[manic]

Will this board support dual nvidia video cards. Im on the fence about
this because a friend of mine is thinking of buying this board. Board looks
good, and will support dual ati cards "crossfire", but does not
specify, what I would think would be sli. New territory for me as Ive
yet to deal with dual video card setups...
Thanks for your help....

 

[koala]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

No, only ATI Crossfire. The mobo needs the nvidia nForce chipset to run nvidia SLI cards.

 

[manic]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

Thank You, I did some more reading in this forum. Im not to impressed
with the sli configuration/performance. The person Im assembling this
for is set on a dual video card installation. Will dual ati cards out
perform a single top of the line nvidia in the real world? Comments are
welcome, and suggestions, Im not a big ati fan, just looking for as
much bang for the buck I can get with this machine.
So far we have
qx9450 quad 2.66
GA-X48-DQ6, which we could change, but I did like the newer x48chipset.
2 gigs of corsair pc9600
vista ultimate
corsair 750watt psu, the one neweggs has with 60amps on 12v rail..
I may slide over to the dark side with ati,,
thanks...

 

[koala]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

Check out some of the reviews comparing X48 and the cheaper P45 Eagle Lake boards. There's not much difference in performance.

How determined is your friend to have dual cards? With the extra power and cooling required, I've never been a fan of SLI or Crossfire. I'd rather have a good high-end single card, but I can understand how gamers playing at very high resolutions would need higher performance.

 

[manic]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

My daughters boyfriend, I think its more of a status thing. Spoiled kid
with a pocket full of money.
From reading one of lindermans posts Im not very impressed with
the stability and performance of a sli config. But I will probably go that
way. Created another post asking about the best sli motherboard/
chipset.
Toms hardware put the top ati card and the top nvidia card setup
in a dual mode config, pretty close. But from what Lindermans posts
state which I cant refute, because of his knowledge, that he only
sees %25 percent increase if that in a sli enviornment, plus instablity.
Not enough bang for your buck when you shell out 300 bucks plus
per card...
Thanks for your input,,,and bring on some more,,,,wish I had money
to burn,,,,lol

 

[Pharaohz]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

SLI and Crossfire are in my opinion still a new concept and still need more time to work out the bugs and let other hardware/software catch up. Lets not even go into the 3x video card boards...

Ask yourself this, will this kid be knocking on your door, taken up your time because of the instability of sli/crossfire? Are you ready to troubleshoot if needed if and when you are called to do so?

If it was me I would build the kid his computer on either a SLI or Crossfire ready board. Build it as if you were going to have 2 cards in it. But then explain to him, a single great card will work nearly as good with a lot less hassle. Two 300.00 cards will not out last a single 500.00 card. Because when its time to upgrade it will only cost another 500.00. Not the price of two new cards because he didnt go big enough in the first place. So go ahead and do the one card for now and if in a few months, if he wants to upgrade, fine.

If he still wants the SLI/Crossfire now, I will always pick Nvidia. If only because they have a greater support staff the ATI. More and more hardware is being built with Nvidia in mind.


P.S. Agree 100% for your mobo manufacturer pick. I always choose Gigabyte. Asus is good also but for support, Gigabyte can not be beat. Also Gigabyte boards for the most have great layouts. Now this is not to say a Gigabyte SLI board is going to have any room. When you SLI you are likely to lose a PCI port or two no mater what board you use.

 

[manic]

Re: Hello! GA-X48-DQ6 gigabyte board..

Thank you for your help....

 

[linderman]

Sorry Manic I am late for your party ........... my bad :4-thatsba




I have been installing and using single video cards that are dual core :wink:

they are far more stable and I believe they out pace the most any SLI system / they certainly have alot less quirks

the ati 3870 X2 is a great value

the 9800 GX2 is another super choice for someone who doesnt mind burning some cash

for my money and value = ati 3870 X2 it slightly out paces a single 8800 GTX that aint an easy feat


you will drive yourself nuts with the troubles with nforce chipsets and sli .......... if you dont mind pouring hours galore into trying this and trying that while chasing stability....... then sli is for you

he will have all the bragging rights he wants with 9800 GX2 only KINGS can afford them >>>>>>> and you should better be looking for a 1000 watt PSU for that puppy

like the theramltake toughpower 1200 or I think corsair now has a 1000 and seasonic has a 900 ???? one of these for sure

and a three foot fan to keep that hog cooled !! :laugh:

the light bulbs in the living room are going to dim when he is gaming :grin:

 

[manic]

Lol,,,Thanks for the input linderman, Ive been doing some reading
on the sli thang. Sounds like alot of pain for very little reward.
Especially when Im doing this thing for free.
I think I need to use my powers of persuaision on the kid...
Thanks again....

 

[Pharaohz]

hehe just send him here to read these posts. Just ask him, "do you want to spend your time gaming on this thing or do you want that time spend with me troubleshooting it." Good luck.

 

[manic]

Im lookin real hard at that 9800 gx2. Might be my way out. That
card is a monstor. Prices sure are cheap nowadays compared to say
3 or even 2 years ago. The 6800ultra Im still running was around
500 bucks a little over 2 years ago, how times change....
That 9800 sure looks sweet!,, Could you imagine that running in
a sli mode, if sli could be stable? But then all the space they would
take up, need a window ac unit to keep it cool,,,,,lol
As per all the advice, Im not building a sli setup, not unless Im getting
paid from the start and on every time the thing crashes.....
Take care..

 

[linderman]

IMHO the dual core video cards are the direct result of the failure of SLI to produce the performance for which you are paying

 

[manic]

From what Ive read I tend to agree. Im glad I looked before I leapt into
the sli quagmire. A few hours of reading on the topic really opened
my eyes. Im so behind I didnt even know nvidia had a dual core
video card, buy hey another bonus of research,,,,,
Take care,,and Thanks to all who chimed in on this topic..

 

[Pharaohz]

The window AC isnt a bad idea really Had a friend who put one under his house (crawl space). Being a HVAC installer I was able to cut in another 4x12 boot into his floor. Was able to attach another 4x12 boot to the front of the window unit. Ducted it with 6 inch flex. Underneath there was a receptical already in place for service calls for what ever reason. So just ran cord from it and plugged the ac unit into it. Up in the computer room, I placed the boot cut out so it would be in line with where he would place his computer. Cut out and put a filter on the button of his case and set the case right on top of the floor register. The cool part is, during the colder months, he just turns the fan on and draws the cold air from under the house through the ductwork. A remote makes this all possible. Though he does have to go underneath to clean the ac filter and heat exchanger when needed.

 

[manic]

Necessity is the mother of all invention...lol, a friend of mine did some
thing similar, but not as involved. Ran a small duct from a ac unit, and
piped into his case, sealed with you guessed it,,,duct tape. Got a little
to cold really, got scared of condensation, I would to. But it did a great
job of cooling....