :S

 

[LinkedKube]

The boards are available now, its the x58 chipset, do both sli and Xfire, and no the sli idea wont work with your board, is xfire only.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Yes it's possible, but you'd need to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers first, put the second card in and install them again. Also, if you're on Vista, you need to either hook up both cards to the same display (one with a DVI connector, the other with a VGA connector), or hook up a monitor to each card and extend the desktop to the second monitor, for PhysX to work. If you're using the former, set both cards via the NVIDIA Control Panel to the same resolution, and then check the extend your desktop option. After applying the settings you should be able to use the second card for PhysX.

 

[InsaneMonkeyBoy]

Really? Have you tried this yourself?

I dont want to change my mobo idealllly........because my next upgrade would be the 1366 chipset



my other option is, maybe getting an equal performance board (used) with sli (2 16x pci-e slots) and getting another 9600............not sure

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Not tried it, but found this thread where people have had luck trying it. Won't hurt IMO, and you can always sell the 9600GT later. Two 9600GTs will be smoked easily by a GTX 280 BTW.

Also, PhysX is just that, HYPE. It's not essential for a good gaming experience and no game loads the CPU so much that it can't process game physics and other stuff at the same.