3rd attempt.. I'm new

[Michael_23]

my epox 9ny mobo died and I want to keep my amd 64 2x and 4 megs ddr400 and case so I purchased an older asus gaming mobo. the new mobo has sli capability for pci express x16 rev 1. my question is, with the new evga (or xpx or whatever) 9800 gt graphics cards, are the new ones 55nm technology or are they 65nm technology. I need to know because with my 500w ps in my old case the 55nm cards will sli just fine for power and heat. The older 65nm cards are power pigs and will likely overheat the whole rig. new main board is ASUSTeK COMPUTER A8N32-SLI Deluxe. new cards that I propose buying are EVGA 01G-P3-N988-TR GeForce 9800 GT. Are these new cards 55nm? Anyone? Any advice as to a better way to go for sli 1.0 support with other cards? Thanks

 

[bystander]

Since this is your 3rd attempt and you aren't getting an answer, I'll give you speculation. Since they continue to use smaller and smaller processes as time and technology advances, it stands to reason that the newer cards are more likely to use the smaller process.

 

[Michael_23]

Since this is your 3rd attempt and you aren't getting an answer, I'll give you speculation. Since they continue to use smaller and smaller processes as time and technology advances, it stands to reason that the newer cards are more likely to use the smaller process.

> Thank you for that. I agree. I know quite a bit about IC but little about computers, a strange combination I'm sure. I guess that's what spawns the entire question. I just don't want to pull the trigger on new graphics cards unless I KNOW that they will work. As you say, line shrink is the driving force of the industry. But, how much does inventory play into new card release...

 

[bystander]

Btw, that's an awfully old card, have you considered just getting a single more modern card?

 

[Michael_23]

Well, no I really hadn't. What would you suggest?

 

[bystander]

A single 6950 or 560 ti would work better than those in SLI. I believe a 6870 or 560 (no ti) would also be better or at least close to the 9800 gt's.

What resolution do you play at?

 

[The Halo Don]

A single 6950 or 560 ti would work better than those in SLI. I believe a 6870 or 560 (no ti) would also be better or at least close to the 9800 gt's.

What resolution do you play at?

DONT DO THIS.

Your 64 X2 would bottleneck like crazy!

 

[bystander]

DONT DO THIS.

Your 64 X2 would bottleneck like crazy!

No more than two 9800gt's. Although resolution plays a big part.

 

[Michael_23]

I play at full 1920x1050 mostly WOW on this system. the amd 64 x2 is a 3800+ 2gh.

 

[bystander]

If you want to match or beat 9800gt's in SLI, I believe it may take a 6870 or 560 (non ti). However, you may find a 460 or 6850 enough for your needs.

In any case, your CPU is likely going to be your weak link.

 

[Michael_23]

Sorry, are the 6870 and 560 cards ATI? I'm not in the lingo enough to know what these card numbers mean. are the 460 or 6850 later revs of the same cards?

 

[Michael_23]

And, why would a single card solution bottleneck less then any SLI solution? That doesn't make sense to me. Wouldn't even the most remedial SLI be better for offloading vprossing from the CPU? Again, I'm new... please help...

 

[Michael_23]

If you want to match or beat 9800gt's in SLI, I believe it may take a 6870 or 560 (non ti). However, you may find a 460 or 6850 enough for your needs.

In any case, your CPU is likely going to be your weak link.

And, why would a single card solution bottleneck less then any SLI solution? That doesn't make sense to me. Wouldn't even the most remedial SLI be better for offloading vprossing from the CPU? Again, I'm new... please help... I don't think I'm using this forum correctly.. this is all new to me.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

^no, a faster single card will give you less trouble and SLI has nothing to to with creating less load on the cpu, not to mention a 500w psu cant really run any cards in sli without blowing up.

 

[Michael_23]

DONT DO THIS.

Your 64 X2 would bottleneck like crazy!

what would you suggest? Are you saying that the single GPU will do poorly against an SLI array?

I don't know what trolling is... I don't care. I was just asking what GPU I might use for optimal play from an old gamer that I'm keeping on line as I can. By the way. What is Trolling? never heard of it until a minute ago...

 

[Michael_23]

^no, a faster single card will give you less trouble and SLI has nothing to to with creating less load on the cpu, not to mention a 500w psu cant really run any cards in sli without blowing up.

I think I'm getting this.. so a faster single card (GPU? RAM, or ram interface) will require less power and take more load off of the CPU? Suggestions for rev 1.0 X16?

 

[Michael_23]

So this gets me back, eventually to my original post... I don't want to blow up my power supply... I have these old ram cards and an old amd 2x processor and a new (old asus sli gamer rev 1 x16 mobo... What graphics solution is the best for this situation? It sounds like the new low power SLI with max vram 98 or 9500 nvidia might be the best bet. (1g mem) to resorect this gamer. otherwise, the cpu is to slow, the power suply is too weak arguments win the day. Other thoughts?

 

[The Halo Don]

No trolling intended, Im just saying, that since your processor is weak, it would hold back any powerful card.

And about the number, they are just names for the cards.

ATI(which is now AMD) and Nvidia are just the creators of the cards, while Sapphire, XFX, EVGA, either continue reference design or make their own.


A single GTX 460 1GB would get you by fine.

GTX 460:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130566

 

[Michael_23]

went with an older ASUS mobo SLI and added two low power EVGA 9 series cards keeping the 500w power using both rails for both cards. Was able to upgrade to 3 gigs ram. The new rig runs cool and has been stable crunching video encoding as well as gaming for over a week. I've gone from "unplayable" in WoW to consistent 70 frames in "good" and better. I think that my main problem was the EpoX mobo to start with. Thank you for all of your help. Problem has been solved. (by the way, running a single 9800 GT card was very close to the same frame rate while gaming, probably don't need the sli....)

 

[Michael_23]

As a newbe I guess I don't understand how to nail this for the viewers and *** it down for future comment. So, I kept the 500w power and a much better ASUS mobo... added two 9800 GT cards in sli... runs great. No suggestion was to do this. In another system I added a single 9800GT card (nvidia) which runs just as well... the single GTX 460 would have probably worked as well...