SLI or high end single video card?

by **Major SONAR** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:18 am

I was all set to by a couple of video cards for an SLI rig. After reading benchmark after benchmark, I was having a hard time determining which card(s) to buy. The I came across this benchmark.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page20.html

In 50% - 60% of the benchmarks an SLI configuration, with exaclty the same card, was SLOWER than a single video card solution with the same card. (i.e in most instances a single 7800 GT was FASTER than two 7800 GT's in an SLI configuration)

So now I don't know. Does anyone have any thoughts? Is SLI is better or worse than a single card solution?

by **Evan** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:41 am

SLI at the moment is no faster than a single card in most cases. You won't see much of an improvement, if any.

by **PraiseA||ah** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:06 pm

It's because it's so new that games weren't made to take advantage of it. Sort of like dual core CPU's (although I think that's more along the lines of the OS not supporting it). The next generation of games should take better advantage of SLI. I think it also depends on what games you're playing as some do support it and have an increase in performance.
I don't think I would bother buying SLI at this time because when most games do support it there will be yet another generation of video cards out and you'll probably be behind the curve by then. At the very least, the cards should have dropped in price by that time.

by **Major SONAR** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:21 pm

I hear what you're saying Allah, but SLI has probably been out for.. what a year or more? (not counting the first time 3DFX tried it.) You would think that 2 cards would ALWAYS be better than one.

I'm sure you're right. Give it another year and SLI will work much better AND cards will be cheaper. I guess it's just media hype about SLI being so much better.

by **Jim0322** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:11 pm

You could always get an SLI mobo and use a single video card. In a year things might improve and you could add an identical video card to go SLI or if you have money to burn buy two new more advanced cards. At this point I don't think dual cards are worth the money, especially if you can only afford two low or mid range cards instead of one high end card.

Jim

by **munky73770** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 2:52 pm

I am running a dual core and SLI system. When I only had 1 7800 GT, I was getting about 50 fps in BF2, now after I got the 2nd card, I am getting almost 100 fps.

My AA and Anisotropic (sp?) filters can be set higher than ever now. Sure you can argue that I spent too much money at the wrong time, but I dont plan on upgrading for another 2 - 3 years...

by **Raycaster** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:41 pm

Originally posted by Jim0322
You could always get an SLI mobo and use a single video card. In a year things might improve and you could add an identical video card to go SLI or if you have money to burn buy two new more advanced cards. At this point I don't think dual cards are worth the money, especially if you can only afford two low or mid range cards instead of one high end card.

Jim

I got an ASUS A8N-SLI mobo and a BFG-6800 Ultra OC card this summer. My thoughts were to get a second card if I ever needed some extra fps. Well, since a few maps in SF knock me down to 35 fps, I thought I might go ahead and get a second card. Turns out you need the exact same chipset/manufacturer/clock/memeory for SLI to work. No problem I figure that the 6800 Ultra OC would be a fair bit cheaper now, but it turns out nobody is selling it. Found a few used on eBay, but at a higher price than I'd want to pay for used hardware. So the point is you may not be able to get a card to pair with the one you have.

Me, I'm either waiting for the next gen cards or for the BFG 7800 GTX OC to come down in price.

by **Bromsin** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:59 pm

Personally I am trying to hold off upgrading till the new AMD socket M2 comes out. I still run AGP at the moment and find I get solid FPS's for whatever games I play with my 6800GT.

It is getting hard to reisist upgrading though...

by **Major SONAR** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:12 pm

I currently have a couple of computers now and very close to purchasing a third. I just upgraded one of the computers with the ASROCK 939 Dual SATA... It supports both AGP and PCI-E AND the new M2 chip. I threw in a AMD 3700+, and Gig of RAM. I only have a GF 4 card in it, but that's good enough for my kids to play most games.

This is a bit off tangent, but which manufacturer of the NVIDIA 7800 is the best? Does it all boil down to software bundles, or is one 7800 card really better than another?

by **PraiseA||ah** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:33 pm

Originally posted by Raycaster
I got an ASUS A8N-SLI mobo and a BFG-6800 Ultra OC card this summer. My thoughts were to get a second card if I ever needed some extra fps. Well, since a few maps in SF knock me down to 35 fps, I thought I might go ahead and get a second card. Turns out you need the exact same chipset/manufacturer/clock/memeory for SLI to work. No problem I figure that the 6800 Ultra OC would be a fair bit cheaper now, but it turns out nobody is selling it. Found a few used on eBay, but at a higher price than I'd want to pay for used hardware. So the point is you may not be able to get a card to pair with the one you have.

Me, I'm either waiting for the next gen cards or for the BFG 7800 GTX OC to come down in price.

That is exactly what I've read. If you're going to do SLI, go for it all at once. Don't buy one thinking you'll buy the second at some later date - for that very reason. Currently you do have to have a matched pair and NVIDIA has said nothing about supporting mixed cards in the future.

by **cavalierlwt** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:37 pm

I have a single 6800GT card with an Asus SLI mobo. When the time comes to push it a little, I may buy another 6800GT and go the SLI route if they're dirt cheap. On the other hand, I may just ditch nVidia all together and go with the best ATI card available. I know everyone had a different experience with it, but hate nVidia, I really do. It just seems like any system I have that used nVidia has a thousand times more problems with video performance and system stability. I feel like I get a longer, more stable life out of ATI cards.
Well, that's just my experience.

by **Jim0322** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:40 pm

Originally posted by Major SONAR
I just upgraded one of the computers with the ASROCK 939 Dual SATA... It supports both AGP and PCI-E AND the new M2 chip. I threw in a AMD 3700+, and Gig of RAM. I only have a GF 4 card in it, but that's good enough for my kids to play most games.

I have a AMD XP 2800+. I have considered getting that exact mobo and upgrade to a AMD 64 3500+ and then I could use my GF 6800GT card (agp) and be able to upgrade to a PCI card months later.

Is the ASRock AGP/PCI-E board working out well? I spend too much on hardware so getting a new CPU, mobo, and video card all at once is too much.

Jim

by **munky73770** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:47 pm

Yea, I bought a 6800 gt AGP card and then 2 weeks later it was announced that AGP cards were to be no longer made.....I was pissed. But I did hear a rumor that a 7800 GS AGP card will be coming out soon. But, now I am running SLI, so my days of AGP are long over with.

by **Major SONAR** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:06 pm

Jim,

I have read some really good reviews about the ASROCK board, but I've also read some mixed reviews. So far I am very pleased. I read there were some cold boot problems, but I didn't have any. As a matter of fact, everything went so smooth I was shocked! I hooked everything up, put all my old cards in, flipped the switch and IT WORKED! Wow, how often does that happen??

My brother purchased the board about a week before I did. He did have a few problems, namely because he didn't start with a fresh format (which I recommend). Once he formatted his drive, he had no more problems. So be sure to format your drive and install Windows off the CD.

I'm very happy with the upgrade. For $70, it's hard to go wrong. In addition I could keep my old AGP card. How can you loose? I've had the board about a month now and it's working great.

by **Raycaster** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:00 am

Originally posted by Major SONAR
This is a bit off tangent, but which manufacturer of the NVIDIA 7800 is the best? Does it all boil down to software bundles, or is one 7800 card really better than another? [/B]

I like my BFG Tech card. They overclock them and still put a lifetime warrenty on the card. Of course remember that I've only had it 6 months and have not had to test that warrenty.

SLI or high end single video card?

SLI or high end single video card?

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