Dual Graphics Card

Woo Elephant Yeah · Post by **Woo Elephant Yeah** » July 9th, 2005, 9:40

What would I have to change in my system (obviously the motherboard) in order to buy the same graphics card as I already have, and run 2 of them alongside each other

HP Workstation xw6000

Galaxy Glacier GeForce 6800 (128MB)

Intel Xeon 2.8GHz
2GB PC2100 DDR RAM
37GB SCSI & 200GB IDE

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » July 9th, 2005, 11:03

ok, you'll have to change a lot to get that to happen.

You'll need a new motherboard (either SLI or Crossfire compatible, depending on your preference)

You'll also need at least 1 new graphics card - I can't tell if the one you have is PCI-E or AGP, not to mention that it doesn't appear to have an SLI connector (so isn't usable with an SLI setup)

After that you will *need* a good power supply, i'd say at least 400W from a good maker, expect to pay £40+ for this. A cheap and nasty PSU isn't an option, it'll die horribly.

Post by **deject** » July 9th, 2005, 17:38

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:ok, you'll have to change a lot to get that to happen.

You'll need a new motherboard (either SLI or Crossfire compatible, depending on your preference)

You'll also need at least 1 new graphics card - I can't tell if the one you have is PCI-E or AGP, not to mention that it doesn't appear to have an SLI connector (so isn't usable with an SLI setup)

After that you will *need* a good power supply, i'd say at least 400W from a good maker, expect to pay £40+ for this. A cheap and nasty PSU isn't an option, it'll die horribly.

This. If you bought an AGP based card, you're better off getting a a new PCI-Express motherboard and a 7800GTX, and wait to upgrade to SLI. If you do need to buy a new mobo, I suggest getting an ASUS A8N-SLI board and a Athlon 64 3500+ or higher. Pair that up with a GB or so of DDR400, and you've got a primo gaming rig.

And I cannot stress enough how important a quality power supply is. A good third to half of stability issues are caused by bad PSUs.

Woo Elephant Yeah · Post by **Woo Elephant Yeah** » July 11th, 2005, 7:58

Thanks for the advice.

One question though, can you run 2 completely different graphics cards in a dual mode setup? I assumed they had to be the same.

If I have no SLI connectors, does that mean I will have to use this Crossfire setup instead of SLI?

What's the difference between the two?

Post by **deject** » July 11th, 2005, 15:43

Woo Elephant Yeah wrote:Thanks for the advice.

One question though, can you run 2 completely different graphics cards in a dual mode setup? I assumed they had to be the same.

If I have no SLI connectors, does that mean I will have to use this Crossfire setup instead of SLI?

What's the difference between the two?

You can always run 2 separate video cards, but they won't work together in any way. SLI and Crossfire both require the same type of card, and current SLI systems need the same video bios on the cards for it to work.

If you have no SLI connector, you can't use that card in any dual GPU setup. Crossfire is for ATi cards, so you're SOL in the dual graphics department.

As for the differences between SLI and Crossfire, SLI was part of the 6x00 chip design from the beginning whereas Crossfire is made to respond to SLI so ATi isn't left behind. SLI uses a little connector card for the 2 cards to communicate with each other, while Crossfire uses an external connector using DVI plugs. Also, Crossfire needs at least one special Crossfire edition card to pair up with a regular one.

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » July 11th, 2005, 16:09

Crossfire is only really usefull if you currently have a nice ATI card (X800 etc.) then all you do is buy another, but slightly more expensive (they reckon about £40 more) Crossfire 'master/control' card and conenct together with DVI cable at back, off you go. Apparently much more compatible and less driver probs than SLI.

Assuming of course you have a compatible motherboard.

I have neither an ATI card or a compatible motherboard so