SLI motherboards suitable for 8800GT

[chan1628]

Hey all,

been getting help from this site for years... and now I finally have a question for myself

My buddy gave me a used BFG 8800GT OC2 card while he upgraded to something better.... from what i've heard, its still a pretty darn good card

However, this new gift has prompted me to build a new PC since my current one is still socket939 with a 6600GT and 2GB of DDR2 RAM .... not the quickest machine around and definitely not sufficient to play COD6 anytime soon

I haven't decided ALL the parts that I want to buy yet..but I do know one thing is for sure. Since i already have one, i'll be looking for a 2nd BFG 8800GT OC2 card so that I can run SLI. I'm almost certain that this SLI setup will allow me to pretty darn good graphics for COD6 (it better!)

Now, correct me if i'm wrong but it seems like not every mobo supports SLI, is that correct? It seems like another battle between ATI vs nvidia again .... i don't want any Crossfire suggestions, its not that i'm hatin' on ATI, its just that I don't wanna waste my free 8800GT

Anyhoo, I will most likely stick to my AMD ways and get a 955BE in the near future.... so, can anyone recommend a good AM3 mobo that will support SLI for my vid-card?

newegg link would be nice, since i will most likely be buying from there....

thanks in advance for all your help

 

[tecmo34]

For an AM3 CPU, this is really about your best option for SLI... IMO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130236

 

[jitpublisher]

If you are bent on SLI, I hate to say this because I have always tried to lean towards AMD......you need to go with an i5 platform. nVidia licensed their SLI technology to Intel finally, so their P55 and X58 chipsets support SLI.
The reason I say this is because motherboards with nVidia chipsets are so...well....they are simply second rate boards. I would never, ever suggest anyone buy a board with an nVidia chipset. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Just my opinion, but don't say I didn't warn you.

On the lighter side, yeah I still run a 8800GTS 512 OC BFG card. And yes, they trade blows with the 4850, and with a little overclocking, (and your 8800 will overclock like crazy) your 8800 will eat it up. I hit get over 15,200 in 3DMark 06. Not bad for an "old" GPU!

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you are bent on SLI, I hate to say this because I have always tried to lean towards AMD......you need to go with an i5 platform. nVidia licensed their SLI technology to Intel finally, so their P55 and X58 chipsets support SLI.
The reason I say this is because motherboards with nVidia chipsets are so...well....they are simply second rate boards. I would never, ever suggest anyone buy a board with an nVidia chipset. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Just my opinion, but don't say I didn't warn you.

As my 680i board has been running for over two years without issue it's my opinion that peoples problems are self inflicted, but that's just my opinion. [:mousemonkey]

 

[obsidian86]

some nforce boards were ok but some have been iffy like the earlier attempts at an amd sli board (cringe) i had a few die on me but generally the intel boards like the 680i and 790i were of the more solid options

 

[Mousemonkey]

some nforce boards were ok but some have been iffy like the earlier attempts at an amd sli board (cringe) i had a few die on me but generally the intel boards like the 680i and 790i were of the more solid options

The reason for the high failure rates was due to board makers skimping on the amount of layers used, due to the high cost of the chipset the board makers tried to recoup their profit margin by reducing the amount of layers that the specification from Nvidia stipulated and whilst this did not present a big problem if everything was run at stock speeds it did leave the door open for thermal and electrical issues if any OC'ing were to happen.

 

[obsidian86]

OC'ing always happens with me guess thats why the boards choked on their transistors

 

[Mousemonkey]

OC'ing always happens with me guess thats why the boards choked on their transistors

For you and many others, I'm not saying the failures didn't happen just that the reason is not as cut and dry as some would have you believe.

 

[chan1628]

Well, you guys got me thinking now.....
since i already have my vid-card, but haven't bought any other parts yet.....

i'll be willing to look into an Intel chip ... in that scenario, which model is a good motherboard to run SLI .... and can someone tell me what a good (reasonably priced) Intel chip is? I haven't had an Intel chip since the P1 days

 

[tecmo34]

Your best bet is to go with the i5 750, which runs a little less than $200 and out performs the AM3 CPU's. You can get a great motherboard for around $150 or good ones for around $120 or so.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Currently if you want to run SLi with an Intel CPU the only viable options are the i5/i7 units on the P55 and X58 chipsets respectively. Prices depend on where you are in the world (I don't assume that everyone is in the US).

 

[chan1628]

I actually found a good deal today (Black Friday) on the ASUS P7P55 PRO mobo... anyone think this is NOT a good mobo for SLI?

to be more specific, here's the deal I'm currently looking at.... http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5532357
the price is definitely within my range.... so if no one thinks that its a "terrible" deal or the hardware doesn't suite what I'm looking for ... please please speak up so i don't go wasting my money

cheers

 

[obsidian86]

looks like an ok deal

 

[chan1628]

Ok, since its Black Friday... these deals won't last long.... so i hope i hear some opinions soon...

here's my build so far:
vid-card (don't need it, read my original post and you'll know why)
PSU: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply ($50)
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 ($205)
Mobo: ASUS P7P55 PRO Motherboard ($99)
RAM: Corsair Dominator PC12800 RAM 2x2GB ($195)

free shipping and add taxes ... the 4 parts total $627.07

how's that sound? can I do better?

 

[obsidian86]

looks ok power supply lil iffy tho

 

[chan1628]

well, the PSU is normally like $170... but its on sale today for $50... the reviews are pretty good... here's the link http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&Sku=ULT-LSP750

I like the sale prices of today for black friday... i'm gonna think it over for several more hours... but it looks like i might be getting this system so I can SLI my 8800GT

however, i am still open to opinions or anyone who wants to persuade me to not purchase this

 

[chan1628]

Ok, since its Black Friday... these deals won't last long.... so i hope i hear some opinions soon...

here's my build so far:
vid-card (don't need it, read my original post and you'll know why)
PSU: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply ($50)
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 ($205)
Mobo: ASUS P7P55 PRO Motherboard ($99)
RAM: Corsair Dominator PC12800 RAM 2x2GB ($195)

free shipping and add taxes ... the 4 parts total $627.07

how's that sound? can I do better?

OK... lets scrap what I just mentioned above.... talked to the wife and realized this was a bit higher than our budget
SOOOOO ... i've had to "downgrade" all the parts and now i'm looking at a total of under $500
therefore, i got a new build and to me it looks pretty solid...
again, i'm open to any opinion but just remember I simply can't pay for the higher performance I was initially looking for

vid-card (don't need it, read my original post and you'll know why)
PSU: Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply ($50)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 ($130)
Mobo: XFX nForce 750i SLI Extreme ($110)
RAM: Corsair XMS2 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz ($90)

free shipping and add taxes ... the 4 parts total $457.53

now ...how's that sound considering I just saved $160

 

[jitpublisher]

Well, you already know my thoughts, and if I had to change gears that much, I would have went AMD, forgot about SLI, ran 1 card for now, and bought a high end ATI card later, that is what I would have done. But, I am not you and you are not me.
All in all not a bad build for a budget gamer that will do the job quite nicely, especially if you add another GPU later.