Intel Core i5 760 SLI problem

[jdbceltics]

Hello,
I am planning on building a gaming rig. I want it to be SLI capable (GTX 460's) so when I have more money I can buy another GTX 460 (instead of just the one). The problem is that u read a review on newegg stating that the Intel Core i5 760 will make it so that I only have 16 lanes for PCI, meaning I can only do x8 x8 in SLI rather than x16 x16. Is this correct? And if it is, dies it really make a huge difference (x8 vs. X16)?

 

[oooen1gmaooo]

everyones tells me it makes no difference, I am also planning on upgrading to GTX 460's in SLI w/ a pcie slots running at x8 x8

 

[WR2]

There is a small difference in performance between full x16/x16 and x8/x8 SLI. The actual difference varies between games.
The ability to use SLI and the performance gains far outweigh the few percentage points difference between x16/x8 modes IMO.

Keep an eye out on the HardOCP site. They're getting ready to publish an article next week that shows what kind of real world gaming impact running x16/x8 SLI will have using SLI GTX 460s.

 

[WR2]

One example. Crysis @ 1920x1200 x16 @ 46fps x8 @ 45fps

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Tom's recently wrote a great review comparing dual x8 with dual x16
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pcie-geforce-gtx-480-x16-x8-x4,2696.html
The difference between them isn't noticeable unless you play at a resolution like 2560x1600 or higher.

 

[WR2]

THG has a recent article on the topic of SLI scaling you'll want to read: PCI Express And SLI Scaling: How Many Lanes Do You Need?

 

[WR2]

I see Maziar beat me in linking the THG article.