[Tnesper]

I'm looking at some upgrades for SLI capability and have a few questions about it.

Are there any Asus Am2/Am2+ motherboards you guys would recommend for SLI capability.

Does the motherboard have to say it is SLI capable? I was told that usually, as long as it has 2 or more slots it is SLI capable, but I would hate to set it all up and have it not work.

Does the system memory and power supply have to say they are SLI capable?

How big of a power supply should you have if you are going to SLI. I'm going to buy a 9800 GTX and buy another when the next generation comes out and the prices of the 9800 GTX drop. I've got 2 hard drives, I'll be pushing 4 gigs of ram, etc.

If I do need an SLI psu so my current 500w won't work, any recommendations?

Thanks guys.

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To power an SLI board will use the same amount of power as a non-SLI board except in the circumstances of where you have two cards. Then of course it will instantly suck up more power.

As a typical rule if the board has two PCI-Ex x16 slots its SLI compatible but in this day and age when you can download manuals off the internet before you even buy the boards they're referring to, its always a good idea to check.

The more powerful the graphics card(s), the bigger a power supply you will need. The 9800GTX can suck up anything to 175W on its own so two of them will be 350w. Add the normal overheads such as board, hard drives, CD units, processor, any peripheral cards and 500w is suddenly looking a bit borderline. Having said that, its not all about the total output but the voltages down the various rails - some cards require certain throughputs to function properly.

Edited by Neil Jones, 01 June 2008 - 05:27 AM.

[Neil Jones]

To power an SLI board will use the same amount of power as a non-SLI board except in the circumstances of where you have two cards. Then of course it will instantly suck up more power.

As a typical rule if the board has two PCI-Ex x16 slots its SLI compatible but in this day and age when you can download manuals off the internet before you even buy the boards they're referring to, its always a good idea to check.

The more powerful the graphics card(s), the bigger a power supply you will need. The 9800GTX can suck up anything to 175W on its own so two of them will be 350w. Add the normal overheads such as board, hard drives, CD units, processor, any peripheral cards and 500w is suddenly looking a bit borderline. Having said that, its not all about the total output but the voltages down the various rails - some cards require certain throughputs to function properly.

Edited by Neil Jones, 01 June 2008 - 05:27 AM.

[stettybet0]

Only motherboards with NVIDIA chipsets or Skulltrail chipsets are SLI capable. Others with 2 PCI-E slots (such as P35, X38, etc.) are typically only Crossfire capable.

I would not be comfortable powering 2 9800GTXs with 500W. I would look for more wattage, but also as Neil said, the amperage on the 12V rail is very important. Also you will want to make sure the PSU has 4 6-pin PCI-E power connectors, as each 9800GTX needs 2 of them.