SLI Motherboard Concerns

[ShawnW]

Every SLI Motherboard seems to be plagued with horror stories of video lockups and system instability. I am willing to spend the money to invest in it, I just want to make sure that the system will be able to perform basic functions.

For reference, the system I am building will include a Core2 Duo E8400 with 2x GeForce 8800GT's in SLI.

I was shooting for something in the 750i range. Am I just looking in the wrong area? Is there a more ideal motherboard for SLI? I'd like to keep it near or under 200$.

 

[Andrius]

I'd avoid 7x0i chipsets unless you are going for a pure gaming rig with instant SLI benefits. << This is fast becomming my punchline.

If you want flawless reliability go with an Intel chipset and a 9800GX2 for SLI.
As it stands top gaming performance and high reliability are mutually exclusive.

 

[Granite3]

All the 790i reviews talk about how bulletproof it is, compared to the older chips.

BUT, it takes DDR3, and retails for $349. I just picked up a new eVga branded one on ebay for $280.

SLI is the way to go for top gaming performance.

 

[Scotteq]

I'd avoid 7x0i chipsets unless you are going for a pure gaming rig with instant SLI benefits. << This is fast becomming my punchline.

If you want flawless reliability go with an Intel chipset and a 9800GX2 for SLI.
As it stands top gaming performance and high reliability are mutually exclusive.

I was unaware that Intel Chipsets support SLI. Last I heard/understood, nVidia will not grant an SLI licence to Intel, and that therefore only an ATI/Crossfire setup is supported in Intel Chipsets. The sole exception to my knowledge is a Skulltrail Dual CPU mobo.

 

[Andrius]

@Granite3
Bulletproof and data corruption when overclocking don't go hand in hand in my mind. Who buys an Intel gaming platform and doesn't overclock it today? DDR3 is overpriced, offers miniscule performance increases(if any).

@Scotteq
You are right. Intel's chipset don't support SLI. The 9800GX2 does SLI onboard (2 GPUs in one graphics card).
The SkullTrail platform uses NVIDIA's bridge chips (like 780i for PCIE v2.0) for SLI support.

 

[Scotteq]

Ah - Got it.. A "Single Slot SLI" kind of deal..

Hanging on to my 8800GTX for a while yet - It can be beaten now, but nothing kicks $4~500 worth of azzz on it (quite yet). Waiting for July.

 

[Andrius]

^Yes, the 8800GTX will likely go down in history as the best investment GPU of the early 21st century.

 

[generalv]

I'm going to be building a new machine come fall and so I'm doing a lot of research.

On the one hand I think I would prefer SLI because the GeForce cards are a little better. The rub though is in order to do that I would have to go with a NVIDIA chipset. I have to say from my research it seems as though they are not as good as the Intel chipsets, so I'm at a bit of a conundrum.

Stability isn't a consideration, it is requirement. So I feel as though I don't have a choice. I can't go with SLI unless I want to put up with instability, crashes and reboots. Something that should not happen (and hasn't happened for me) since the days of Windows 98. Performance for me is not just numbers, it is in the user experience. I don't want to be cussin' and fussin' with my machine, I want to be using it.

What there the SLI users here experiencing? Are the reviews wrong by chance? If they are, then I might reconsider NVIDIA chipsets again. If it is high maintenence though, to me that just screams "Stay away!"

 

[Andrius]

If you check NVIDIA's track record for the last 4 Intel chipset generations you'll find some kind of issues with every one of them. Their AMD sollutions were always a lot better IMO. It must be the IMC on AMD CPUs.

If stability is your main goal go with an Intel chipset. It might not have the best gaming performance but it's heart warming how "perfect" their chipsets are. If you do serious work on you computer Intel's chipsets are the only real choice IMO.