Motherboards? and some Questions...

[Saint]

as i'am nearing the purchasing stage of getting a new computer iam deciding on a motherboard. I want to keep my options open so i was thinking of getting a motherboard with SLI capabilities and being able to run a physix card.
The EVGA nForce™ 680i SLI Motherboard was the one i am thinking of as it has:
excellent OC features
3 PCI-E slots (2 with 16x and 1 one with 8x i believe)
supports ddr2 800-1200
core2duo

this is my build so far http://www.directcanada.com/cart/
i have already purchased the RAM and operating system.

When you run SLI; i have seen many boards that say they run both cards at 8x instead of 16x.
as i have seen no indication of 8x on both cards when i researched this 680i mobo i was wondering does SLI only run 8x on both cards for every mobo or does this mobo run both on 16x for both.

i plan on purchasing ATI's new DX10 card when it comes out,
but since DX10 cards are not backwards compatible (I think), I want to have a killer GPU for DX9 games.
I would be playing BF2,BF2142,AOE3,WoW..Etc on this system.
(if iam wrong about Dx10 not be backward compatible would these games work on a DX10 card?)

any corrections are most welcome as iam learning new things everyday.
please comment!

 

[Sora]

I'm quite confused about what you are trying to ask. First when you say not backwards compatible do you mean that DX10 wont play DX9 and lower??? If so then where did you hear this? Plus all of the games you stated are DX9 anyway. Second, SLI and physics cards are not worth the money right now. SLI is usually a waste, as a 200 card will destroy 2 SLI 100 cards. A physics card helps a bit in some cases, but the price is way too high still.

One last thing is that the 680i boards may be good but they are quite expensive. The big catch of them is that they are quad core compatible with 3 PCI-E slots. I can't see how or why you would want to run 3 cards on SLI ever. As the heat and watts they would produce and take would be immense.

As far as cards going half speed when in SLI...i don't know where you would get this. Also wouldn't this defeat the purpose of sli?

 

[Saint]

when i was reading on sli mobos some said they ran both cards at 8x (why not 16x ?)
as for Dx10 cards yes iam not sure what is what now. do DX10 cards play Dx9 games?
the games i had there are the main games i would be playing with a Dx9 card. does a DX10 card run those games?
if so than i would wait and buy ATI's DX10 card when it comes out and get that.
good point on SLI i guess but would it be wise to get a mobo that can support a physics card so i can get one when it comes down in price?
all in all what mobo would you suggest.
I want to have a mobo with good OC, good sound, and maybe an pci-e slot for a physics card.
thx for the insight though

 

[Ronnie]

dont get the evga
dx10 cards will play dx9 games
dont get a physics card

you want a good board that ocs well then get a asus p5b

also go read some of the stickies and search the forums for info on sli and physics cards, you will have a better understanding of them

 

[Sora]

dont get an evga? I'm sorry or was I wrong in thinking eVGA are the most well known brand in making Nvidia cards. I was pretty sure that eVGA made pretty good cards you know? So hows that work

 

[EasyLuckyFree]

I believe they mean the eVGA 680i mobo, at the momment they're having many problems. But by no means are they bad if you get one that works, they're also known to have amazing tech support. As in having life time warranty, and superb RMA.(Recieved RMA bored, cross-shipped in 2 days) I wouldn't discard the eVGA 680i mobos completely, as the eVGA techs have been working very hard on getting new BIOS out and the P25 bios should be released today or tomorrow, says the techs. Wonder what goodies it brings.

 

[Sora]

OHHH!!! Yea, now I feel stupid. I agree don't get a 680i right now. I don't like having that many problems for something that costs that much.