Few questions about SLI

Question

thanks in advance for your help.

I've just added a second card to my system so I can add a third monitor. I'd got as far as determining both cards need to use the same driver (after a blind alley with another cheap ATi card) so I'm now the proud owner of a second BFG 9800 GTX+ card. One is a BFG OCX and the other an BFG OC (small difference in clock speeds but they are in all other respects the same) but wanted to know the following:-

1) Is it worth adding the SLI connector, will it really boost overall performance (I'm guessing that the OCX card will then perform as the OC card does)?

2) Are SLI connectors (the one's that run across the top of the cards) motherboard or manufacturer specific?

3) If I do SLI the cards will I still be able to use all four monitor connectors or just the two on the master card?

I'm not a gamer, I'm an IA and web designer so the system is mostly for Photoshop and Illustrator work and the occasional knock around in command and conquer.

Answer 1

You say:

I'm not a gamer, I'm an IA and web designer so the system is mostly for Photoshop and Illustrator work and the occasional knock around in command and conquer.

In this context:

1) Is it worth adding the SLI connector, will it really boost overall performance (I'm guessing that the OCX card will then perform as the OC card does)?

It doesn't significantly boost the performance. And yes, the OCX will downlock /downgrade to OC limits.

2) Are SLI connectors (the one's that run across the top of the cards) motherboard or manufacturer specific?

I believe the SLI bridge is not motherboard /vendor centric.

3) If I do SLI the cards will I still be able to use all four monitor connectors

It should be possible, but you'll have to disable SLI