i dont think this has already been covered. so like always i hate starting new threads.

i have dual 8800gt's in SLI on a 570 SLI motherboard chipset (x16 and x8 in SLI) with an AMD 5400+ 2.8ghz dual core cpu. 4 gb of pc6400 ram.

i seem to be getting a bottleneck running SLI to its full use in games like Crysis. in some cases SLI runs slower than not using SLI. mostly because of my outdated CPU and crappy motherboard. i am using the lastest drivers 181.22 for vista 64bit. i used to have dual 8600 gts in SLI and i did get 50% boost in SLI. but no 50% boost with the 8800gt, more like a -10% boost. i have a 750watt power supply which is more than i need on the 12 volt rails.

so i want to upgrade to a Phenom2 3.0ghz black edition and get a 780a SLI motherboard. and keep everything else ( ram, hard drive, video cards, etc...)

so will i get a boost in SLI by upgrading? will this clear up my bottle neck in SLI? the upgrade should cost around 350 ish, which i would have to do anyways if i were to get a new video card which just isnt in the budget.

thanks for reading my long post about things only computer geeks would know about.

thanks again and good luck answering my question

 

Seems like you have already answered your question.

 

Yeah, if one slot is x16 and the other is x8, then the 2 x16s should improve your performance.

I believe the x8 causes both cards to run at x8. Or you can get a 680i LT which has been going for around $100 and you'd still get 2 x16 slots.

 

yea right now i have two 16x pci-e 2.0 cards running in pci-e 1.0 x8 in SLI which i guess is FAIL.

so would a faster cpu improve SLI performance as well a new motherboard? thanks

 

well all i want to know is if the upgrade i will be doing is worth it and that i wont be pissing money away.

right now SLI in crysis (very high noAA) is about 30 fps (for 2 min) then i will get a massive frame rate drop down to like 13 fps and it wont recover. iv reinstalled windows and the game many times and got nowhere.

All i want is stability in SLI

 

You're better off spending your money and getting a proper motherboard

16x in an 8x is the definition of fail

 

yes i will, thanks for your help guys. ill keep you posted on my new SLi computer

new computer specs will be:
NEW > 780a (16x and 16x in two way SLI) motherboard (or am3 mobo)
NEW > Phenom2 x4 3.0 ghz black ( or am3 Phenom2)
my old 4gb of pc-6400 ram
my old pair of oc'ed MSI 8800gt's (700 mhz/ 2000mhz)
my old two 500gb hard drives in raid -0
my old 750 watt power supply
my 2 old dvd-rw lightscribe sata
my old nzxt apollo black case

so i hope should run crysis and crysis warhead on very high 1400x900 ish (or bigger) at 40 fps

yeah cus right now i am runnig an epic fail: two oc'ed pci-e 2.0 g92's cards (16x) stuffed into two pci-e 1.0 8x slots in SLI. FAIL FAIL FAIL . haha its like only 25% of its bandwidth.