[Question]Dual Video Cards

[azreal64]

I'm a bit new to the hardware section of the PCs (more of a software guy), and as such I've got a few questions on my mind.

A friend of mine gave me his old 8800 GTS for my computer. I just installed it today which means that I've now got 2x Nvidia 8800 GTS in my computer. My first question is...is there a way to check that this new card is installed properly and running as it should as a dual card. And secondly, I understand that added hardware means more heat, but how hot should my case be getting before I start worrying that it's overheating?

EDIT: assume the computer is in an air conditioned house with no external fans.

[SocketMan]

For the temperatures you don't want to guess,use a program (like gpuz or hwmonitor) to know for sure.

Second 8800gts card -find out which 8800gts model (exactly)you're friend gave you.
There are (at least) 3 different versions that exist (320,640 and 512MB)
If you want to run SLI (to boost the video performance) both cards have to be the
same versions.You also need an SLI motherboard (Nvidia chipset based (unless it's X58 i7) regardless of the CPU (AMD/Intel) in order for the 2 cards to work in "tandem'.
As far as testing - use furmark, but get your temperature monitoring set-up first.

(google the bold for the downloadlinks)

[azreal64]

For the temperatures you don't want to guess,use a program (like gpuz or hwmonitor) to know for sure.

It shows a high of 74 degrees Celsius and a low of 68. Is this normal?

[05grottim]

no. That's too hot- i had a laptop recording those temperatures and the graphics chip melted- cool it down lol.

[azreal64]

Well after fiddling around with my cards for a night, I found out the hard way that your not supposed to touch the gold bars on the card where it connects into the PCI slot. I never knew this. Fortunately I was able to grab another card from another computer I had at another house.

So I ask a new question. Do you guys think it would be better to buy 2x 8800 GTS again or get a single 9800 in terms of performance?

[strickt]

Well after fiddling around with my cards for a night, I found out the hard way that your not supposed to touch the gold bars on the card where it connects into the PCI slot. I never knew this. Fortunately I was able to grab another card from another computer I had at another house.

So I ask a new question. Do you guys think it would be better to buy 2x 8800 GTS again or get a single 9800 in terms of performance?

what budget do you have?

[azreal64]

Well, since I have no job I don't have a budget. But for now let's just concentrate on performance between those two possibilities and later I'll see how many odd-jobs I can come up with.

[Robbi]

what 8800 GTS's are you looking at, ie RAM type?

and 74 Degrees Celsius is fine for modern GPUs, they are usually pretty good for up until the 90s.

[strickt]

Well, since I have no job I don't have a budget. But for now let's just concentrate on performance between those two possibilities and later I'll see how many odd-jobs I can come up with.

I dont know if you can find a 8800anything and if you did it would be more expensive then cards that can do almost twice its performance, you can go for a 4850 for cheaper then an 9800gt and have better performance......

[SocketMan]

It shows a high of 74 degrees Celsius and a low of 68. Is this normal?

I have 2 8800gt's running at full load 24/7, the temps are in the low 70's.

no. That's too hot- i had a laptop recording those temperatures and the graphics chip melted- cool it down lol.

If it's the same laptop where your cpu melted - I'd go after the laptop
manufacturer rather then the cpu/gpu company.

So I ask a new question. Do you guys think it would be better to buy 2x 8800 GTS again or get a single 9800 in terms of performance?

If it's the 512mb GTS version then 2 of these in SLI would be at least 50% faster (playing PR) then any 9800 based card (other then 9800 gx2).
PR (and BF2) scales extremely well with SLI/Crossfire.

[LT Harrison=ORA=]

Here is a few free programs to help you turn fan speeds up and watch temps...

Application Downloads: Check Here

But yes, 74c is ok for nVidia 8 series and up, just dont let get past 89c. Most cards now days have a thermal shutdown build it so you're fine.