Can you run two GEForce 220s Together?

[EDyer]

Hello, I have a fairly new e9180t that I ordered for NLE work, but I've since gotten hooked on gaming and now wish I would have gotten a more capable card than the GEForce 220 it shipped with.  So, I'm considering upgrading, but in my reading I'm wondering if it's possible to just get another 220 and run them together?  If that card can even be run in an SLI configuration, would it give me any performance advantages/deficits vs just running a single GEForce 260 or Radeon 4870? 

I'm not even sure my system supports SLI.  The general specs on the system are:

480W PSU

IPMTB-TK MOBO (w/2 PCIe x16 slots) 

Intel x58 chipset

Any help would be great!

[old_geekster]

ED, while the motherboard has two PCIE x16 slots, it is not capable of SLI with the current PSU.  It is only 460W.  Also, there may not be enough cooling for two cards.  Here is what the 'Motherboard Specifications' say about two cards:

Video graphics: 

Graphics ports: Two PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics (for graphics cards)

  NOTE: PCs using this motherboard may not support dual graphics cards due to power or cooling limitations. Please check the product's specifications.

[EDyer]

Thank you OG - I should have clarified that.  My thinking was that for around the same price as a new single slot card, i.e., GEForce 260 or a similar Radeon, I could just get another 220 and upgrade the PSU.  I continued to do some homework, though, and it doesn't appear to me that the 220 supports (is supported by?) SLI, so it may be moot.  Does anyone know definitively?  NVIDIA doesn't list the 220 in the "SLI Ready" cards, but I don't know if there are workarounds or anything.  I'm a total noob with this stuff. 

I guess I should also make sure a more advanced card will even help - the game I've become hooked on is World of Warcraft, and I have very sporadic issues with the somewhat jerky graphics and system freezing, and some of the edges and borders of certain details don't seem as crisp as they should be.  I'm running all the graphics settings for the game fully maxed.  (Apologies in advance if this question is too application-specific for this forum - knew to this too!).

[TheSportsAddict]

You cannot run 2 video cards(gt 220's) i did it and not only did they cook each other they cooked the MB. Just go buy a nvidia GeForce GTX 295 about $500 bucks from amazon.com dont buy it on eBay though. I did this with new computer and have had absolutely no problems playing warcraft or micro flight sim x.

[old_geekster · Accepted solution]

ED, I did some research and it appears that the 220 GT is not SLI ready.  Also, WoW does not require a high-end video card.  However, I would recommend at least an ATI 4000 series or a nVidia 200 series card.  I suggest taking measurements of the space provided for the card to assure the one you choose will fit.  Measure from the edge of the case to the opposite side of the motherboard where the PCIE slot is located.  This is the approximate length of card that should fit.  The 4870 is 9.5" long and double profile.

Truthfully, from all that I have read in the past several years, SLI and Crossfire only provide about a 40% increase in performance.  This isn't enough to entice me to upgrade my motherboard and spend the additional $300 for a second card.  I am running a XFX ATI 4870 XXX 1GB card in my gaming computer.  I am playing Brothers In Arms - Hell's Highway at full settings.  It runs flawlessly.

You are doing what is necessary to learn what you need to know.  Let us know if you have further questions.

[c0rnel]

As far as I know World of Warcraft does not support SLI or CrossFire and the second card won't be utilized in WoW but it's really good for most other games that support it.

WoW is more cpu dependant. You have enough cpu power.

As for Video. It's good for having a high end video card for wow so you get higher frame rates.

I'm running a q6600 cpu (40% max usage when playing wow and running Windows Vista x64) and an ATI 4890 Video Card (running WoW full settings except for grass and shadows lowered half way and vsynch turned off)  and 4GB of RAM on a 19" LCD (1440x900 full screen resolution).

The 4890 does a pretty good job especially with 1920x1080 reosolution and higher since it has 1GB of video ram which greatly benefits higher resolutions since more video ram is utilized.

What I recommend is this. If you want to get good frame rates and don't want to have freezes or video lags during wow raids or battles then I recommend an Nvidia GTX 285 or an ATI 5870.

If you want even better than these 2 cards mentioned and are willing to pay more for a dualgpu video card which runs about $500-$600 and so you won't have to upgrade in the near future, then go with either an Nvidia GTX 295 or an ATI 5970.