Author Topic: Graphics card upgrade (SLI compatible) (Read 508 times)

Red Tail 444 · « **on:** June 14, 2007, 05:41:28 PM »

Here's my system. I'm considering an upgrade, using two graphics cards. If anyone can suggest an sppropriate upgrade from the Nvidia7900gt, I'm open to suggestions.

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+, MMX, 3DNow
(2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 295MB used, 3643MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT/GTO
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #1 on:** June 14, 2007, 09:50:21 PM »

Hi Gainsie,
I'm guessing you won't see much difference with 2 of anything in AH. Is there another reason for the upgrade? Also, isn't your current card SLI compatible.

Army700 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 14, 2007, 09:57:39 PM »

Make sure your mobo has two PCI-E Slots. And we need the power of your PSU.

Krusty · « **Reply #3 on:** June 14, 2007, 11:21:26 PM »

SLI is spending twice the money for a hair above the same level of performance. 1 Vid card will do, regardless of the marketing hype

The 7950 seems to be better than the 7900, short of the Ge8800 the next in-between step is the ATI x1950. It's a bit better than the best 7900 card but nowhere near as good as the full-power Ge8800s.

EDIT: That is, if you have PCIe. If you have AGP just go X1950 and just get the 1 card.

The Fugitive · « **Reply #4 on:** June 15, 2007, 07:49:26 AM »

thought I read Skuzzy saying that SLI either dosen't work, or dosen't help in AH2, can't remember, getting old

I agrre with the others, doubling up isn't going to give you that big a boost for the money. For a few dollars more you can get a super video card. My son, the "computer geek" just built a new box. He could have gone with SLI, but instead he paid $300 on a killer video card. In one game he play (first person shooters) the landscapes look real, and as he zoomed in on a tree you could see each leaf twisting in the breeze ! Just made me sick !

Stick with the single!

Skuzzy · « **Reply #5 on:** June 15, 2007, 10:01:36 AM »

NVidia has an SLI profile for Aces High II, but I am not crazy about how they did it as they disable vertical sync.

Red Tail 444 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 15, 2007, 01:19:01 PM »

Thanks, it's a dual core, SLI compatible, and I have plenty of power/cooling (coolermaster case) The game runs fine, but I play another MMORG that requires a lot of ....well, it has been suggested to get two cards.

the 7900 has overheating issues, I've RMA'd twice already, and about to make it 3 with this one. A second card of the came quality "should" cause less heat to either. That's my theory but finding support from ppl not trying to sell me something I don;t need hasn't been fruitful.

Thanks for the feedback

Krusty · « **Reply #7 on:** June 15, 2007, 02:01:45 PM »

Doesn't work that way.

FYI I think there was a driver or software fix for the 7900 fans. They weren't clocking up fast enough or something.

2 cards = twice the heat.

TexInVa · « **Reply #8 on:** June 15, 2007, 04:29:01 PM »

And, the 8800's get god-awful, scary hot. Mine runs at 85°C (185°F) while playing AHII, and that's normal. Fans don't kick up to 100% until either 92° or 96°C and throttles itself at 110°C (230°F).

Red Tail 444 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 15, 2007, 11:48:03 PM »

2 cards = double the heat, I'm glad someone clarified this, I've been told exactly the opposite.

My card never got over 53, according to the software that monitors temp, and I have plenty of cooling, so I'm at a loss to burning out my third card. I'll RMA this 7900 and save pennies for a card that provides similar performance w/o the cooling issues.

Thanks.

Fulmar · « **Reply #10 on:** June 17, 2007, 02:30:13 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
SLI is spending twice the money for a hair above the same level of performance. 1 Vid card will do, regardless of the marketing hype

EDIT: That is, if you have PCIe. If you have AGP just go X1950 and just get the 1 card.

SLI is not available in AGP. It is only available in PCI-E (however, 3DFX did develop it about 10 years ago for standard PCI during their final days when the Voodoo 5 monster wasn't released).

If you are running large resolutions, ABOVE 1600x1200 and have 8/16x AA and AF turned on and max graphics settings will you notice a significant benefit to using SLI. Otherwise save your money and stick with the one card setup. Most likely you'll have to drop $130+ on a new quality PSU that will support your new power draw. Remember ladies, buy only quality PSU's (don't gamble on a cheap $15 one that supports $1500 of equipment). It's like a guy refining his own gasoline on the corner. Do you trust it if its 25 cents cheaper? Okay maybe a bad analogy but you get the picture.

Fulmar · « **Reply #11 on:** June 17, 2007, 02:33:08 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by TexInVa
And, the 8800's get god-awful, scary hot. Mine runs at 85°C (185°F) while playing AHII, and that's normal. Fans don't kick up to 100% until either 92° or 96°C and throttles itself at 110°C (230°F).

Which model 8800? 85C is NOT NORMAL for these cards. Your case cooling or your card is the problem.

NORMAL IDLE: 65C
LOAD TEMP: 70-75C

Read other hardware forums, you'll find you've got major cooling problems. Christ, call your video card company and ask them, they'll tell you the same thing I just did.

Fulmar · « **Reply #12 on:** June 17, 2007, 02:36:05 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty

2 cards = twice the heat.

All modern high end cards have exhaust fans that carry most of the heat off the video card to the back outside of the computer. There is little ambient heat generated that is spread to the inside of the computer. Go ahead stick your had an inche away from the video card, you'll notice little temperature change. My case has a temperatue sensor that displays to the LCD on the front of the case. I've stuck the sensor directly on top of my 8800 GTS 640 cooler and registered a 2C difference from the ambient case temp on idle and 4C increase on load.

Krusty · « **Reply #13 on:** June 18, 2007, 12:00:32 AM »

Only a small % of them duct out the back, and they still radiate out the other side of their CPU mounting (hell my older Ge4400 got so not to the touch after playing AH that you couldn't keep your finger on the backside of the card for more than 2 seconds).

Are you sure about no SLI? SLI isn't new, and I seem to recall it was "in style" before we got PCIe cards. I could be wrong, but I do remember it being around when AGP was the only choice.

TexInVa · « **Reply #14 on:** June 18, 2007, 05:49:13 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Fulmar
Which model 8800? 85C is NOT NORMAL for these cards. Your case cooling or your card is the problem.

NORMAL IDLE: 65C
LOAD TEMP: 70-75C

Read other hardware forums, you'll find you've got major cooling problems. Christ, call your video card company and ask them, they'll tell you the same thing I just did.

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card

Thanks for your concern, but I have read the hardware forums. I freaked out the first time I ran ATITool and had the card hit 86°C after 20 minutes of heating, and then maintain that temp for 2 hours. EVGA pretty much told me to quit with the hysterics and that everything was ok, and that the fan isn't even running at full speed yet.

That's when I opened up the bios.

Fan kicks up to 100% at 96°C, card throttles at 110°C and shuts down at 112°C. This is according to the stock bios.

If I manually set the fan 100% (via rivatuner) and run ATITool, I can get the temps down to a nice cool 74°C after an hour of running 3D and I can get the idle temps down to 55-56°C.

No.... High temps are the norm with these cards. BTW, the forums do not agree and will give an average temp with just fan cooling, under a load, the range will be somewhere between 75°C and 90°C.

Like I said, these cards run god-awful, scary hot.