How to choose a SLi motherboard
Today's latest breakthrough in video games is SLI (Scalable Link Interface). This technology is developed by Nvidia and it uses only an NVidia video card. It allows multi GPU that performs in parallel so that the workload of each video card is broken, producing two or more quality on the single output. After reading this article, you can have a clear idea on the SLI and CrossFireX so you can choose the best mothers for building your SLI PC.
With the introduction of the Intel X58 chipset, many dreams have come true computer. Finally, there are motherboards that support both Crossfire offer SLI. Unfortunately, the new chipset also two major drawbacks. First, LGA, this chipset only for current processors are used 1366th And second, the manufacturer free to choose whether to SLI, Crossfire or both the board committed to. So one must read between the lines again accurate, even though current boards use the same X58 chipset all.
There is another that the same technology that is the CrossFireX SLI. It is developed by ATI and can be used with ATI video cards. The only difference between these two is that NVidia can be used only with the same video card, it means they must have the same GPU clock speed and memory. The ATI can be used with different GPU card with the same memory and speed in mind that the support CrossFireX.
To use SLI or CrossFire configuration of your motherboard should be a copy certified NVIDIA SLI or ATI CrossFireX. And you must be at least 2 PCI-E 16x for 2-way and 3 PCI-E 3-way. And finally, your card should be capable of SLI or CrossFire. Most of the latest version of today's video card is SLI and CrossFireX a loan.
List of Some Best SLi Motherboards:
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9
Based on Intel’s highest end X58 chipset, the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 offers a wide range of monster performance GA-X58A-UD9 motherboard, featuring a revolutionary new 24 phase premium features tailor-made for PC enthusiasts who believe more is never enough. The latest Unlocked Power design, 4-way graphics support including Nvidia SLI and ATI CrossFireX, as well as a host of unique GIGABYTE features including 333 Onboard Acceleration and On/Off Charge. GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 motherboards also leverage the success of GIGABYTE's uniquely developed technologies including the GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design, which features 2x the amount of copper of a traditional PCB design, as well as the innovative Smart6 PC management tools, On/Off Charge for quick anytime iPhone charging, Dynamic Energy Saver 2 power saving utilities, and Dual BIOS technologies.
XL-ATX format not necessarily known to all (34.5 x 26.2 cm), this motherboard features a Socket LGA1366 for compatibility with Intel Core i7 and six slots for DDR3 memory of up to 24 GB . It offers up to seven PCI-Express x16 graphics for some multi-GPU based graphics cards from ATI or Nvidia, Realtek ALC889 controller for part 7.1 and high definition audio controller Realtek RTL8111D for part Gigabit Ethernet compatible network. It also features eight SATA II 3 Gb / s, two SATA connectors III at 6 Gb / s and an IDE connector for data units such as Blu-ray / DVD / CD drives, hard drives and SSD. As to his rear, he has two PS / 2 ports for keyboard and mouse, four USB 2.0 at 480 Mb / s ports, two USB 3.0 to 5 Gb / s ports, two USB 2.0 / eSATA II ports, two FireWire Two RJ-45 ports, an S / PDIF coaxial, an S / PDIF and six audio jacks.
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9
Re: How to choose a SLi motherboard
EVGA X58
EVGA is a typical representative of nVidia and it surprised us that the board has Triple SLI. Crossfire is not supported at all. Currently there is only this EVGA board with X58 chipset. As its name implies, this card is built around the Intel X58 chipset and has the distinction of being the ATX format. Small, this motherboard but the price is great because it costs lower. This motherboard based duo Intel X58 / ICH10R is E-ATX format. It accommodates the Intel Core i7 with up to 24 GB of RAM with six DDR3 slots. For graphics, it has two PCI-Express 16x / 8x slots and two PCI-Express 8x, while for the audio and the wired network, it combines a chipset and a 7.1 high-definition chip Gigabit Ethernet feeding two RJ-45 ports. For internal storage then, she has six SATA II connectors, two SATA connectors and an IDE connector III, while for external storage, it features eight USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and a FireWire connector.
The rest of the data sheet mentions a PCI-Express x1, one PCI slot and a single PS / 2 keyboard. X58 motherboards come and go, with great success, at least among the manufacturers. Each brand competes innovation to try to launch X58 map the highest possible quality. The rest of the motherboard is rather usual, with six DDR3 RAM slots, ten SATA-II RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, SLI and CrossFireX compatibility (3-way included), with a 1x PCIe slot for those who will want to pay a small dedicated to NVIDIA PhysXEVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 4-Way SLI. In addition to new boards and processors is also a small change in the RAM. DDR-3 memory have now finally prevailed, followed by the next change, now you do not need two bars, but third That should have been aware in advance, then sales would be the DDR-3 memory was significantly lower. Now you can its dual kit in the hair lubricate, unless one is lucky enough to have a compatible pair. Low-voltage models have quite as good opportunities. But today let us all focus on the board.
The storage issue is not resolved at all the people. The board now supports Triple DDR-3. This means that for the full storage capacity will be 3 identical DDR-3 bolt needed. This problem should not need high voltage, not more than 1.65 volts. On the EVGA X58 SLI will support memory up to 1600 MHz, officially. Usually go faster. For operation are 3 memory module is not mandatory. One or two pieces go. With the latest BIOS version MHz are now also compatible with 2000 memory. Intel Turbo Boost Technology feature allows Intel to demand even more power from the processor to fetch it, without him manually overclock extra need. In the control steps, the multiplier by 1 or 2 increased in order to achieve a higher clock.
EVGA X58 motherboards are equipped with solid capacitors, the leading Japanese manufacturer of the product. With an average life of 50,000 hours solid capacitors provide the necessary stability, reliability and longevity of the current Core i7 high-end processors require it. As one of the few board has the EVGA X58 SLI an active chipset cooler. This is particularly when using a water cooling tower coolers or very beneficial. Sun chipset is the lack of CPU-cooler flow of the extra cooling. The speed can be selected in the BIOS.
ASUS P6T7 WS
Certified NVIDIA Tesla GPU Computing, the new ASUS mainboard is a candidate as an ideal platform for compute-intensive solutions dedicated to scientific research, engineering, financial analysis and, more generally, in all those areas that require maximum computing power, while on the front of the graphics, native support NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX 3-way/2-way, offer incredible performance and levels of productivity and efficiency unmatched. ASUS P6T7 WAS SuperComputer using a feed system 16 +2 phase VRM, which gives a rock-stable operation under all conditions and can operate at temperatures particularly low due to efficient heat dissipation. Cycles longer component life and lower energy losses are guaranteed also by the high quality of components used in the card and an innovative cooling system with passive radiators together with heat pipes. ASUS P6T7 WAS SuperComputer also showing a port that also connect the fast SAS drives and ensures full compatibility with the optional card.
The mainboard is also equipped with the advance ASUS Express Gate feature, which lets in just five seconds from your PC to access the Internet without the need to start the operating system. ASUS P6T7 WAS SuperComputer also includes the innovative utility "ASUS Heartbeat", which allows the motherboard to monitor during the boot, the main components (CPU, DRAM, VGA and HDD) and report any errors through a series of LEDs was to be turned on until the problem is not resolved. Once the boot process is completed successfully, the LEDs start to flash more and more intensely at a rate similar to heartbeat.
ASUS P6T7 WS Review
Re: How to choose a SLi motherboard
ASUS Rampage III Extreme
The Rampage II Extreme, despite all its qualities, could not cope with other strengths and charms of her rival made in EVGA, but today sounded the gong heralding a new battle. Come together in this section if ASUS has managed to regain the top spot with his new weapon, I named the Rampage Extreme III. The heat pipe design features a simple and elegant form an S to go cover the phases of digital power, chipset and Southbridge. An optional fan module for the chipset is included in the bundle, I highly recommend in cases of increased tension, the X58 has a tendency to overheat in our tests without this module. The Rampage Extreme III has 8 phase power analog and you can see in the picture below as well as 16 digital phase cooled by heat pipes as I said above. Capacitors dedicated to food, like the rest of the motherboard are solid polymer aluminum, guaranteeing excellent performance and a longer life.
The Asus Rampage Extreme has a retention system of the memory simplified. Indeed, this system is to "clip" strips on one side (rather than two as was previously the case) and plug the other. This is very handy for overclockers when frequent dis-assembly of memory. That is why we begin to find it on the high-end motherboards from several manufacturers. Like its big sister the Rampage II Extreme, Asus offers us the opportunity to read the various voltages inherent in the overclocking on the PCB or directly through the cable set ProbeIT provided. There are the classic power and reset buttons, a jumper or not activating the "Ln2 Mode" to reduce the temperature under cooling coldboot negative, and a set of switches used to disable or not the different PCI-E. Two features that were introduced by EVGA with his Classified. As you can see below, the motherboard has 9 internal S-ATA ports, 3 of which are compatible with standard SATA III.
The 4-port PCI-Express x16 these are sufficiently spaced to enable Crossfire X with four dual slot cards, without affecting the size of the map that remains XL-ATX format. This configuration is a first on a card this size, but the use of four cards simultaneously can be done at the expense of PCI-Express x4, PCI 2.2 and USB external. These four PCI-Express x16 may be supported if necessary by two Molex connectors arranged side ports, when using Crossfire or SLI with cards energy intensive.
The bios is very complete. It includes the brand-specific menus and the ROG series including Extreme Tweaker CPU Level and UP mode allows automatic overclocking for beginners. Also, OC Profile, handy to save the BIOS settings. But also new menus and functions specific to the Rampage Extreme III as the Digi + Extreme Engine, including, among other various modes acting on the phases of power supplies.
Conclusion:
The best choice for LSI is the socket 1366 motherboard with X58 chipset because it supports the quad core Intel Core i7 and the new hexagonal core Bloomfield for your future updates. The best thing about this chipset is that 'he supports SLI and CrossFireX. The X58 also supports triple channel DDR3 memory that uses 3 sticks of memory, but you can also use 2. SLI will speed up graphics on a single monitor by deploying two graphics cards. It also lets you combine 4 GPUs in one system for the fastest graphics yet. Another system would be ATI's CrossFire, which is a SLI-like use of master cards and slave combine two Radeon GPU for improved graphics and faster. Hyper-Threading: Gives processor performance especially when combined with dual-core processors that can process four software threads which will put a smile on the face of any player.
The features EVGA Vdroop Control promises Evga stable voltages, and thus a higher overclocking potential in combination with a Core i7 processor. For overclockers also thought the EVGA E-LEET Tuning Utility, which allows the fitting of spectrum in real time on Windows and also provides system monitoring. EVGA EZ Voltage is also intended to enable the rapid reading of the currently most Evga X58 SLI voltages. So for overclocking this one is quite a good choice. While the Asus Rampage is built for overclocking and raw performance, the Rampage Extreme III will meet the needs of most demanding users. A long road has been traveled since the Rampage II. Indeed, the manufacturer has learned well from past experiences and gives us here a motherboard that for me almost perfect.
