Should I go SLI

[Chalenge]

In my experiece Ati is better suited for FPS games and GeForce for flight sims. Had to say it.

[AirFlyer]

Really? I;m not disagreeing but I've never had trouble with FPS with my 8800GT.

[splitatom]

i find that nividia is better because i have seen a few games that only use navidia

[Fulmar]

In my experiece Ati is better suited for FPS games and GeForce for flight sims. Had to say it.

Within the last few years, it more so depends on the developer.  They usually sign agreements with Nvidia or ATI for their games and they gear their coding to emphasize the advantages of their drivers and hardware.  I find that EA likes to do this quite a bit with their games.

Examples are games like Call of Duty, BF2, and Company of Hereos where they're geared towards Nvidia cards.  A comparable Nvidia card will bench higher than an ATI card (maybe not a whole lot, but its there).  I can't recall the last time I played an ATI sponsored game, it was probably Black and White.

Just looking at some benchmark tests at Tomshardware, Assassin's Creed is more so dominated by Nvidia Cards.  Crysis does well with ATI cards (depending on the setting) and is only beaten by Nvidia cards in SLI.

[Dragon]

I just saw this ad and I'm wondering the same thing...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3445092&sku=P450-8670

I'm currently running this card in my ASUS P5NE-SLI with a Intel 6750 on 22" monitor with 850 W power supply 2 G memory and Visturd.   

I'm not sure if I should spend the $ on this card before it goes obsolete or save it for a new one.  I'd like to stick to NV.

Opinions?

[Chalenge]

Okay let me correct what I was saying since I worded it wrong. I bought two 4870x2s for FSX and they suck compared to even the Nvidia 8800s so they are now dedicated to a computer that does not have a flight sim loaded but they do just fine for Crysis and Assassins Creed.

[drdeathx]

Rgr, may just go with one 4850 and get the g15 kb.

When I crossfired my 3870's 2 x 512 I went from 12,500 to 15,500 in 3DMark06. The preformance gains vary in what application you are using. The 4870 1G card is a nice one too. You can get 4870 1g for $225-$250.


It really depends on what you are using your system for. If its just AH you really don't need 2 cards crossfired. It does make sence to go to a better card for 2 reasons. The performance gain is only 10-20% in X-fired and less potential problems.

Your MOBO really did not get a great review with exception to price.

[drdeathx]

I just saw this ad and I'm wondering the same thing...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3445092&sku=P450-8670

I'm currently running this card in my ASUS P5NE-SLI with a Intel 6750 on 22" monitor with 850 W power supply 2 G memory and Visturd.   

I'm not sure if I should spend the $ on this card before it goes obsolete or save it for a new one.  I'd like to stick to NV.

Opinions?

Its a crossroads thing. Spend more get better. Your system will handle any card made. I would a few more $ and get 9800GT but its your budget. The 9800GT can be bought from $90 to $150 depending on manufacturer. For the difference of maybe $40, you will have a card that is much better and will be around for a few years.


Challenge.... Hell go tri fired. Get another 4870 X 2!

[Chalenge]

It will be soaring season soon and I wont need a 'tri-fire.' 

[Getback]

Would there be no gain in going Crossfire? Any stats on this.

BTW, that wasn't a bad review of the board. They just thought the pricing was a little high. I only paid $135 for it and it seems to do a wonderful job. Like I said, My IT guy thought it was great. Although he does prefer Intel MBs.

[drdeathx]

There is a gain in crossfire. Look up^^^^^^^^^. My 3870 with a AMD Phenom 9850 BE benchmarked in the high 12,000 range. With 2 (512) 3870's I benchmarked 15,500 in 3DMark06. This is about a 20% gain. When benchmarking games the gain will be different in each one. After looking at various benchmarks depending on the application I noticed 10-40% gainds depending on high end systems overclocked to the max. It would be safe to say a 10-30% improvement on most applications.

[drdeathx]

Within the last few years, it more so depends on the developer.  They usually sign agreements with Nvidia or ATI for their games and they gear their coding to emphasize the advantages of their drivers and hardware.  I find that EA likes to do this quite a bit with their games.

Examples are games like Call of Duty, BF2, and Company of Hereos where they're geared towards Nvidia cards.  A comparable Nvidia card will bench higher than an ATI card (maybe not a whole lot, but its there).  I can't recall the last time I played an ATI sponsored game, it was probably Black and White.

Just looking at some benchmark tests at Tomshardware, Assassin's Creed is more so dominated by Nvidia Cards.  Crysis does well with ATI cards (depending on the setting) and is only beaten by Nvidia cards in SLI.

Fulmar is right on the money with that statement but.... The ATI cards are gettin pretty down and dirty cheap which makes them attractive to the $ minded person. Saw a ATI 3650 for $29 after rebate and the 4350 for $50 after rebate. If all you play is aces high and have a decent system, these cards will work fine. Again, Fulmar is right, all around Nvidea seems to have better all around benchmarks applications.

[drdeathx]

Okay let me correct what I was saying since I worded it wrong. I bought two 4870x2s for FSX and they suck compared to even the Nvidia 8800s so they are now dedicated to a computer that does not have a flight sim loaded but they do just fine for Crysis and Assassins Creed.

Challenge, bare with me. I exchanged my 4870 X 2 for a Nvidea GTX280(had no patience). I never went far with investigating, but it benchmarked 3Dmark06 lower than 2 3870's crossfired(15,500 vs 14,700). If I remember, it showed both GPU's working in 3Dmark but it didn't seemed they were both kicking in. These cards are supposed to rock and they didn't for me. Maybe see if both GPU's are kicking in and look that direction. They are supposed to be the best out there.

[drdeathx]

Would there be no gain in going Crossfire? Any stats on this.

BTW, that wasn't a bad review of the board. They just thought the pricing was a little high. I only paid $135 for it and it seems to do a wonderful job. Like I said, My IT guy thought it was great. Although he does prefer Intel MBs.

I saw reviews only strong point was price. Maybe I read the typical biased reveiws.

[Getback]

There is a gain in crossfire. Look up^^^^^^^^^. My 3870 with a AMD Phenom 9850 BE benchmarked in the high 12,000 range. With 2 (512) 3870's I benchmarked 15,500 in 3DMark06. This is about a 20% gain. When benchmarking games the gain will be different in each one. After looking at various benchmarks depending on the application I noticed 10-40% gainds depending on high end systems overclocked to the max. It would be safe to say a 10-30% improvement on most applications.

Keep in mind that the other PCI-E slot is only 4x. Would I still get a gain?

BTW, I was being philosophical. I like jacking around with my machine every now and then. Although I should leave well enough alone. It's running great.