So I was dead set on just buying myself an ASUS P5N-D Nforce 750i motherboard. It supports the wolfdale has pci e 2.0 to give a better sli performance with the 8x8 split. And its a good price at about 154.99 canadian.

However I've been reading a lot of reviews where people say the PCI-e slots are so close together (and they are) that sli doesn't run properly becuase of some major heat issues. So I went through a number of Motherboards and all the nice ones are crossfire boards lol. My plan is to go with a single 8800 GT for now and when i need another just add one. So could you guys either recommend me another motherboard for around 150 - 200 dollars. Or give me some reassurance that as long as i don't run a extra large gpu cooler and just stick with a single slot there is enoough room for the cards to breath? ... Also I am going to be using a Coolermaster 690 case so the PSU is on the bottom, not sure if that makes a different but the fans air will be hitting directly onto the bottom GPU.

Thanks in advance for any advice or input

One more thing, and i apologize for keeping on bumping this, but can you run nvidia cards in something that's a 'crossfire' motherboard?

was looking at the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, looks like a decent motherboard.

Thanks in advance.

No crossfire is just for ATI cards, and SLI just for nvidias cards.

No crossfire is just for ATI cards, and SLI just for nvidias cards.

swehunt

Figures, you can find better quality ATI motherboards with the intel P35 chipset than the Nforce chipset for SLI ... yet why buy an ATI video card when nvidia is cheaper + better performance ... I guess you gotta cut corners somewhere

1: Your power supply isn't going to blow cool air on your graphics card. If you install it properly in your case, it's going to suck air out of the bottom of your case, and expel it out the back. You can mount a 120mm fan on the bottom of the case in front of the power supply though, which should help out with graphics card cooling a fair bit.

2: Unless you pay very close attention to the graphics market, upgrading to SLI is usually more trouble than its worth. Too many people buy decent, high-end setups, run off and ignore computer hardware for a year, and when they come back to get their second card, they're discontinued, and prices have skyrocketed while availability is in the dirt. And there's usually a better single card on the market than what their SLI/Crossfire setup would offer for a cheaper price by the time most people get around to upgrading anyway. If you know the market, and can predict with reasonable accuracy when the best time to buy a second card for SLI is, keep on planning for it. If that sounds like too much of a hassle, don't bother with SLI.

3: A single Nvidia card will work just fine in any motherboard with the appropriate graphics slot. Dual graphics setups (those with the cards workin in tandem anyway) require a compatible chipset in order to function. For AMD, that's pretty much any non-nForce chipset with dual PCI-e slots. for Nvidia, that's nForce chipsets only.

[QUOTE="swehunt"]

No crossfire is just for ATI cards, and SLI just for nvidias cards.

whitey_rolls

Figures, you can find better quality ATI motherboards with the intel P35 chipset than the Nforce chipset for SLI ... yet why buy an ATI video card when nvidia is cheaper + better performance ... I guess you gotta cut corners somewhere

Well, both ATI and nvidia have good priced cards, ATI chock nvidia with the HD38xx and nvidia cut there prices, and now it´s the other way around with the 9600GT... it depends on what date you order things...

ATI CF usally kick SLI in performance scale, so for dual GPU I´d go for ATI.

Yup, intel and CF are good value rigth now, but we hope for nvidia to get good value SLI boards out soon.

A cheap MSI 780i board..

MSI P7N Diamond

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130158R

1: Your power supply isn't going to blow cool air on your graphics card. If you install it properly in your case, it's going to suck air out of the bottom of your case, and expel it out the back. You can mount a 120mm fan on the bottom of the case in front of the power supply though, which should help out with graphics card cooling a fair bit.

2: Unless you pay very close attention to the graphics market, upgrading to SLI is usually more trouble than its worth. Too many people buy decent, high-end setups, run off and ignore computer hardware for a year, and when they come back to get their second card, they're discontinued, and prices have skyrocketed while availability is in the dirt. And there's usually a better single card on the market than what their SLI/Crossfire setup would offer for a cheaper price by the time most people get around to upgrading anyway. If you know the market, and can predict with reasonable accuracy when the best time to buy a second card for SLI is, keep on planning for it. If that sounds like too much of a hassle, don't bother with SLI.

3: A single Nvidia card will work just fine in any motherboard with the appropriate graphics slot. Dual graphics setups (those with the cards workin in tandem anyway) require a compatible chipset in order to function. For AMD, that's pretty much any non-nForce chipset with dual PCI-e slots. for Nvidia, that's nForce chipsets only.

RayvinAzn

I agree for the most part, but it is still nice to have the option for SLI if you really want it. As for the cooling situation, I don't know the case very well... but if it is worth its weight at all, it should not be an issue. Buy as many case fans as it will allow, and worst case, get one of those junky coolers you can toss in an expansion slot.

[QUOTE="RayvinAzn"]

1: Your power supply isn't going to blow cool air on your graphics card. If you install it properly in your case, it's going to suck air out of the bottom of your case, and expel it out the back. You can mount a 120mm fan on the bottom of the case in front of the power supply though, which should help out with graphics card cooling a fair bit.

2: Unless you pay very close attention to the graphics market, upgrading to SLI is usually more trouble than its worth. Too many people buy decent, high-end setups, run off and ignore computer hardware for a year, and when they come back to get their second card, they're discontinued, and prices have skyrocketed while availability is in the dirt. And there's usually a better single card on the market than what their SLI/Crossfire setup would offer for a cheaper price by the time most people get around to upgrading anyway. If you know the market, and can predict with reasonable accuracy when the best time to buy a second card for SLI is, keep on planning for it. If that sounds like too much of a hassle, don't bother with SLI.

3: A single Nvidia card will work just fine in any motherboard with the appropriate graphics slot. Dual graphics setups (those with the cards workin in tandem anyway) require a compatible chipset in order to function. For AMD, that's pretty much any non-nForce chipset with dual PCI-e slots. for Nvidia, that's nForce chipsets only.

Munkyman587

I agree for the most part, but it is still nice to have the option for SLI if you really want it. As for the cooling situation, I don't know the case very well... but if it is worth its weight at all, it should not be an issue. Buy as many case fans as it will allow, and worst case, get one of those junky coolers you can toss in an expansion slot.

The case fits 7, 120 MM fans but if the cards are so close you can't fit a screw between them (i've seen pictures) it won't matter how many fans you have because air still isn't getting between them ... Anyways thanks for the help guys i'll do a bit more research and maybe check out ATI, if i can get a 3870 for around the price of a 9600gt i might go for the ATI chipset motherboard, however the last time i checked at my local store they were 30 dollars more than a 8800 GT 512 :'(