Nvidia 9800GX2 = SLI?

[wingsofzion]

I just had a question. From what I know the new Geforce 9800Gx2, like the 7950GX2 card that was released in late 2006 will have 2 GPU's on the single card. Does that technically mean the card is running in SLI? I ask this cause i remember back when the 7950GX2 was released it was said since it's running 2 GPU's you need to have a mobo that supports SLI to take advantage of it. Now, my question is this: if you own a board that does not support SLI, will you be able to run a 2 GPU card on it? Or will the card only run one GPU?

 

[Hatman]

Yes it is SLI, they are connected with a SLI bridge etc.


It will run on any board like GX2, not just one core. No need for a nvidia board

 

[wingsofzion]

yea i was thinking of using my EVGA step up to get the new card. I have the Asus Maximus mobo and it supports Crossfire @ 16x/16x. I take it i can run just one 9800GX2 on my board and it'll be like i am SLI'ing. But i take it, even though I wont, I can't SLI 2 GX2's since my board isn't a Nvidia board that can SLI.

 

[Evilonigiri]

9800GX2 is one card, so you don't need an SLI board to run it, unless you want two.

 

[wingsofzion]

here is what confused me cause i read it in an article around the time the 7950GX2 came out. It was said that since SLI basically means 2 cards running at once = two GPU's running at once (one GPU on each card). For you to run SLI you need a SLI board with a nvidia chipset, that's a fact. Now, a card, even though single slot, that has two GPU's on board is = to two cards running in SLI. And if you have a card like that it has to be in a board that supports SLI. It was basically saying that even though it's a single card the fact it has two GPU's means it will be recognized as SLI on the board and if your board didnt support SLI you can't use a dual GPU card. Now that didnt sound right to me at all cause the main fucntion of SLI is that you have to bridge the cards together. I feel i am right in assuming that even though the card has two GPU's it doesn't mean it's running in SLI, it's just a card that is running with two GPU's instead of one. And such a card isn't running in SLI (cause SLI is bridging two cards). And if you put a dual gpu card in a non SLI board t hat shouldnt be an issue. Am i right in assuming that?

 

[spuddyt]

i dont know, basically your asking if you could get the gx2 to work on a crossfire board right?

 

[jevon]

If you purchase one GX2 and stick it in your X38 it should work fine. If you purchase TWO GX2 cards then you will need the nVidia chipset variety as it's the bios/chipset that is required for SLI between two PCIe slots on the motherboard.

Basically just think in terms of how many PCIe slots you will be taking up; one GX2 = 1 slot, so no nVidia motherboard required. 2 GX2 = 2 PCIe slots, so you would need to a nVidia mobo to SLI the slots.

 

[wingsofzion]

Basically just think in terms of how many PCIe slots you will be taking up; one GX2 = 1 slot, so no nVidia motherboard required. 2 GX2 = 2 PCIe slots, so you would need to a nVidia mobo to SLI the slots.

That's exactly what i figured cause it didnt sound right of a GX2 not being able to work on a non-SLI board. I personally have the Asus Maximus Forulma X38 board. If the 9800GX2 is released next month as planned i'll be using my EVGA step-up token to upgrade to that from my current 8800GTX.

 

[FatFunkey]

well crap my step up on my 8800GT runs out on the 14th :\ which is when tom is saying is the expected announcement date not release...oh well we shall see what happens :\

 

[Tc17]

If its true what I read (that Nvidia sli card), that card is a power hog, apparently it requires a minimum 580w power supply.

The ATI card will require less power due to its smaller size gpu I would assume anyways.

 

[wingsofzion]

i have a 700w PSU which can handle it. I wonder if it'll require 8 pin power connectors like the ATI's.

 

[starcraftfanatic]

The ATI card will also perform worse, if its two 3870's. That powersupply requirement is actually really low since you're using two cards.