PCI-E Dual x16 vs PCI-E Dual x8 PCI-E

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
I'm looking to upgrade... and as always on the cheap. But it seems like Dual SLI x16 mobos are quite costly. So I'm wondering what kind of performance boost I would be getting on a dual x16 vs a dual x8 and whether really... if it's worth the extra money.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Asolutely ZERO if you're using SLI.

But if you do have a SCSI RAID PCIe card that can chew up more than PCIe 8x, that'll help. [/such card doesn't exist yet]

Well I don't even have a PCIe card yet :p I'm probly looking into getting a 7600GT, but I found 1 or 2 reviews that pit x8/x8 vs x16/x16 and the difference in FPS is barely anything to worry about. I'm just wondering if down the line it'll end up being a better deal to get the 2x16 SLI version of a board. Though I'm pretty notorious for not upgrading for a long while anyhow so I'm sure they'll have like some AGP-e slot out and we all have to switch again anyway :p Or at least I'd probly have to get a new mobo anyway for a different processor revision. Decisions, decisions.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Too rich for my blood. Too tell you the truth for 2 x16 I was only really looking at the Asrock 939SLI32-esata2 since it's relatively evenly priced. But I haven't really looked towards the 2 x8 boards.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Well, like I said I'm cheap so I figure down the road I can just add a second card as a patch. I dunno though, I may just end up getting a 1 PCIe kind as I figure later on my then aging video card would lack the features the new stuff.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Yeah maybe you're right. The dual 7600gt setup I saw had nice benchmarks looking like it almost reached dual 7900gt speeds. But I suppose really that's only really good if you're set on buying 2 cards at once. I guess there's not really a point because by the time I end up upgrading again I'll have to move to another board anyways probly :p
 
There is a $130 difference between the lowest priced cards from 7600GT and 7900GT. Considering that the 7600GT can be had for $189, I would not say that $130 is a marginal price difference.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Yeah that amount isn't "marginal" to me either. That, and really there seems to be fewer and fewer PC games coming out that a) Strike my fancy and b) push hardware to their limits. So I'd rather not spend an ungodly amount of money on a graphics card alone. That and I'm perfectly happy scaling SOME things down and playing at 800x600. I mean hell I probly wouldn't go past 1024x768 even if I could... I'm a simple man. :p

Anywho, besides the EPox already mentioned what 939 boards with one PCIe would you guys say were good for OCing/all around. I've looked at the Asrock Dual Sata (since I still have my agp graphics card and it's a cheap solution) but it's not to hot on ocing for everyone.
 
Two that ome to mind are the Asus A8R MVP and the Abit AN8 Ultra - gotta love the uGuru OC utility! As far as price/OC performance, i'd have the 9NPA+ Ultra and the A8R MVP at the top of my list.

If you're gaming at 1024X768, then the 6800GS or 7600GT is more than enough for you. I'm not an FPS guy and I'm perfectly happy with my HiS X800GTO. Quiet and fast. Replaced the noisy Sapphire Fireblade X800GTO that i had initially gotten for my rig.
 

astrocity20

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2006
14
0
18,510
Bah, still to much, for as much as those cost I could just spend the money and get an Asrock SLI32. I think I'm just gonna go ahead and get the Asrock 939Dual. People seem to have pretty good overclocks with it paired with an Opteron, I'm no hardcore OCer or anything I think it'll do for now. That way I can spend the other part of the money on a Graphics Card.