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260/216 and SLI Bridge questions

470 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  yabo, 
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A couple questions, and a foreword: I'm buying 2 GTX 260/216s when I sell off a few things. I'm intending on running them in SLI in the 16x PCIE 2.0 slots. I don't anticipate any real issues, though I have a few concerns:

1. I have 2 SLI Bridges lying around the house... The first is single like this one:


Another is a triple double like this one:


Does anyone know what is needed for running 2 260/216s in SLI? Do I need to find a certain kind? Should I just run without?

2. According to the PSU calculators I'll use about 590 at peak load. That should leave me with about 60w to spare... too close?

3. I've been looking at the Sparkle cards. They're quite cost effective, and, let's admit reality here... the only difference between manufacturers is what stickers they slap on the cards, and what warranty they offer, really. So, any reason I *shouldn't* buy these?

4. What else should I consider that I haven't addressed?
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W
When you buy the cards they come with SLI bridges so you should be fine with that. The PSU calculators are an estimate but that is going to be cutting it close if you decide to OC the cards. Other than that you should be fine. You will have to use molex to pcie adapters for power though :/
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M
No the cards dont come with the SLI bridges the motherboard comes with the bridges.And you only need a single bridge but i use the triple on my two GTX260s because it looks better.And your psu will be right on the border line for two GTX260's.My old Corsair HX620 ran my two GTX's so you should be ok but.But like i said it will be right on the board.If you start having shut downs etc i would get a new psu.Also differnt motherboards have differnt spacing so your triple bridge may or may not work on your mobo.Same with the single bridge unless your using it on your two 9800GT's now then it will fit the GTX 260 also.
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Oh yeah the other bridge must have been from my 750i :/ my bad.
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Quote:


Originally Posted by yabo
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A couple questions, and a foreword: I'm buying 2 GTX 260/216s when I sell off a few things. I'm intending on running them in SLI in the 16x PCIE 2.0 slots. I don't anticipate any real issues, though I have a few concerns:

1. I have 2 SLI Bridges lying around the house... The first is single like this one:


Another is a triple double like this one:


Does anyone know what is needed for running 2 260/216s in SLI? Do I need to find a certain kind? Should I just run without?

2. According to the PSU calculators I'll use about 590 at peak load. That should leave me with about 60w to spare... too close?

3. I've been looking at the Sparkle cards. They're quite cost effective, and, let's admit reality here... the only difference between manufacturers is what stickers they slap on the cards, and what warranty they offer, really. So, any reason I *shouldn't* buy these?

4. What else should I consider that I haven't addressed?


You only need to use the single sli bridge

And also I have the same mobo as you so if u sli 2 gtx260 expect them to be be close to each other as in sooo close.
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d3v0
Trust me, go with a more respected company such as EVGA, XFX, or BFG. All three of these companies offer very competitive warranties (XFX has a double lifetime warranty, keeping resale value high) and EVGA/BFG have 90/100 day step-up programs if you get the upgrade bug.

That aside, I run my sig rig (two GTX 260/216 65nm in SLI) with Raid 0 500GB hdds, 4.37ghz e8400 and running the cards over 700core. With the processor @ 4.7ghz my PSU never has an issue. Antec make good power supplies, but I would certainly consider an upgrade since you are running a quad-core and this could tip your PSU over the red line when doing massive overclocks.

If you dont foresee 4.5ghz/750+ core suicide runs in your future, your PSU should be just fine, but just keep in mind that if your screen flickers or the system restarts during a game or GPU-intensive application, your PSU is the weak link. I would say that being within 60W of peak wattage isn't a good place to start upgrading from, but since that's including what you'll be upgrading to, it's worth the shot. Otherwise I would recommend running a PSU rated for 100W+ headroom.

You can use any SLI bridge that fits, the first SLI bridge is for 2-gpu SLI, and the second is for TRI-SLI. I would recommend running the bridge intended for regular SLI, which is the skinny one you linked first.
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Y
Thanks all, I pulled the trigger this morning on these and Newegg *should* have them at my office tomorrow.

I thought long and hard about the brand thing, and when it comes down to it I remembered one important thing: We're overclockers. We never keep anything long enough to use the warranty! As such, I considered it a moot point (other than resale eventually, but, what's 20 bucks a year from now?)

Thanks all for the tips on the SLI Bridge. I figured it would fit the small one, but, I wasn't sure if they needed both slots filled or not. I'll post benchmarks tomorrow when they're up and running!
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