few questions about vid card :D

[12114]

hi

im abit confused with all the "SLI" things (havent upgraded my pc in 5 years so all this is new to me)

lets say i buy a 8800 gts for 320 us bucks or w/e its worth

does it come as a pair (like 2 copies of them since it says sli ready?)

or do i have to spend another 320 bucks for another 8800 gts (to get the SLI)?

thx 4 any help

[One4yu2c]

No, you don't receive two videocards. If you were to buy a second card of the same model, you could then run them in SLI, provided you have a compatible motherboard and a powerful enough power supply.

[12114]

ohh i see, speaking of which

can someone tell me what powersupply i should get for my new comp im gonna buy soon? :D

my upcoming specs:

amd 64 dual core 5600+ 1 mb l2 cache cpu
asus 8800 gts 320 mb vid card
asus M2N-SLI deluxe AM2 motherboard
s-ata 500 gb hardrive
2gb corsair DDR2
antec p180 case (probably)


for now im gonna keep my comp NON SLI
so what powersupply (watts) do u guys think i should get? (i prefer enermax)

and what if later on i were to get SLI with 8800 gts, then how many watts would i need?

ty

[Stormcrow]

SLI Ready simply means that the cards are ready to be used in a SLI configuration without any addition hassle. You need a mobo with an Nforce chipset thats capable of running SLI (Nforce 4 SLI, Nforce 500, 570, 590 are the newest I believe), a SLI Bridge that comes with the mobo, and two IDENTICAL cards.
Identical meaning the cards must have the exact specs. A 8800 GTS with 640 mb and one with 320 are imcompatible with each other, the brand name and clock speeds of the two dont matter however. You add the cards to the slots, plug them into the PSU if they need it, then connect them together with the Bridge by the gold connectors they have on the PCB. This should give you almost a 90% boost in performance. The catch is, the game must have support for SLI in the Nvidia drivers, and only the most popular titles are supported. You can make your own drivers using Nvidias supplied tool, but sometimes it just doesnt work.

Also, dont confuse SLI for Crossfire, which is ATi's technology. Crossfire can only be used on a ATi chipset, and you have to have a special Crossfire master card which the other cards link to. However, you can mix cards around (X1950 Pro with a X1650 XT for example) but the faster card has to run at the speed of the slower one. Crossfire also supports up to 32 devices in a chain, and its performance boost can be used with any game.

SLI is more readily available and cheaper, but can only be used with specific games while Crossfires higher price lets it be used with any game. I know its a little more info then you asked but I hope it helps.

[Mithosphere]

ATi's older cards required the master card, with that atrocious dongle connecting everything in the back. On newer cards they have a type of bridge similar to the SLI bridge, except ATi uses two for faster transfer rates between the cards (i think thats right, correct me if I'm wrong). This was introduced with the X1950 and similar cards ending with a X**50.

[Hitman]

Use the PSU Calculator to get an idea how big of a PSU you will need for your system.

I would recommend this PSU, but you could get away with a smaller one, but I wouldn't suggest buying one less then 500w.
Newegg.com - ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply 90V~265V (Auto Adjusted) UL, cUL, TUV, CB - Retail

[Reloadron]

8800 GTS OC_____}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}' 117W ² (640MB 576/1350)
8800 GTS ________}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}| 106W ² (640MB)
8800 GTS ________}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|' 103W ² (320MB)

Personally, I would run with Hitman's suggestion. That would afford room for the future.

Ron

[Computer-Ed]

Okay based on your specs to run your system at max power usage and stay within 80% of the PSU rating you want to get at least a 550 watt PSU so that to 650 would do you great and not be overkill.

ANY PSU that falls within these ranges that has Active PCF and 80% effeciency should do you fine.

Okay maybe not any, you have to be careful because the sad truth is some companies LIE about their effeciency and others use poor testing methods that give false readings.

If you can find one the first choice would be a PSU with the above power and 80Plus certification.

If you cannot get the 80 Plus Certification I would look at the following brands:

PC Power and Cooling
Corair
FSP
Silverstone
Antec

These are the companies that have historically produce the BEST power supplies so one of these will not stear you wrong.

Also look at the Toughpower series from Thermaltake. I have only seen the 1KW model but it is impressive with how stable the voltage is and it stays at the 80% efficency very solid. I would hope the rest of the series is the same quality.

[One4yu2c]

While not all-inclusive, if you want to err on the side of caution, you can reference nVidia's list of SLI certified power supplies for various graphics card, found HERE.

Otherwise, I would recommend restricting your searches to (in alphabetical order) Antec, Corsair, Enermax, Fortron Source, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Silverstone, and Tagan. This list is not all-inclusive either, but should provide you with plenty of options at any given price point and feature-set (modular or wired).

And finally, when it comes to power supplies, pay particular attention to the total amps offered on the +12V rail. It doesn't matter so much whether a unit utilizes multiple +12V rails or a single large one, but you do want to make sure that a company isn't making exaggerated wattage claims by stuffing most of the amps on the +5V rail, which you'll commonly see on less reliable generic units. Today's systems feed heavily off of the +12V rail, particularly if you plan to add a second videocard into the mix down the line.

[12114]

wow this site is so helpful ty everyone :D

i've decided to go with enermax galaxy 850 watts :D

i know its a bit an "overkill" but im not gonna upgrade my pc for possibly 4-5 years so i want no risk of my pc getting burned/fireworks

besides if in the future i decide to get another 8800 gts for SLI i think this powersupply's watts/amp rails will be just right. :D