Will SLI function with two different speed graphics cards?

Cleem

Hey guys, I know I don't frequent these forums very much, but I was wondering if someone knowledgeable about NVidia's SLI can help answer a question I have. My computer has had a 6800GT graphics card installed for almost two years now and I have been considering taking advantage of the low prices for them now and purchasing another one to use SLI (my motherboard is SLI compatible).

I understand that it is very important that the two cards have the same type of chip, such as both 6800GTs or both 6600GTs, but not a 6800GT and a 6800Ultra (at least according to the Nvidia website). But I am concerned that if I get two cards that have different operating frequencies - such as using an EVGA version with a pre-overclocked BFG version - that I will not be able to get SLI to function. (1) Should I be worried or will two different speed cards work?

By the way, I have a budget of about $100 and am looking to slightly upgrade my system, and I feel that adding another 6800GT would be a good and simple choice (no need for another motherboard or case, etc.). I am also a little concerned about noise, but I think the graphical difference might be worth it (currently I am using watercooling for the CPU fan and the GPU fan). My setup is as follows:

3800+ AMD64 CPU
2 Gigabytes of RAM (not fast, just normal speed)
MSI motherboard/SLI compatible (I really don't want to replace this at this time)
Enermax 535 Watt PSU
EVGA 6800 GT graphics card

(2) Do you think I am correct in suggesting that adding a 6800GT (with my proposed budget of $100) would be my best choice for enhancing the graphical performance of my system? Or would replacing my 6800GT with an entirely new graphics card be a better choice? Currently I am using a 1280 pixel LCD and do plan to upgrade to a 1600 pixel eventually, but I think that I should try to upgrade my system first.

Thank you very much for any insight!

Hellfire · Rated XXX Joined: 05 Aug 2003 Posts: 3473

For $100 I don't think you will get much of an upgrade going to a 7300 or 7600. You might get a little bump.

As for the original question, from what I understand, as long as the GPU is from the same family it doesn't matter what clock speed the cards run at. They will run at the speed of the slowest card.

Cleem · Posted: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:31:47 Post Subject: