potential money saver

[Millenwagon]

I have a spare PCI-E 1 slot on my mobo, and i just found this...
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/195059

Would this make my mobo capable of SLI? it would save me a tonne of hassle and cash if it is the case.

Thanks for your time

[GoNz0]

i doubt you would gain anything using that to go SLI.

[mjwebb]

Sli is a chipset feature and it is unlikely that any board that doesn't have at least 2 16xPCI E ports would have enough lines to make it worth while. That being said http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/8193...l#post10624628 although 1x would have less performance once again.

[Millenwagon]

ah ok i see, thanks guys. So it could work but it would mean the second card wouldnt be running at its true potential? therefore pointless I guess. I knew it was too good to be true!

Although i do have a spare x4 slot which only lost 5/6% performance... would the sacrifice be worth it... hmmmm

[jim]

I believe it's possible to hack the end off a PCIe x1 slot and ram a PCIe x16 card into it, with half of the pins not inserted properly, and it should work to some extent - no 'adapter' required.

I may be completely wrong, but I vaguely recall reading it somewhere.

The point is, it's fully possible, but good graphics cards really do need the bandwidth provided by x8/x16 slots. x1 just isn't up to scratch for good cards (i.e. the type that are worth putting into SLI). No adapter can make a x1 slot perform faster.

Further, why would you want to? If you need SLI, you must presumably already have a GTX 590 or similar? If you don't already have the fastest single-slot graphics card available, sell your current card and buy one single new card to replace. And if you have a GTX 590, you presumably have enough cash to buy a motherboard with proper SLI?

That's not meant as a slanging match by the way, just saying there are far better options than SLI in the vast majority of cases.

[Millenwagon]

that advice my friend is good advice and is taken well. I've decided to save up for a while, get a new motherboard and processor, possibly a better PSU then see what cards are out when i finally do it. The 470 is a good card, but there are getting to be a lot of better ones around, and something like a palit 3gb gtx 580 maybe be the minimum card i'll want when i come to upgrade. I like the sound of a card like the gtx 295 and 590, simply because they're dual, so in a sense twice as powerful, so probably just as well getting one of those, then sli with something like that would be phenomenal.

[jim]

Could do, but SLI beyond 2 chips (2x590 would equal 4 chips) can become a game of diminishing returns.

I can't believe any game would need more than a GTX 590 at the moment anyway, unless you're trying to run multi-monitor 3D of course

[Behemoth]

I'm struggling to find a game that makes my GTX460 scream for mercy, I'm still not convinced yet by SLI.

[Millenwagon]

really? I've already found games which make a 470 work its nuts off, metro 2033 for one, that's enough to test any card. Bullet storm, crysis 2, crysis 1 and warhead, all on max settings put some pressure on a 470. But yeah im a little confused about all this SLI, not totally convinced either tbh.

In theory 2 GTS 450's (spec wise) should be way higher than one single 470, but actually 2 GTS 450's ends up being about the same. I don't get it. Think i'd rather opt for just a better single slot card, only a dual gp one like the gtx 590.

[Molotov]

Uhm on 460 point - mine rips through everything as well even non-oced and millen dont know why your 570 struggles with crysis 1/wh my 460 shreds them :S

[Millenwagon]

Well, by struggled i just mean a slight frame rate drop (gets the occasional jitter) which i just personally hate, struggle was the wrong word really. It could just be my crappy hard drive not loading quick enough?

But i have a 470 not 570, im sure the 570 would do even better. It plays metro 2033 on 1368x768 at a very good frame rate (40+ i'd say) maximum settings and seriously looks amazing. I think that's the nicest looking game i've seen. Crysis is over rated to me, the leaves and stuff are exceptional, but it doesnt really look as good as i expected.

[Millenwagon]

(sorry accidently posted it twice)