Running Graphics cards in SLI

[BaldEagl]

I'm not sure you didn't just defeat your own argument.  From the links you posted:

"In 3DMark05 the the GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI setup gets the highest score of all. Two videocards really can be better than one according to this test. The dual 8800GTS' defeat the lone GeForce 8800GTX by almost 1000 points!"

" Is there any doubt which videocard setup is fastest here? As PCSTATS dialed up the resolution to 1600x1200, and the eye candy to SM3, the SLI GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI combo leaves the lone Geforce 8800GTX MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E in the dust!"

Considering you can get 2x 320 8800 GTS for close to the same price as a 8800 GTX it seems SLIing those would be a better proposition.

[Skuzzy]

Careful on video RAM.  512MB of video RAM is neat, but if it is 25% slower than a 256MB video card, I would opt for the faster RAM, instead of the quantity.

With faster RAM you can easily run higher resolutions and lower AA settings.

To run 1920 horizontal, which is popular for most HD LCD panels, you want fast RAM.

[swoopy]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Careful on video RAM.  512MB of video RAM is neat, but if it is 25% slower than a 256MB video card, I would opt for the faster RAM, instead of the quantity.

With faster RAM you can easily run higher resolutions and lower AA settings.

To run 1920 horizontal, which is popular for most HD LCD panels, you want fast RAM.

So is the XFX GeForce 8800GTX 630M 768MB XXX GDDR3 a good card then?

[Darkish]

Doesn't SlI realy come into its own over 1240 res?

I'd say if running a 32 inch widescreen for sure do it - but if 1240, then like others have said you'l only get about a 20% increase.

[alskahawk]

This is my take on all this SLI, quad/multi core etc. Is that CPU speed has reached a ceiling. Not necessarily a hard ceiling but a practical ceiling. In other words CPU speed can exceed 4 GHz but at what cost? So to get more power technology is going sideways. SLI, Triple SLI/Quad Crossfire/ Multi core CPU. Front side bus and memory speeds are increasing every year if not quicker. Skuzzy's point about memory speeds is right on. A video card with DDR3 should almost always beat a similar card with DDR2 etc.

  Now about motherboards. Its true that the first generation of SLI boards only have one PCIe slot at 16x  and 8x in the second slot. But if you have 2 top level cards one in a 16x slot and one in a 8x slot isn't that still better than one card at 100%?
  Most of the cards produced this year will have 2 PCIe 16x slots with 2.0 technology.
 Most of the early 3 SLI motherboards will have a third slot at a lower speed. maybe as low as 4x. My estimate of 80% from the second card is conservative. You may soon get 99% more from your second card. I doubt that you'll ever get 100% from the second or third card.

  Here's what I think will happen over the next two years. Triple SLI and Quad crossfire will be on most of your top systems. Game designers will find new and exciting ways to use this new tech. And as always the enthusiast will chase the best systems to play the best games. And 1000+watt PSU's and large monitors will be the norm. All this is mind boggling if you remember 14inch screens, DOS, 1.2 baud modems. I think the first upgrade I made was to add 4 MB ram to my 33MHz, 40MB computer. It cost $170.

[eagl]

Originally posted by swoopy
So is the XFX GeForce 8800GTX 630M 768MB XXX GDDR3 a good card then?

Go here for a huge discount on an 8800GTX:  http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1279441

It's through newegg.  If you can find one cheaper anywhere else, go for it.  But this is the cheapest I've seen.  Promo expires Friday night.

[alskahawk]

I like mine. Have two of them. They are power hogs tho. Even one is over kill in AH. Good in other games such as Call of Duty.

[alskahawk]

Originally posted by swoopy
If i went for a XFX GeForce 8800GTX 630M 768MB XXX GDDR3 then does anyone know what recommended PSU is?

 As per the wattage guide at Newegg.com; 590 watts

 That is with a AMD x2
                       2 gig ram
                       2 DVD Rom
                       2 7.2 HDs      with one HD 551 watts

with a Intel duo   559 watts

[Krusty]

I only just now saw this again:

Originally posted by BaldEagl
I'm not sure you didn't just defeat your own argument.  From the links you posted:

"In 3DMark05 the the GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI setup gets the highest score of all. Two videocards really can be better than one according to this test. The dual 8800GTS' defeat the lone GeForce 8800GTX by almost 1000 points!"

Look at it again. They're talking 1000 points in scores upwares of 11,000+. That's less than 1% higher, score-wise.

" Is there any doubt which videocard setup is fastest here? As PCSTATS dialed up the resolution to 1600x1200, and the eye candy to SM3, the SLI GeForce 8800GTS 320MB SLI combo leaves the lone Geforce 8800GTX MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E in the dust!"

Considering you can get 2x 320 8800 GTS for close to the same price as a 8800 GTX it seems SLIing those would be a better proposition.

The first comment is an exaggeration. It is faster, yes. It does not "leave it in the dust" per se. Look at those benchmarks, across ALL games, it's only about 5-10 FPS faster at ANY resolution/quality/detail setting.

They use a lot of hyperbole, I think that's just a bit of it showing through.

[Bruv119]

Be warned Vosnik.  I have a 640MB 8800GTS it only needs 1x 6 PIN pci-e power lead.  I believe the GTX needs 2x pci-e leads.  

I bought an enermax 650W and it has modular cables so i can plug in what I actually need.   Do you know the current specs of your PSU???

The amps on the 12v rails is what you need to careful on.

[alskahawk]

Those spec's are for SLI cards vs single 8800GTX. 2-8800GTS's were the fastest.
You defeated your own argument. Anyway in terms of AH both would be more than needed.

[Krusty]

They were on par. 5FPS is negligable, especially when you're talking the difference between 130 fps and 135 fps.

That's also not twice the speed of the single card by itself, and still not very much faster than a high end single card.

SLI is marketing. It's like buying 2 Yugos and the dealer telling you that's better than buying 1 volvo

[BaldEagl]

Here's a thought for you Krusty.

Lets say you get a machine with a 320 8800 GTS card (about $190).  One day, you decide it's time to upgrade and you want to go to 640 megs of memory.  You can trash the $190 8800 GTS and buy a new 640 8800 GTS for $275 (a total investment of $465) or, with SLI, you add another 320 8800 GTS and have almost the same power for a total investment of $380.

I use these cards just as an example because it's easy to compare but the same could be true going from 256 to dual 256 vs 512, etc.

To me, it doesn't seem worthwhile only at the very high end, or for only the very rich.  It seems that it adds a significant level of flexability in an upgrade path.  Now, it may be that you'll trash that old card anyway, but at least the SLI path offers you another option.

At least that's how it seems to me.

[Krusty]

Okay, from an upgrade standpoint, a "catch up to performance" step, I can understand it more.

However, that's not how it's marketed most places (almost always 2 highest-end cards in SLI), and I've read a couple of articles where folks did that but had trouble finding the exact same card a couple of years after the fact, so they couldn't run it properly in SLI.

Definitely a strategy of sorts (planning for future upgrades) but not without peril.


As an aside, I personally wonder if there's much price difference in motherboards, all other features being equal between SLI and non-SLI.


[EDIT: On second thought: Using SLI to keep up with the curve isn't going to help much, if SLI doesn't increase FPS much for that extra card. Your price-per-fps might not be worth it. (*shrug*)]

[alskahawk]

 I got about 250+ FPS with 2-8800 GTX's in SLI mode. With one card I get 60-100 FPS in AH.

 That was with a AMD x2 3.2GHz
                        Asus M2N Deluxe SLI Motherboard One PCIe Slot at 16x One at 8x.
                        2GB Kingston Ram
                        150GB Raptor 10k RPM HD
                        XFI Sound card
                        750 Watt PSU(Recommended wattage; 795)

 I have since robbed the 8800GTX's for a quad system I built. Almost any SLI for AH is overkill. However it does give you more video power.