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A clue on PCI-E SLI mode

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Do anyone know if say a 6600GT is in SLI mode, you can use the DVI out on both cards or just the video out for the first card? I'm running dual monitors and wanted to use the DVI out to feed the two instead of dropping one down to analog w/ the VGA out. I remember from the old VoodooII card SLI mode, you couldn't use the outputs from the 2nd card. Thanx.

Pau11y
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
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I'm pretty sure the second card is only a processor, like the Voodoo setup. You can't actually use it. Your 6600GT doesn't have dual outputs?
 

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
I didn't buy one yet. I know you can get ones that have dual DVIs. There was a deal on some refurb AOpen 6600GTs at ChiefTech.com and I was thinking I'd hit them. But they're DVI and db15 dual out and not dual DVI. But the thinking was if I can use the DVI from each card... Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait for some deals to come down the pike w/ dual DVIs.
Say BV, what are you running for your PCI-E card and how are you finding it? I know you mentioned the 3DMark 2003 was flying for whatever it was that you bought... Have you played anything serious on your rig and how was the vid performance w/ your card?

Edit: I found a deal on a K8N Neo4 SLI that I couldn't pass up (I think it was like $80.00 when all said and done w/ rebates). And eventually, I'm going to try and score one of those A64 x2 4xxx+ w/ the 1mb per core. And, will also try and find a Raptor 10K somewhere down the road for cheap. Already have another gig of 2-2-2-5 sitting around.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
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I'm running a Leadtek Winfast 6600GT. I play Doom 3 and Unreal Tournament 2003 and they both cruise. I run them both at 1280x1024 (native resolution for my LCD), in high quality with all the options. I've overclocked it pretty well but it still runs cool.

Raptors are nice but I think your money could be spent better elsewhere. They benchmark much better than other drives but real world performance just isn't all that much more stellar.
 

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Yup, saw that one... However, w/ dual LCDs, I would like dual DVI outs vs one DVI, one db15. I'm running the two LCDs on the later config one a 9800 Pro and the VGA out is not nearly as clear as the DVI out panel.
Eventually, whatever I get I'd like to SLI the thing (so this completely rules out ATI).
But thanx tho :D
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Oops, the picture on Ben's was different from the picture on NewEgg. On Ben's, it showed dual DVI outs.
 

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Yup, saw that one, a day too late. I sprung for a Leadtek 7800GT w/ dual DVI. I'm going to run this card for a while till the price comes down abit for me to pick up a 2nd to run SLI...prob late summer or so. The other reason I wanted a slightly better card is the resolution issue when I hook it into something like a 37" 1080P LCD monitor and use my PC as a TV tuner, a work station, and an audio playback source. I got my grubby little hands on that K8N Neo4 w/ 24bit audio onboard. I'm gonna use my 3700+ until the dual cores come down a bit in price (shooting for $300, at $500 now).
Question, any idea about internal DVD drives that output 1080P signal? I guess PC drives aren't measured like that. If not I guess I can just ramp things up on the video card... A HD DVD stand-alone player is friggin' stoopid expensive right now!
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Pau11y said:
Are the Opterons within the AMDs lineup similar to the Celeron in the Intel lineup?
Nope, they're server procs. Dual core like the Athlon 64 X2's but with bigger caches.


"AMD's Opteron processors are aimed squarely at the server and workstation market and thus come with extra features such as larger caches which help speed up repetitive processes. Up until recently however, processors from both AMD and Intel with large amounts of cache (1MB and up) demanded a hefty price premium and most retailers did not carry them. If you wanted an Opteron processor, you would tend to have to search online or be queued in a waiting list. Today however, the channel pricing for the Opteron 165 seems to have changed, which puts this processor right in the realm of affordability for many people."
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Pau11y said:
Are the Opterons within the AMDs lineup similar to the Celeron in the Intel lineup?
Oops, nevermind...kinda like a Xeon ehy? I wonder if it'll work on my MoBo? The 150 is right in my price range..woo hooo!
The Opteron 165 will work in a socket 939 mobo.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Pau11y said:
Holy CRAP! They're hitting 3ghz on some lucky chips!
I'd be totally happy running that proc with only the slightest bump considering my broke ass is still running an Athlon XP 2200+.

:rolleyes: :o:
 

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Yeah, I guess the 1.8 of the 165 is reaching easily into the 2.4 area w/ the FSB in the 280s! GOD DAMN! if that's not a great bang for your buck! The chips are just under $300.00 right now!

BAAHHHAHAHA! Just read something about a quad core Opteron!
 

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Socket 940s are being phased out, that's why I went w/ the 939s. Back in the day I was looking at a pair of Xeon 3.0 w/ 2m L2 on a i7505 MSI... It was like 2K before the HDDs (board, chips, and memory). That Opteron setup you listed got that Xeon $$ beat by a long mile even before memory...lol! Maybe when I've grad'd and making some coin. Then, I'll have a system like that (or maybe quad core) and triple 37" for a more "immersive" environment :D
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Pau11y said:
Socket 940s are being phased out, that's why I went w/ the 939s. Back in the day I was looking at a pair of Xeon 3.0 w/ 2m L2 on a i7505 MSI... It was like 2K before the HDDs (board, chips, and memory). That Opteron setup you listed got that Xeon $$ beat by a long mile even before memory...lol! Maybe when I've grad'd and making some coin. Then, I'll have a system like that (or maybe quad core) and triple 37" for a more "immersive" environment :D
It was a joke, son!

:)
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Pau11y said:
Yup, saw that one, a day too late. I sprung for a Leadtek 7800GT w/ dual DVI.
:drool:

Question, any idea about internal DVD drives that output 1080P signal? I guess PC drives aren't measured like that. If not I guess I can just ramp things up on the video card... A HD DVD stand-alone player is friggin' stoopid expensive right now!
Hmm... AFAIK, the output signal is simply a measurement of resolution. HD TV isn't really anything special, they're simply high resolution TVs receiving high resolution signals, just like PCs have been doing for years.

Thus, any internal DVD player should be capable of whatever resolution the DVD is recorded at. If you're talking about an upconverting DVD player that will upconvert your standard DVD resolution to a 1080P, well, your software does that for you. No hardware necessary. The reason you need your expensive stand alone player for it is because it needs firmware (and hardware) that is capable of playing all resolutions and converting them on the fly to a different resolution signal. We've got the hardware and the software already.

My next TV will be a big, high resolution LCD monitor and I'll build a small PC that will be a dedicated A/V unit. Wireless keyboard and mouse. The possibilities are endless :D