YO every SLI pros here. just to share smthg about sli.
Im not an SLI user but planning for it, so i actually did some searches, googled, and came out with some mobos which are affordable and SLI capable.

(correct me if im wrong)
Talking about PCI-E, most of the SLI mobo can only provide the master gc with 16x while the slave, or second gc only performs at a speed of 4x, which means a performance less than one-third of its original for the 2nd gc. Yet, some other kinds are both running at 8x, which are also a waste of the true potential of SLI.

Few days back, i came across with the latest (latest for me, but it has been for months, lol, outdated) PCI-E technology, PCI-Express 2.0, which has TWICE bandwidth than the older PCI-Express 1.1. Here's an example of the PCI-E 1.1 mobo : http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D5400XS/index.htm
it is extreame, it is octa-core-ready, but PCI-E 1.1, sad. Nothing against intel but, wouldn't it be perfect if all of the 4 slots are PCI-E 2.0?

While dreaming for the impossible octa-core board, there is actually some affordable mid-high-range mobo, running 2 PCI-E 2.0 16x at once, with Nvdia 750i/780i SLI chipset, at the price of RM600-RM800. lets take Asus for example, P5N-D is one of it, price ranging at only RM550-RM650, u can run sli in both 16x and PCI-E 2.0, sounds great huh? while for the Asus extreme version like striker ll formula or Asus P5N-T deluxe, both cost above 1k, 3 PCI-E 16x slots, but, only 2 "fully fuctioning" slots.

Hopefully this will be a guide for those searching for a suitable SLI mamaboard. cheers~ (again, correct me if im wrong)

This post has been edited by cosmiqeddie: Mar 20 2008, 01:39 AM