GTX280 + GTX285 + EE9800GT in 2xSLi+PhysX configuration?

[CZroe]

I haven't turned it on in years and salvaged a bunch of stuff from it but I plan to put my old system back together and for playing some older games in my game room and I was wondering about mixing and matching with SLi. Did nVidia ever remove this limitation? I already have the GTX280 and 9800GT EE (Energy Efficient; requires no PSU connector). I plan to add the GTX285 because the price is almost the same as a second GTX280 and probably wouldn't be dumping too much into an old system.

The plan is to run the GTX280 and GTX285 in SLi with the Energy Efficient 9800GT as a PPU for PhysX duty (doesn't require a power connector). This will be in an Asus P5N32-E Plus with 3x16 PCIe Graphics slots and a PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW. It's kind of an nVidia 680i made out of a 650i and an AMD nForce chip to enable Tri-SLi at a lower price than the P5N32-E Deluxe. CPU will be an O/C'd G-stepping Q6600.

Is this ill-conceived even with 2xGTX280 cards?

 

[Smoblikat]

Nvidia is still limiting you ability to mix and match cards, unlike AMD. Your only option is a second 280, or a single new card.

 

[Termie]

Yup, can't do that.

Also, GTX280SLI is only about as powerful as a GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost. Consider just upgrading to that rather than messing with older SLI'd cards. Or if you're really just playing older games, stick with the single 280.

 

[tweakboy]

For Phsyx 9800 GT is plentyful enough.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

You can run a hack, but I wouldn't SLI old cards like that so much heat for sub par performance.

 

[Keysplayr]

Sell them all. Use money towards GTX660 or similar.

 

[CZroe]

It seems a bit expensive but wouldn't a GTX660 be wasted on a C2Q6600?

 

[Keysplayr]

Not sure. Toyota would be the man to ask CPU requirements. Toyota, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

 

[Termie]

I'd say that if the Q6600 is overclocked to well over 3GHz, it could probably support a GTX660. But for older games, that's really unnecessary - even a 650 Ti Boost 1GB card for $140 would be great.

 

[CZroe]

Thanks for the input, guys. Should I keep the GTX280 around for PPU/PhysX duty or continue using the 9800GT EE for that? Even back then I remember games like Arkham Asylum telling me that a dedicated GTX250 was minimum for PhysX (I know, I know: almost the same things as a 9800GTX+ which is almost the same thing as a 9800GTX which is almost the same thing as an 8800GT and the 9800GT EE slots in the somewhere).

I guess I just feel that this Tri-SLI board and amazing PSU is a waste without multiple GPUs!

 

[Termie]

Thanks for the input, guys. Should I keep the GTX280 around for PPU/PhysX duty or continue using the 9800GT EE for that? Even back then I remember games like Arkham Asylum telling me that a dedicated GTX250 was minimum for PhysX (I know, I know: almost the same things as a 9800GTX+ which is almost the same thing as a 9800GTX which is almost the same thing as an 8800GT and the 9800GT EE slots in the somewhere).

I guess I just feel that this Tri-SLI board and amazing PSU is a waste without multiple GPUs!

That's what they want you to think!

Honestly, your CPU and the entire platform is just too old to make any use out of multiple PCIe slots. Even just a single GTX760 would beat three of your cards working in SLI/PhysX, but then you'd run into serious CPU bottlenecking.

If you're just playing old games, stick with the 280 and 9800GT you have. I'm sure they can handle them. If you want to play new games, it may be time to update the whole system.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Also unless you need the extra few bucks the 280 is worth over the 9800 EE, I'd use the 280 going forward for PPU.

PPU needs to scale up with rendering power, otherwise you get into situations where your PPU actually bottlenecks your rendering card. I had this happen with a 9800GT and a 470/470 SLI. The 9800GT was so slow it actually produced lower fps than just using a single 470 for PPU and PhysX.

 

[moonbogg]

Replace those old things with a current gen, low end card. AMD 7870 or nvidia 660ti would be decent. Buy it second hand and get a good price!