Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Differences between SLI x16 and x8
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
GJX   12-11-2007 at 11:34:53 AM

I am currently in a situation in which i need to decide if im going for a motherboard which supports SLI x8 x8, or x16 x16. Money is not an issue in the decision. Only performance.

My question is, how big of a difference (decrease in performance) is it to run 8800GT in SLI on x8 x8, like on an Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard, with nForce 650i chipset, as opposed to a SLI x16 x16 on an Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard, with nForce 680i?

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
baddad   12-11-2007 at 12:36:08 PM
- 0 +

The P5N32-E SLI is the better board.

------------------------------ ASUS Striker II Extreme , C2D Q9450 OC 3.4, 8 Gig Memory, EVGA 8800GTX Triple SLI, Thermaltake 1000W PSU, Thermaltake Armor + Case, Acer 24" LCD, Water Cooled, 12 Foot DVI Cable, Vista 64 Bit SP2
 Reply to baddad
GJX   12-11-2007 at 01:35:49 PM
- 0 +

Can you evaluate the performance difference between the 2 in running SLI?

Reply to GJX
espslyxerx2   12-11-2007 at 01:38:11 PM
- 0 +

Better check your info, Im 99% positive the plus version (650i) is 16X on both slots. Not to mention everyones "sweet" 680i boards cant use the new intel chips (45nm) hahaha, they got tricked. You decide, I have the plus version and Im very happy with its performance. Infact, I have had some of my freinds with some of the other boards(p35, 680i), and their upset of the overclocking ability, the plus version has many incraments (spelled wrong) and variability to its features. Good luck.

Reply to espslyxerx2
vaker5   12-11-2007 at 02:29:13 PM
- 0 +

I thought 650i were 8x lanes and the 680i was the beefy version of it?

Reply to vaker5
Maziar   12-11-2007 at 02:55:57 PM
- 0 +

Dual 16x vs Dual 8x doesnt have a lot of difference :
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/m [...] eluxe.html

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
espslyxerx2   12-11-2007 at 03:28:40 PM
- 0 +

Lol, nothing is "beefy" in electronics. But go to this link, you ccan see that both lanes are X16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131153

Reply to espslyxerx2
GJX   12-11-2007 at 03:51:20 PM
- 0 +

There are two motherboards using the 650i chipset.

One of them is the smaller, older one named P5N-E SLI. It uses x16 slot for Single VGA, and Dual x8 for SLI.

The other one is a 650i in disguise of a 680i mobo. The P5N32-E SLI Plus is a newer version of the 680i mobo but it actually uses a 650i NB. It works with Dual x16.

Reply to GJX
espslyxerx2   12-11-2007 at 04:13:59 PM
- 0 +

Well their ya go, answered your own question lol

Reply to espslyxerx2
GJX   12-12-2007 at 08:24:49 AM
- 0 +

No, i didn't. My question was about the difference in performance between the 2...

But Maziar already answered for me, thanks.

Reply to GJX
Maziar   12-12-2007 at 01:28:21 PM
- 0 +

No problem mate :) glad i could help u

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
baddad   12-12-2007 at 02:23:44 PM
- 0 +

espslyxerx 2
"680i boards cant use the new intel chips (45nm) hahaha"

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] =11&l3=397

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ ASUS Striker II Extreme , C2D Q9450 OC 3.4, 8 Gig Memory, EVGA 8800GTX Triple SLI, Thermaltake 1000W PSU, Thermaltake Armor + Case, Acer 24" LCD, Water Cooled, 12 Foot DVI Cable, Vista 64 Bit SP2
 Reply to baddad
zenmaster   12-12-2007 at 03:12:55 PM
- 0 +

You will see some performance loss with the 8x by 8x.
The newer top end cards slightly push the 8x bus, but not drastically.

The 680i/780i may not support the 4core 45nm chips.
The dual core are supported.

Reply to zenmaster
Maziar   12-12-2007 at 03:13:28 PM
- 0 +

P5N-E SLI , P5N32-E SLI, P5N32-E SLI PLUS, STRIKER EXTREME, STRIKER all support next gen 45nm CPUs:
http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

P.S: even in the link u posted, it says they support next gen 45nm CPUs

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
LukeBird   12-12-2007 at 03:14:24 PM
- 0 +

I read the link posted by Maziar (very interesting!)
But the review of the board featured is a couple of years old.
I just wanted to query something that I am considering.
I've just ordered a replacement board for my AM2 system which is SLi compatible (570 SLi chipset) and just wondered whether it would bottleneck SLi'd GTX's on it?
I currently have an XFX GTX but would buy another as I'm sure prices are going to drop as the G92 GTS is such a stron performer!
Basically, is x8 SLi (which I believe is what the 570 chipset is capable of) going to bottleneck GTX's, and if so, to a point that there would be little benefit?
Thanks! :)

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ 6000+ Stock, GA M57SLi-S4, XFX 8800GTX's SLi Stock, 4Gb Corsair PC6400 DHX, CoolerMaster 850W, 36Gb Raptor boot drive, 2x150Gb Raptor's in RAID 0 - XFX RAID controller & 300Gb Seagate. PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz, Go5200 64mb, 768mb RAM, 80Gb HD, SuperDrive.
 Reply to LukeBird
pauldh   12-12-2007 at 06:39:55 PM
- 0 +

LukeBird wrote :

wondered whether it would bottleneck SLi'd GTX's on it?


Very little difference between dual 8x and 16x, even with 8800GTX SLI.
http://www.techspot.com/review/45- [...] page4.html



Message edited by pauldh on 12-12-2007 at 06:41:18 PM
Reply to pauldh
Maziar   12-12-2007 at 07:05:41 PM
- 0 +

That link that Paul posted is very useful, definitely check it

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
LukeBird   12-12-2007 at 09:42:12 PM
- 0 +

Thanks very much :)
That link was really useful!
Basically, I'd have been a mug to go for the (significantly) more expensive 590 SLi chipset! The 570 has everything I need, so it really would have been a waste of £50 (approx $100) for the 590.
That £50 will go nicely towards another GTX :)
I'm surprised the difference was as much as 2/3 fps! Just shows x8 bandwidth is still plenty for modern cards!

Thanks

------------------------------ 6000+ Stock, GA M57SLi-S4, XFX 8800GTX's SLi Stock, 4Gb Corsair PC6400 DHX, CoolerMaster 850W, 36Gb Raptor boot drive, 2x150Gb Raptor's in RAID 0 - XFX RAID controller & 300Gb Seagate. PowerBook G4 12" 1.5GHz, Go5200 64mb, 768mb RAM, 80Gb HD, SuperDrive.
 Reply to LukeBird
pauldh   12-13-2007 at 12:09:18 AM
- 0 +

That link had convinced me to go with a 650i based mobo instead of the 680i with plans of 8800GT SLI. $70 savings was worth it to me.

Reply to pauldh
Maziar   12-13-2007 at 11:07:49 AM
- 0 +

Agreed^^

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
espslyxerx2   12-13-2007 at 01:13:15 PM
- 0 +

baddad wrote :

espslyxerx 2
"680i boards cant use the new intel chips (45nm) hahaha"

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] =11&l3=397




Seems its the quadcore 45nm, unless im mistaken.

http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=213780

Reply to espslyxerx2
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Differences between SLI x16 and x8
Go to:

There are 1019 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.665 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them