Can I use nv44 onboard with...

[Lips2001Ad]

Hi there, I was wondering if it is possible to run a K8NF4G-SATA2 with onboard NV44 video and a seperate Nvidia 6600 Pci-x video card in SLI mode?
So that the onboard is video card 1 and the pci-x is video card 2?
I ask because I am considering buying this motherboard. Thanks for any info in advance.

[TechZ]

PCI-Express is PCI-E, because PCI-X is a version of PCI found mainly in server motherboards.

Now I'm not entirely clear on what you said, if you want to run SLI mode, you need 2 identical vga cards. You cannot mix any cards, especially onboard with dedicated.

[confus-ed]

Err nope .. you don't need identical cards anymore -

..Mixing and Matching Vendors..

source

I'm loathe to say one way or another, I think probably not, but in theory it might be possible for some sli modes, if they write drivers for it, but how 'pokey' is any onboard gpu ? If the difference between the cards speed wise is great then it makes more sense to run the faster card singly anyway ..

[TechZ]

OK, I stand corrected or do I?

Mixed Vendor SLI in Nvidia Rel 80 Drivers

I know of this particular change already, it means you can run a Gainward 6600 and an Asus 6600 in SLI, but it doesnt mean you can run a nvidia 6200 and a nvidia 6600 in SLI mode, which is what I understand.

But I dont see the point, onboard vga is absolutely blown away by a nVidia 6600, it makes no sense to run them together IMO.

[Lips2001Ad]

Hi peeps, thank you for pointing out the PCI-X and the PCI-E I always mix that up
Thank you for your help, The reason I asked this question is that I am just starting building a new system and I dont yet have the seperate video card I just wanted to know if I could because If not I wont bother buying it, instead I will save the pennies and use onboard. from the mixed bag of answers I still am not totaly sure if it can be done? so any other info or ideas on the subject peeps?

[confus-ed]

..it means you can run a Gainward 6600 and an Asus 6600 in SLI, but it doesnt mean you can run a nvidia 6200 and a nvidia 6600 in SLI mode..

Oooo I can't refind the damn quote ! .. but I just read the head Nvidia driver development guy saying that if these drivers let you support different bioses & framebuffer sizes & speeds then they'd be able to support different cards completely for some sli modes, but yup they ain't done that yet .. but maybe later !?! (& for faster cards where it'd make sense)

On the more general subject of thinking about onboard video, If you want to play games you are gonna find that your nv44 (which is a 6200 in disguise) probably 'insufficient', what kills it is sharing your main memory even if the gpu is 'just about up to it' for todays games ..

The mainboard lips is looking at is here & isn't sli capable anyways ! , so whether in theory you can do this with some motherboard somewhere if they develop driver support, with this one you can't !

If Lips wants sli, he needs another choice of mainboard.

[Lips2001Ad]

ok guys, thanks once again for the input. So is it worth me spending more money and building a SLI system? I mean I want a build a computer now that surpasses my current setup and that will last me atleast until next December.
In fact peeps, I will give you my current spec and what I do with my PC and perhaps you can point me in the general direction of what kind of hardware I should be buying and perhaps the prices I should be paying?

Anyway here is my current setup:

Pentium 4 2.6 gig CPU
256 Meg DDR ram PC 3200
AGP Geforce Fx 5200 256 meg ram
80 Gig WD Hard disk
160 Gig WD Hard disk
16x Dual Layer DVD RW +/-
Aureal Vortex 2 Sound card

And here is what I do with it:
Play Unreal tournement 2004
create Unreal maps with unreal ed
Program in Dark Basic Pro
program in Visual Basic
Program Java
Surf the net/ Send recieve email / MSN
Play videos/music
Modeling with Truespace 6
Rom editing of megadrive / super nintendo games
Play other FPS games sometimes at LAN partys
and a few other bits and bobs such as burning DVDs, writing letters, emulators.

[clauded]

the first thing i would do is get 1 gig of ram which cost about $100.00 canadian and if you can efford it a plain 6800 256 mb video cardsand that goes for about $150.00 depending who you buy from,good luck

[TechZ]

As clauded pointed out, RAM is the cheapest way to upgrade your PC, 1GB is optimal for todays games/programs.

Also a newer VGA card would really make a noticeable improvement over your FX5200 (just better than onboard). Eg. a 6600GT or 6800 based nVidia OR X700/X800 based ATi.