2nd PCI express slot runs @ 8X when using SLI?

[mcavey]

"2nd PCI express slot runs @ 8X when using SLI?"

What does this mean? Is this bad when getting 2x 8800 Gtxs in Sli?

 

[Asian PingPong]

Whats your motherboard?

In short, if it's a pcie 2.0 slot, its fine and won't impact performance, if it's a normal pcie slot, then it will bottleneck.

 

[mcavey]

Whats your motherboard?

In short, if it's a pcie 2.0 slot, its fine and won't impact performance, if it's a normal pcie slot, then it will bottleneck.

here's my mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130081

 

[williamleja]

I personally do not think it will bottleneck you that bad. I am sure you will see a small drop in FPS compared to say a 680i motherboard, but don't worry too much about it.

This topic has been discussed on other forums just type "8X SLI vs 16X SLI" into Google and read what others have to say. I cannot find any benchmarks right now though. Someone might be able to find something.

William

 

[pauldh]

8x/8x sli will perform the same as 16x/16x in current generation cards/games. If anything, Quad SLI with massive res and fsaa could possibly be a hit, but I haven't seen that tested to know.

I have the same mobo as you and in planning the system build with 8800GT SLI, I decided to save money on the mobo and buy the 650i after researching 8x/8x performs just as well. Look at the links below:

Firingsquad looks at the 750i, and with G92 GTS SLI there is no performance hit vs 16x/16x. Matter of fact, fraction of an fps lead to 750i over 780i even including 19x12 4xaa/8xaf.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_nforce_750i_sli_ftw_review/page11.asp

Here is SLI 8800GTX on 650i vs 680i:
http://www.techspot.com/review/45-nvidia-nforce-650i-sli-vs-680i-sli/page4.html

edit:
My next mobo if buying today would be the P7N SLI platinum. That would be a good start to a nice cheap e8400 SLI 8800GS/ 9600GT / 8800GT / 8800GTS G92 rig.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130159