# Which is a better option?



## dustyshiv (Nov 26, 2009)

Guys,

Have this question bugging me. Have a mobo with 3 PCIe slots. The slots are positioned such that I can use 

a)Two dual slot cards (9800 GTX) with the third slot rendered unusable. 
   Total shaders=128*2=256

b)One dual slot card(9800GTX) and Two single slot cards (9600 GSO). 
   Total Shaders=128+96*2=320

Which would yield more ppd at stock clocks?


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## mlee49 (Nov 26, 2009)

More active GPU's would output more PPD. Thats pretty straightforward, and by your arithmetic you probably already knew that.

A concern of mine would be if your case could handle the heat.  Lotta power consumption and alot of heat there mate.


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## theonedub (Nov 26, 2009)

Ive used both 9600GSOs and 9800GTX and if my memory serves me right, this is almost a wash. I think my 9800GTX put out ~5400 @ stock, and the GSO put out ~3k @ stock. So for option one you are looking at 10800ppd and for option two 11400ppd. So less than 1k difference in PPD, but the GSOs power efficiency can't be beat, so I guess option 2 is a winner.


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## BraveSoul (Nov 26, 2009)

do u have 2 GSO cards or will u buy them?


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## [Ion] (Nov 26, 2009)

dustyshiv said:


> Guys,
> 
> Have this question bugging me. Have a mobo with 3 PCIe slots. The slots are positioned such that I can use
> 
> ...



9600GSOs get about 3500 PPD each (averaged across all WUs).

9800GTXs get about 6500 PPD each (across all WUs)

Thus, the first option would get about 13K PPD, and the second option would get about 13.5k PPD.  I would still go for the first option, fewer cards means less headaches and lower power consumption

EDIT:  Those PPD numbers are OCed, but at levels that almost all cards should be able to get.


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## bogmali (Nov 26, 2009)

mlee49 said:


> More active GPU's would output more PPD. Thats pretty straightforward, and by your arithmetic you probably already knew that.



+1



mlee49 said:


> A concern of mine would be if your case could handle the heat.  Lotta power consumption and alot of heat there mate.




The GTX+ and the GSO's don't put out that much heat compared to the old G80 cores so he should be OK 

I am in the process of cramming 1-9800GT (dual) and 2-8800GT (single) in one of my rigs


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## theonedub (Nov 26, 2009)

[Ion] said:


> EDIT:  Those PPD numbers are OCed, but at levels that almost all cards should be able to get.



I was about to say! I know its been a while since I was using 9 series cards @ stock, but those figures are high, esp since my GSO now only gets about 3500ppd w/ 1674 shaders


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## [Ion] (Nov 26, 2009)

theonedub said:


> I was about to say! I know its been a while since I was using 9 series cards @ stock, but those figures are high, esp since my GSO now only gets about 3500ppd w/ 1674 shaders



The 6500 PPD on the GTX seems to be what most people at OCN tend to get (I browse their F@H section sometimes), that shouldn't be too hard because I can get over 5K on all of the WUs except for the 1888 on my 8800GT


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## dustyshiv (Nov 26, 2009)

BraveSoul said:


> do u have 2 GSO cards or will u buy them?



Have them


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## BraveSoul (Nov 26, 2009)

in that case ,, go with option A  2 9800gtx...  and build another comp with those GSOs


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## dustyshiv (Nov 26, 2009)

The second comp is getting built....but..will take time.


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## BraveSoul (Nov 26, 2009)

im with Ion ,, stick with option A  and have fun building that second crunching folder


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## BUCK NASTY (Nov 26, 2009)

BraveSoul said:


> im with Ion ,, stick with option A  and have fun building that second crunching folder


Wow, both the 9800GTX and 9600GSO's are bulletproof cards. Just set the clocks and forget. They will run for months without maintenance. I say dual 9800 GTX's and a 9600gso in the 3rd slot. Problem solved! They should be compatible with the new drivers.


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## dustyshiv (Nov 27, 2009)

BUCK NASTY said:


> Wow, both the 9800GTX and 9600GSO's are bulletproof cards. Just set the clocks and forget. They will run for months without maintenance. I say dual 9800 GTX's and a 9600gso in the 3rd slot. Problem solved! They should be compatible with the new drivers.



Buck,

If I use the two 9800 GTXs the third slot becomes unusable.


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## [Ion] (Nov 27, 2009)

dustyshiv said:


> Buck,
> 
> If I use the two 9800 GTXs the third slot becomes unusable.



What mobo are we talking about?
Would a 9800GTX in the first slot, a GSO in the second, and another GTX in the third slot work?


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## dustyshiv (Nov 27, 2009)

Ion, its the one mentioned in my specs. Gigabyte EX58 Extreme. GTX in the last slot wont fit. So I have installed the cards like this as of now.

9800GTX PCIe1
9600GSO PCIe2
9600GSO PCIe3

Have an ATI TV Tuner card in the PCI slot above the last PCI-e slot. Until I find a PCI-e TV Tuner card locally, I cant change it....I cant watch TV:shadedshu


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