Question about SLI

[Guest]

i have just bought a new computer and i think i would like to get another GPU to run SLI... i just have a few questions about it... the GPU i have is GTX 275 so im going to get another of those and i know my motherboard supports it... what i would like to know is if it has to be the same brand and does everything in it need to be exactly the same? im quite sure my cooling should be enough but i have a 750W power supply, do you think that is enough for it?

Also if there if there is anything else i should look out for before getting another GPU please tell me also just ask if you need some more information about my system

Thanks in advance

 

[shadow187]

Do you, by chance, own a P6T board?
If so, you could sell your GTX275 and buy two HD5850's, which will tear down the two GTX275's, use much less power, and less heat.

However, to answer your questions, what brand is your power supply? And could you tell us how many amps the 12v rail has?
The two cards do not need to be the same brand.

 

[paperfox]

all you need to do is make sure your power supply can handle 2 cards.

the second card just has to be the same model, in your case another GTX 275. it dosent matter what brand you can mix and match: EVGA with XFX for example.

 

[Guest]

@ paperfox: thank you for your reply

to the first answer: my board is EX58 UD3R... tbh i dont know what brand my power supply is and also, what is the 12v rail thingy? XD unfortuneately i dont know like very much about pc's, just a bit

 

[paperfox]

there should be a sticker on the side of the power supply that will tell you the name and model of it and how many amps are in the 12 volt rails.

 

[Guest]

Also i would like to play games like crysis in better FPS which is why im thinking about getting a new GPU... do you think this GTX275 SLI is enough to max it out? my other specs are:

INTEL i7 920 (SOCKET 1366) 4.8GT/sec
* GEFORCE GTX275, 896MB DDR3 GRAPHICCARD (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)
* GIGABYTE EX58-UD3R, (INTEL X58) (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)
***SUPPORTS BOTH SLI AND CROSSFIRE***
* 6GB DDR3 1333MHZ RAM *TRI-CHANNEL*, KINGSTON
* 24x SATA DVDBURNER +/- AND DVD-ROM
* 750W 17DB POWER SUPPLY
* 500GB WD HARDDISK, 7200RPM, 16MB CACHE
* 7.1 SURROUND SOUND CARD
* 2x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORTS
* 10x USB 2.0 PORTS (2 AT FRONT, 8 AT BACK)
* GIGABIT NETWORKCARD(however its spelled) (1000Mbit)
* SUPPORTS RAID
* CABINET APEVIA TELSTAR(BLACK)

 

[Guest]

okay ill try and check it when i get home, sorry for the many replys

 

[Guest]

hmm i dont know where to see it^^ do i have to open the cabinet to see it? also does it matter a lot which brand it is and the rail stuff?

EDIT: i called the store where i bought the pc, he told me it should be the brand INTER-TECH and ive been searching for some stuff afterwards, as far as i know it should be Energon EPS-750

 

[cygone]

Lets try to keep things simple here shall we?

A 750w PSU is more than ample to run 2x275 in SLI (Inter-tech - never heard of them!)

U dont NEED a single 12v rail to run multiple GPUs but it is recomended to reduce spiking on one card.

And to whome ever sugested remove the 275 and buy 2x5850's thats not really a sensible sugestion, a GTX275 costs about £170, each HD5850 cost about £200.

The card just has to be a GTX275, (different make (asus/gygabyte/xfx) - dont matter). It does not matter if one card is running at reference clock speeds and one is overclocked.

And no, 2x275 prolly wont run crysis at max settings, that game is just a killer!! but it dont really matter, still looks damm good !

So in essence, all you need is a 2nd GTX275 and a SLI Bridge.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the answer but dont you think it can run crysis maxed out? ^^ atm im running 8x AA and everything in very high except shader and postprocessing(which are one of those taking much FPS though) at around 35-50 FPS(bit depending what i am looking at) but well at least i guess it will run better though what is a SLI bridge? ^^

 

[cygone]

the bit of black plastic that connects the pcbs together. (prolly got one with your MB).

wht res u runnig ?

 

[Guest]

max i think crysis max res is 1600x1080 or something like that

 

[Powerman287]

of some reason i didnt receive an email for confirmation of account so its me, the on called anonymous ^^ :S
Anyway i have heard that i need something called a SLI bridge, what is that and could it already be implemented in the pc or something? ^^

 

[shadow187]

The GTX275 SLI won't max Crysis (GTX295 = 2x GTX275), and there's minFPS issues as well.

Cygone, my suggestion of selling his $260 card for a $300 one that dominates it isn't a bad idea. He's planning on buying another one, so he is planning on spending that much already. For an extra $80, he can beat his setup, be guaranteed his powersupply will hold, and output less heat.

 

[Powerman287]

well tbh i cba to sell my GTX275, and also im more of an nvidia fan, had problems about ATI...
guess it might not run crysis maxed out but i would be able to live without it
and as far as i know, none games so far requires as much as crysis right?

 

[shadow187]

You won't have DX11, and you'll need to upgrade again to play recent-er games.

 

[Powerman287]

yes that is true but as i said i cba to sell my other one here and as far as i know it dosent peform much less than 285 SLI which is around the same as 5850 it seems ^^ i know its a minus with DX 11 but most games will still run DX 10 for a year or 2 i guess, and then i will probably just buy something new