eVGA 7800GT in SLI

[christopherzombie]

I have one eVGA 7800GT (N518) clocked at 445/1070 and an eVGA NF41 SLI mobo. I'm ordering another eVGA 7800GT from newegg. Should I get one that's clocked the same as my current card (N515 or N518)*, or should I get the N517 clocked @ 460/1100 with the copper heatsink? Both are the same price (~$320.00).

I think the new nVidia drivers allow un-synced clock rates for SLI**, but I'm not sure. Has anyone SLIed cards without the same clock rates? Will the faster card auto clock to the slower cards clocks? Should I flash the same BIOS on both cards to be safe? My current card OCs to 510/1200, it should handle 460/1100 without any issues.


*the N515 and N518 have the same BIOS.
**it should also allow mixed vendors for SLI.

 

[Yreka]

I am kinda in the same boat, except I wont be buying another card till after the hollidays. I am curious to see some reviews on how dissimilar cards perform in SLI with the new drivers.

 

[nitromullet]

From nvidia's site:

Can I mix and match graphics cards is one of them is Overclocked by the Manufacturer?
Yes. A GeForce 7800 GTX that is overclocked (for example BFG GeForce 7800 GTX OC) can be mixed with a standard clock GeForce 7800 GTX.

 

[Doctorweir]

Hmm...maybe if the clocks are different in the bios and you leave em on their own, the cards are async.
As soon as you start overclocking (coolbits, rivatuner) the driver takes over and both cards are (over)clocked to the same value. At least I have not found a tool yet to clock the cards differently...

 

[Yreka]

I am more curious of the performance hit *if any* from using cards from different mfgs or bioses.

Aside from both cards reverting to the lowest CPU/Mem clock of course.

 

[AsianriceX]

Originally posted by: Yreka
I am more curious of the performance hit *if any* from using cards from different mfgs or bioses.

Aside from both cards reverting to the lowest CPU/Mem clock of course.

Considering how tightly Nvidia had control over the manufacturing specs of the 7800 series, I can't see how any manufacturer's bios would be drastically different from another's (aside from the eVGA geometry delta fiasco). This would explain how the only difference between boards is the heatsink and default clocks.