2 PCI-E cards mobo help

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wxkid23

Limp Gawd
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Mar 17, 2006
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Im getting ready to re-build my current computer and am going to be buying a 8800GTS (after rebate ~$160) I also have a 7900gtx im using right now and am going to be buying 2 additional monitors (19" ones) to sit on the sides of my 42" westy.

I need a mobo that has 2 PCI-E slots that has some OC ability too (I don't know if I will overlock or not but want the option there) the most important is that it has 2 PCI-E slots and will run both the cards well. I would prefer the cheapest option that will work.

Any help?
 
Danny Bui said:
Has two PCI-E x16 slots, cheapest decent option:
MSI P35 Neo2-FR Intel P35 Motherboard - $110
Click to expand...
bear in mind that the 2nd physical slot only runs at x4 electrically.

depending upon your CPU (it won't overclock great with a quad) you might also want to check out an nVidia 650i SLI mobo as they will run both cards at x8 electrically.
this also looks a bit of a bargain as it would give dual x16 being a 680i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130080
the nvidia chipsets aren't without their issues though.
 
Okay.. I don't know much about mobo's and im not really wanting something extremely complex which means the SLI option is out...

What does the x4 mean? The 7900gtx would be using the x4 slot and would just be operating the third monitor... although I may be using some fairly decent (not that heavy.. just radar software (which needs decent graphical power) graphic intensive stuff on it. Will it work okay?

Also, what's up with you saying that the mobo (the non-sli one) won't oc that well? Should I be able to get the Q6600 up to 3.0ghz or so on it? That's probaly as far as I would go if I did OC.
 
wxkid23 said:
Okay.. I don't know much about mobo's and im not really wanting something extremely complex which means the SLI option is out...

What does the x4 mean? The 7900gtx would be using the x4 slot and would just be operating the third monitor... although I may be using some fairly decent (not that heavy.. just radar software (which needs decent graphical power) graphic intensive stuff on it. Will it work okay?

Also, what's up with you saying that the mobo (the non-sli one) won't oc that well? Should I be able to get the Q6600 up to 3.0ghz or so on it? That's probaly as far as I would go if I did OC.
Click to expand...

He's talking about the 650i mobo. The 680i and 650i didn't OC quad-core CPUs that well. Even 3.0Ghz was a problem for many of the 600 series mobo IIRC. In addition the 650i/680i does run hotter than Intel chipsets.

x4 is the speed of the PCI-E connection. x4 should be enough and OK for your usage. But if you want full x16 speed in both PCI-E x16 slots, you're gonna have to go with a mobo based on the X38 chipset. X38 mobos are pretty pricey since the cheapest one costs around $200, double the price of the MSI mobo I recommended
 
The Neo2-FR OC's quads just fine. I got my homie's Q6600 to 3.2Ghz within seconds (1.3v). It did 3.6Ghz at 1.4v, too, but he didn't like the voltage so high.
 
Thanks for the help... $200 is nearly a 100% jump up from the other board so I think i'll give the x4 a shot.

Now I just hope the two cards will play nice with Vista 32-bit im switching too. All NVIDIA cards (Geforce 7900gtx and 8800gts) AFAIK use the same drivers right? It seems Vista doesn't like different drivers for multiple monitors.
 
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