Difference in S3 and J3 Video cards.

[markkleb]

I bought a pair of XFX7600 GS cards for a SLI comp. One has passed away. Newegg was RMAing it and says they dont have them anymore.(PVT73PUDS3)

When I checked their site the new card ends with J3, Looks the same to me.

Whats the difference,
should I use 1 of each,
is it better to have 2 of the J3 cards?

[xfxsupport]

Dear markkleb, The main difference between the two cards is that the S3 is overclocked and the J3 is not. Also the S3 may be more difficult to locate as it is a limited run product. If this does not answer your question please let us know.

[GIBSON]

I don't know if it's appropriate to jump into this thread or not. But I think he wanted to know if it would let him run SLI. Maybe by changing the clock speeds (overclock the old one or underclock the new one). I'm not sure though, xfxsupport is going to have to clear this one up.

[markkleb]

Im kind of sad, Newegg agreed to let me return the other card(still good) for a credit.
I liked the XFX Extreme cards. But there is no way Im gonna use a 500mhz and a 400mhz card in sli (even if it could be done).
Now I have to find 2 new cards..

[Kougar]

Sorry to hear it Markkleb. :( nVidia tweaked their drivers awhile back, so infact yes those cards with that difference in clockspeed would of run in SLI.

[Xero (1)ne]

couldnt you just OC the 400 to 500?
i thought you could use any 2 sli compatible cards, but teh higher of the two would be underclocked to match teh other:confused:

[markkleb]

The reason I bought them was for the 500MHZ OC. The replacement MAY OC to match, I just dont know and its really close to building time for the Mod contest to not know for sure.

[Kougar]

And OCing voids the XFX warranty as well. If the card started failing like it's "Extreme" OCed twin then he'd be pretty much screwed without the warranty.

[xfxsupport]

Hey everyone, The two main requirements for SLI is that the cards be SLI capable and they are the same chipset. Basically that menas a 6800XT must be paired with another 6800XT regardless of maker or clockspeeds. You cannot combine a 6800GT with a 6800XT as this is not the same chipset and SLI will not function. Yes overclocking will void your warranty but if your card has failed please contact our support team at www.xfxforce.com => support => Help Desk and we can RMA the card. We do everything possible to replace any faulty cards with the exact same model that you send us. This should enable you to maintain the same performance that you have come to expect out of your current set up.

If any one has any questions about SLI Nvidia has a great website dedicated for just SLI at www.slizone.com. They even have a section on compatable cards mainboards and PSU's that Nvidia has certified for use in a SLI set up.

[markkleb]

Thanks XFXsupport for clearing that up.

[GIBSON]

Yes indeed thanx! I thought the cards had to be the exact same ones. (wasn't this the case in the beginning of sli?)