SLI board, mainly for Folding...

[3.0charlie]

I'm assessing what to do with that second GTX280. I was suggested to use it for folding - but I don't have a SLI board. I'd still need a better PSU (using a Corsair HX620W ATM) though, but that's not a problem.

Now for the board: which one would you guys suggest. Price to be below $250, air-cooled CPU and GPUs.

Remember this will be mainly for Folding. Any help is appreciated.

[slntdth93]

EVGA 750i FTW unless you want tri-sli whihc isnt that great
also more spacing between the two pci-e slots on the 750i ftw so better cooling for top gtx280

[oksir]

Originally Posted by slntdth93

EVGA 750i FTW unless you want tri-sli whihc isnt that great
also more spacing between the two pci-e slots on the 750i ftw so better cooling for top gtx280

I second that. Cuz FTw got dual x16. Or u could get a used 680i for cheap

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by oksir

I second that. Cuz FTw got dual x16. Or u could get a used 680i for cheap

680i = BAD
750i FTW = much improved 680i

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by slntdth93

EVGA 750i FTW unless you want tri-sli whihc isnt that great
also more spacing between the two pci-e slots on the 750i ftw so better cooling for top gtx280

You can't Fold using SLI/X-Fire. So, he could use to different video-cards for Folding, and it won't matter. If using VISTA, you have to have a monitor connected to each video-card. With XP..one monitor for both cards is fine.

[oksir]

Originally Posted by enaberif

680i = BAD
750i FTW = much improved 680i

even tho u have bad experience with it, doesnt mean its bad...

[Spaceman-Spiff]

Quoting from another forum:

You do not need SLI to run multiple nvidia GPUs for Folding@Home. Each card only needs to be seen as a video card adapter. There isn't much traffic, so a 4x PCI Express lane isn't a bottleneck either. Vista is more efficient than XP for the Nvidia GPU client. In XP, 1 GPU uses 1 core. In Vista, 1 GPU uses ~ 20% CPU. However for Vista, the card needs to be connected to a monitor or at least have a terminator to be detected.

Some 790FX mobos are good for folding since they contain 4 PCI-e slots. You can run a few lower-powered GPU like the 8800GT and finish lots of WUs.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by oksir

even tho u have bad experience with it, doesnt mean its bad...

EVERYONE has had a bad experience with the 680i. Its not call crap for a reason.. those boards unexpectedly die and take the memory controller and if your luck your memory will be fine.

[SKYMTL]

Just like it has been mentioned: You don't need SLI to fold with a pair of Nvidia cards. You can use a Crossfire board or if you have dual ATI GPUs, you can use an SLI board.

Personally, I would recommend picking up a used X38 board. I am not sure if this still applies but the Nvidia folding client used to be very CPU limited.