8800GT 1GB SLI Mode?

nheimler

Ok quick question for you all since I can't seem to find any real answer on this out on the net. I purchased a really nice box from CyberPowerPC.com and it's being shipping as of today. The video card I originally ordered was the 8800GT 512MB card as I wanted to eventually pick up another card to run SLI mode which the board I chose will do (Asus P5N-D) since added a second card on their site was way more than buying a second one off Newegg. However, after receiving the shipping info/invoice it shows that it looks like they upgraded the card to the 1GB card instead. My question is how much of a ram hit will adding a second card do to my 4GB (rather 3.x GB) ram I have coming with the box? Before someone goes into the 4GB Vista 32bit limit I'm already aware of this, so please don't go into it. I'm just curious how the SLI setup will affect it as this is the one answer I cannot find anywhere. The only answers I've found that make sense is that the actual ram count for the two cards running in SLI mode do not add up to 2GB in the logical sense. At least that's what I got out of some of the articles I read up on. I'm wondering if when I receive the box and it wasn't a typo (which I'm hoping it was as I was rather hoping for 2x512MB cards in SLI) if I should request to have the 512MB card since it is what I originally ordered. However, they may see it as "well it's kinda an upgrade from what you originally ordered." I'm really hoping its a typo, but everything else on the list and the part numbers looks correct. OR if there isn't much of a hit with adding a second 1GB card then I would consider just keeping it. Thanks for all you take the time to read and respond! As a computer tech this is the one thing I haven't come across yet as this is my first box I was intending on running in SLI mode and especially since most people I come across go no where near the specs I put in this baby.

Zelig

What I think will happen, hopefully someone else can confirm:

Depends if you add a 512MB card or a 1GB card for SLI.

If you add a 512MB card to the 1GB card, it will be equivalent to 2x512MB cards in SLI, leaving around 3GB of memory for Windows.

If you add a second 1GB card for 2x1GB cards in SLI, you'll be somewhere in the area of 2GB of memory remaining for Windows.

Should I mention the obvious advantages of a 64-bit OS?

temeteus82

Zelig you are correct. The limit for 32-bit OS to map memory includes video cards ram. So if you have two 512MB cards in SLI that is total 1 GB etc..

nheimler

Ok that's what I was afraid of happening, but wanted to confirm. I don't want to jump to 64bit just yet due to not enough things supporting 64 bit just yet that I use. Maybe in a year or so. I will mostly be using the new box for gaming and watching tv, but I do run a side business as well so I need it for that too. I will wait and see what I actually get before making a complaint as my intent was for future expansion two 512 cards. However, I could wait until next spring/summer and buy two of the 9800 512 cards when they come down in price to replace the 1GB card I'm afraid I will be getting.

temeteus82

Well 95% of the 32-bit applications runs in 64-bit Windows with help of WOW64

WOW64 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

nheimler

Yeah but I already bought the box so buying an extra copy of the 64 bit Vista HP would add another 100 bucks or so to my total cost. Not to mention I'm waiting for more stability with 64 bit drivers as well. I want a stable box vs one that has some driver problems. I know most are working ok, but at the moment I don't want to take the chance except with my servers which are running 64bit OSes. I will wait and see what comes in the box before I decide what I wanna do. As I said maybe a year from now I will spring for the 64bit OS when driver support I'm sure will be better.

temeteus82

As far as I know the driver stability issues are much solved by now. Did you get OEM or Retail version of Vista? I bought retail version and the 64-bit media costed me around 15€ shipped from MS.

nheimler

I still have a couple apps that won't run in 64bit Windoze, so I will probably pick up an extra OEM copy of 64bit VHP when I get some extra cash and maybe dual boot. Again probably won't happen until next spring unless my last couple of apps are finally 64bit compatible. Thanks for the chat everyone!

nheimler

Ok I wanted to give everyone an update after a month of having this machine. I chose the Asus P5N-D mb, Palit 8800GT 1GB, 4GB RAM, 2x500GB drives, and the Q6700 CPU. I took some of your suggestions and decided to break down and try the 64bit version of Windows. Apparently I can use a 64 bit disk with my key that came with my box, so I had purchased a copy of 64 bit Vista HP without actually having to use the key. So if anyone is looking for a copy let me know and I'll see it.

Any who...after trying the 64bit Vista I found (and with my original hunch in a previous post) that my machine was way too unstable with all the software and drivers I used, so I went back to the 32bit version. CS3 was unstable in fact that crashed my box as soon as it was installed. Ghost 12 for some reason made my DVD drives disapear. Not to mention the few lockups it had once in a while and a few other third party apps just didn't work.

Another note I'd like to make is the amount of RAM. Theoretically since my video card was 1GB and I had 4GB of RAM I should have less than 3GB of RAM that Windows will use; however, after booting into Windows I have 3.3GB of RAM that Windows will use of my 4GB. Another point I was asking about in an earlier post in regards to the 4GB limit. With that said, it appears that didn't exactly apply as what was discussed.

Well, I just thought I would post an update. Thanks!