jimmiemoseketeer

is it easy to run 2 gpu's? i know 256 mb is usually enough but why not go to 512? It's been awhile since i've built a desktop from scratch, there's so many more options now.

Hibiki

512 of mb per video card is overkill, today most games are barely taxing 256 mb. Running 2 video cards is easy if you have the money and the cooling.

Besides the two Nvidia SLI capable cards you will need an SLI capable motherboard. You could also wait for ATI to start shipping their Crossfire capable chipset and GPUs.

The extra card will require more power to run, so a 450 watt or higher card is recommended depending on your setup (http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/sock...li-d/power.htm) and it would be better if it had dual 12v rails.

As for the cooling you will need to make sure you have proper intake and output to keep the two cards cool.
Good luck on the build and Welcome To Pimp Rig!

$SOLID$ Necro

Quote: Originally Posted by Hibiki 512 of mb per video card is overkill, today most games are barely taxing 256 mb.

Well..you are partly correct (Good job BTW!) but I guess you somehow missed playing that little known game DOOM-3?

There is the "Ultra" setting designed to be used with 512MB cards

Although not realy neccesary, ID Software looked down the road a bit take advantage of hardware that will show up in the future when they designed it, the biggest card when it came out only had 256MB!

Quake 4 is due to be released fairly soon, and it will be using the Doom 3 engine, and I am sure they have taken advantage of a few new tricks that will push the cards harder than ever!

Far Cry and BF-2 puts a pretty heavy strain on the current generation of single 256MB Video Cards with at high resolutions and all the eye candy turned up.

SLI and the 6800-7800's will tame those games! (ATI too whenever they finally come out )

We are talking about absolute gaming freaks..people that demand top of the line performance with lots of money to burn, the average hardcore gamer will be happy with a 256MB NVIDA 6800-7800GTX series or the ATI 800-850XT PE series.

Both company's offer 512MB versions of them, however... almost all the affordable versions with slow core and memory speeds do not do all that well in most games (Other than Doom3, HL-2 and BF-2) compared to an equally priced 256MB version that runs at faster clock speeds.

These are the only 512MB cards I know of in the retail market available at the moment:

NVIDA

6200 512MB (107$) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145121
Way underpowered! You got be kiddin me

6800GT 512MB (349$) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130240
Probably the best buy for 512MB card!

6800Ultra (689$) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143028
Yowsa! way overpriced..get a 256MB 7800GTX for the same price!

ATI

X-800XL (379$) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102548
Serious underperformer..get the 6800GT 512MB or a X-850XT 256MB for about the same price!


This will all change again when Unreal 2007 and 1GB Vid Cards comes out sometime in 2006

BigAkita

Yeah, I though Hibiki's post pretty much covered everything except the RAM part. With RAM of any type, it's more, more, more. With a Rebel Yell, more, more, more.

jimmiemoseketeer

Well maybe i'll have to run two 512mb cards then! Why not double it and go to 1 gig. It would be alittle overkill for now but when the new quake comes out it would easily handle the graphics. And i'd be able to crank up Doom 3. I wouldn't need to upgrade it for awhile. But at first i'll probably just run 512 and see what it can do. Just like tweaking a car you gotta add something, then you want more.

$SOLID$ Necro

Quote: Originally Posted by jimmiemoseketeer Well maybe i'll have to run two 512mb cards then! Why not double it and go to 1 gig. It would be alittle overkill for now but when the new quake comes out it would easily handle the graphics. And i'd be able to crank up Doom 3. I wouldn't need to upgrade it for awhile. But at first i'll probably just run 512 and see what it can do. Just like tweaking a car you gotta add something, then you want more.

You would think it would work like that, but that having a pair of 512MB cards in SLI mode is NOT the same as having a single 1Gig card....it doesn't "Add" up the memory together.

Games will treat it as if it was a UBER fast single 512MB card

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Yeah, I though Hibiki's post pretty much covered everything except the RAM part. With RAM of any type, it's more, more, more. With a Rebel Yell, more, more, more.

Funny you should quote him, he's got a show in town this weekend I'd love to go to see..none of my buddies like him though!

I remember cleaning a resteraunt/bar as a teen early in the morning before anyone got there to open it for lunch, so I had the jukebox all to myself...

"Eyes without a Face" always got played!

jimmiemoseketeer

ahhh screw it! I'll just run one 512 and alleviate all the headaches. i got other things to worry about. 512 should be plenty.... for awhile.