Question on graphic cards

[killercyborg]

Ive been wondering, if i use 2 of the same graphic cards at the same time...would only 1 run...or would it be like a duo and increase the performance....btw heres the card. much thanks and rep.

[Dyndrilliac]

SLI/Crossfire isn't universally supported by games. New ones would be vastly affected, but games that are a few years behind might not show much of a difference. In the instances in which performance increases, it works exactly like two GPU's splitting up the work equally (like a dual-core processor). Mostly SLI/Crossfire isn't very worthwhile unless you have very high-end cards and lots of games that would be able to take advantage of the performance boost. Therefore, I think you would be better off spending the money that would have been used to purchase two crappy cards to buy one mid-range or lower-end of the high-powered solutions. In addition, you should be aware that if you don't have a MOBO with the proper chipsets in place you won't be able to use SLI and/or Crossfire.

Edit: Don't buy that card, it doesn't even have on-board OpenGL 2 support. If you're on a budget, get a X1600.

[killercyborg]

ok how about this one...i won 300 dollars on a lotto ticket...so i have some cash to burn...all the high end cards are in the 400 and 500's....so this one is a lil better for a good price

[Greek]

its good for a 256, but if you really wanna game I would go for a 512 bit.

[Loser777]

Originally Posted by killercyborg

ok how about this one...i won 300 dollars on a lotto ticket...so i have some cash to burn...all the high end cards are in the 400 and 500's....so this one is a lil better for a good price

Wouldn't you need a new motherboard?

[Dyndrilliac]

First of all, are you certain you even have an available PCI-E16 slot? If you have an older PC, you probably have a 4x/8x AGP slot instead. Secondly, that's still pretty ****ty. I've come up with the best matches in the price range you seem to want (these are both PCI-E16 cards).

ATI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102022
NVIDIA - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056

Both of those will allow you to play most newer games, and both have support for their own respective dual-GPU technologies. Additionally, if you haven't already checked out how your motherboard will allow for the upgrades, I suggest you put the rest of your money into a good MOBO that will last for a while.

Originally Posted by GreekWonder

its good for a 256, but if you really wanna game I would go for a 512 bit.

Don't give advice on matters that you obviously know nothing about. The only cards on the market that have a 512-bit memory interface are SLI hack-fests which aren't even 512 anyway, just two 256-bit GPU's.

[Loser777]

If you don't have a Home built computer with integrated graphics, chances are that you don't even have a graphics card slot. I STRONGLY agree with Dyndrilliac in investing in a good mobo because many of them are just cheap junk, if you are going for SLi I wouldn't get a nforce 4 chipset and one that is not picky with memory. Also, remember that if you are planning to do any kind of overclocking, choose a GOOD OVERCLOCKING MOBO, not the cheapest one that supports everything you are going to buy. Many motherboards have less than chicken sh*t for overclocking.
And most importantly, READ REVIEWS, see what other people who have actually purchased this product. Of course, not all reviews will be perfect, there will be the occasional DOA or dead chipset.

[killercyborg]

it isnt a home build one...its one my parents gave to me ....its a Windows XP Professional 2002 edition.. 2.8 ghz, pentum 4 processor..512 ram....ive opened the CPU and found that it does have graphic card slots...2 of them...the graphics processor i have now is a crapy "64 mb intel extreme graphics 2"...and its integrated...ill go out and find a good mobo and just gut the system...put back the processor bc new ones run REALLY high in prices.....same ram and other things that were in the other one....i feel like a moocher...but any recommendations on MOBO's...nothin over 200...i dont want to put my life saving in a computer thats just for gaming and programing...

[Loser777]

Are you sure they aren't PCI slots?

[killercyborg]

....****...now that i look i got a pci bridge and a lpc bridge......

[Loser777]

Most have two PCI if its a mATX with Integrated graphics. Some have one PCI-E or AGP. If it is designed for SLi, then it will have a slot for a selector card.

[killercyborg]

k ill look into it thx