Intel chipset & SLI ????

[Nils]

Hello Everybody

When I go to the Asus website and take a look at their mobo's provided with an Intel chipset (so not an Nvidia one), I always see that they are Crossfire certified and not SLI.
So this is my question: can you build a SLI setup on an Intel chipset mobo that is as good as one build on a Nvidia chipset mobo? This would be interesting because Intel chipsets are known to be much better than Nvidia ones when it comes to overclocking.

Thanks for the advice

PS: This does not only apply for Asus mobo's. I just used their website as an example.

 

[Scotteq]

nVidia currently do not licence SLI on any chipsets besides their own. So if you're shopping today, then the answer is "No". You very well can go with a Crossfire setup, though. It does the same thing as SLI. You simply have to use ATI cards instead of nVidia.


There is a deal in place for the next generation Intel chipsets, though: After threatening to withold a licence for nVidia to make chipsets for Intel's new processor/socket, nVidia has agreed to allow motherboard makers to purchase nVidia southbridge chips for incorporation into their products. Potentially making the same motherboard capable of running either Crossfire or SLI.

Of course, on the heels of that come rumors (publicly denied by nVidia) that current nvidia offerings will be their last chipsets and the maker will return to concentrating on their graphics offerings...

 

[billin30]

Pretty sure you need a nvidia chipset to have SLI. The nvidia chipset is what makes SLI possible and I think they are being stingy and not handing it out to intel to put on their (alledgedly) superior boards. I have a nvidia board and don't have really any problems with it. Could OC a little better, but I haven't really gotten way deep into trying to make it work, so it may be just fine.

Seems like now is the time to do Xfire anyway with intel being the better chipset and ati having their cheap but effective cards.

 

[Nils]

So as a conclusion we can say that if you want a very efficient SLI system, you will need a Nvidia mobo, for the moment though.

So I hope that what scotteq said will become a reality, because at this moment i have an asus 680i mobo with a q6600 and the most stable oc i have reached is 2.88GHz. I am sure that on an Intel mobo, i would have gone over 3GHz

By the way, any additional info is always welcome. Maybe someone has an Intel mobo with SLI???

 

[Scotteq]

I have my Q66 running at 3.2... And that's mild compared to some of the other peeps here - actually, 3.4 is probably more common. And there are some 3.6's and higher as well.


On the older chipsets (975X), there were some hacked SLI drivers floating around the web. But those obviously don't work on newer chipsets, and if you're like me then you don't install "Stuff Some Guy On The Internet Hacked" on your computer anyways.


If I understand the upcoming arrangement properly, then it will be up to the motherboard makers as to what combination(s) they want to offer.


I do have a question tho - Given that Crossfire scales very comparably to SLI, and that you at least appear to be contemplating a new build... Why would an ATI setup not be something to examine?


And for reference: I have no brand loyalties either way. When I build, I buy whatever performs best for the job at hand without blowing my budget *too* badly... I'm just curious why Crossfire isn't a consideration for your Dual GPU setup, given that you want an Intel chipset.

 

[outlw6669]

There is currently ONE Intel based motherboard that can run SLI.
Intel's Skulltrail.
Of course, it will cost you $630 for the motherboard and way more for the S771 CPU's but it dose exist.

As stated earlier, the X58 motherboard for Nehalem will have the option to include a nVidia nForce 200 SLI chip.
This will allow you to run SLI on select Intel motherboards as well as CrossFire.
It will cost you though.
The chip alone costs about $30 plus the PCB will have to be redesigned to accept it.
Expect SLI enabled X58 motherboards to run $50-75 more than similar non-SLI Mb's.

I second scotteq in that you should consider CrossFire for your new rig.
All Intel/AMD Mb's with more than one PCIe 16x slot support Cf.
The quality and features of Intel Mb's far surpass nVidia's offerings.

Also take into account ATI's 48x0 series cards.
A single 4870, which you can have for as low as $255, outperforms nVidia's GTX 260 and can be competitive with the GTX 280.
A single 4850, from $155, matches to outperforms bye about 15% the 9800GTX+.
A pair of 4850's on an Intel X38/48 or P45 motherboard will give you an extremely cost effective powerhouse.

 

[zenmaster]

So as a conclusion we can say that if you want a very efficient SLI system, you will need a Nvidia mobo, for the moment though.

So I hope that what scotteq said will become a reality, because at this moment i have an asus 680i mobo with a q6600 and the most stable oc i have reached is 2.88GHz. I am sure that on an Intel mobo, i would have gone over 3GHz

By the way, any additional info is always welcome. Maybe someone has an Intel mobo with SLI???

Scott Speaks the Truth. (There is Skulltrail mentioned below, but it's WAY overpriced and impractical.)
However, the 680i should be able to do much more than 2.88 Ghz.
Maybe we should investigate that.

 

[flyin15sec]

Agree with Zenmaster. Definately something amiss with your OC on the 680i board you have.

 

[Nils]

Well I might have been a little bit pessimistic on that overclocking. The truth is that I have also ran it at 3GHz and it did very well, but there were here and there some small errors which made my system bluescreen about twice a week. When playing COD4 online, the game crashed because of those errors and in winrar hardware test these errors appeared too.
Right now I am trying again to get it running at 3GHz but I can always use your the help to get the overclock done properly, so thanks for that.

 

[Nils]

The ATI Readeon HD 4870 is a very nice card, especially for its price, but honestly I don't think it can compete against the GTX 280 because that one has a lot more RAM and a much wider memory interface.
Another upcoming card of ATI that looks interesting to me is the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2. That one can even beat two GTX 280's in most games, so that's a card I might buy (after some savings and a price drop, ofcourse)