ATI Radeon X800XL in SLI Config

[bluecord]

Can I run two X800XL cards in SLI mode on a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI mobo? Or do I have to use NVIDIA cards to get SLI with this mobo? I know it's a pretty basic question, but I can't seem to find the answer anywhere else.

 

[Frown66]

SLI is an nvidia only thing. So, no, the X800XL cards will not work in a SLI configuration.

 

[coomar]

you have to use nvidia cards for sli, ati cards in tandem are called crossfire which probably requires a master card (and the x800xl in slave mode) and a crossfire board, there seems to be a way to run 2 slaves together but it still requires a crossfire board probably

 

[bluecord]

Thanks for the info.

 

[johnnqq]

you obviously don't know this but, ati is making a crossfire edition of xpress 200...which is basically sli for x800 and later cards. so you can take an x800 and ANY card (not x700 or lower) that came after that (as long as it is a crossfire edition. those haven't come out yet. neither has the crossfire edition mobos) and put them together. in sli, you have to put in 2 of the exact same card.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Except that your second card must be slower or equivalent to the master card, and if it is a slower card, the master will slow down to the same speed as well (IIRC).

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2432

(It actually says a 16 pipe card will "udnerclock" to 12 pipes if working with another 12 pipe card, but it doesn't say anything about clock speed).

However, because the crossfire uses the master card, you can take your existing X800XL and then add the X800 master and you should be able to use both cards. It MAY not require a crossfire motherboard, just a mobo with 2X pcie graphics card slots.

-D'oh!

 

[coomar]

so with an x800xl, your stuck with the lower crossfire master, you may only gain 8 more pipes