7950gt gx2 question??

[Seliwwwan]

is the 7950gt or gx2 1 physical card or 2 physical cards that make up 1 card or

is 2 cards that sli?

then does it work with only 1 of the physical cards if its 2 physical card that

makes up 1 card?

and

with the 7950gt or gx2 in sli mode do you need 4 pci e slots??

[Rob]

The 7950 line is one card, but it's wide enough that it overreaches into the slot next to it, so it takes two slots. This is very common of high-end video cards. They extend over the slot next to them for the cooling fan and so they can send their exhaust out the back of the computer throught the adjacent slot opening. It's unlikely that using one video card that requires an adjacent slot like this will be any real problem in configuring your computer with everything you want. Motherboards today have many functions built into them, so most can get by with not very many add-on cards.

If you use two video cards of this size - and again, most high-end video cards are of this size - then a total of four slots will be required. You would use two video cards to have them operate in parallel for greater graphics performance. This parallel operation uses SLI technology for NVIDIA based video cards, and Crossfire technology for ATI based video cards.