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6600GT SLI or better single card

M

moosey

Golden Member
I'm getting a new comp (A64, 1gb ram) and a GF 6600GT. I was wondering if I should get the NF4 SLI and have room for 2 600GTs in the future. Or would getting and NF4 Ultra board be better and then in the future sell the 6600GT and get today's top of the line card (like 6800 Ultra or something from ATI). Which would be the better upgrade choice in the future? (because if I get the 6600GT now thats definitly what I'd get later on if I needed more graphics power).
FYI-i'd play the latest games like HL2
 
Right now I can only go with the 6600Gt though. I would get the SLI only for a future upgrade when I could get a second 6600GT for cheap down the road. Would it be worth getting the SLI board for a future upgrade path?
 
well, think about it, how soon do you plan to go sli and buy the second 6600gt? if it's 2 years or more, forget about it.
i mean, what's the point of having a better video card but to turn up the visual settings and make everything pretty? (otherwise, you might as well buy a geforce 3 and play everything lowest detail- 640x480.)
sure 2x6600gt would probably equal the performance of a new 8600gt(or equlivilent) but you wont be able to turn up all the new details and setttings.(like dx10[or9.1 or something], ps3.5 [or 4.0] or similar)
i mean would you feel happy playing games with outdated graphics from 2 years ago?[aka hl-2 on a ti4200].(it's palyable but nowhere as pretty)
perfromance bump: yes
real upgrade path: no
 
Originally posted by: mwmorph
well, think about it, how soon do you plan to go sli and buy the second 6600gt? if it's 2 years or more, forget about it.
i mean, what's the point of having a better video card but to turn up the visual settings and make everything pretty? (otherwise, you might as well buy a geforce 3 and play everything lowest detail- 640x480.)
sure 2x6600gt would probably equal the performance of a new 8600gt(or equlivilent) but you wont be able to turn up all the new details and setttings.(like dx10[or9.1 or something], ps3.5 [or 4.0] or similar)
i mean would you feel happy playing games with outdated graphics from 2 years ago?[aka hl-2 on a ti4200].(it's palyable but nowhere as pretty)
perfromance bump: yes
real upgrade path: no
Click to expand...

I sort of agree with this. The thing about the SLI motherboard is it gives you a lot more flexibility- he can buy his 6600GT, than maybe get a 6600GT for Christmas and be sure he'll have at least that level of performance through another year.
 
2 6600GTs will generally give you roughly 6800GT performance, so if you plan on upgrading for cheap, that's a possibility. There is one fly in the ointment, though - if you get an SLI 6600GT array, you only get 128MB of RAM. RAM doesn't double - it's duplicated on each card. A 128MB buffer is just starting to be a limiting factor in games like Doom3, and while it's adequate for most current titles, if you plan on upgrading in a year or something to play unreal 3, I think you're gonna find that you won't get nearly as good of performance as you would with a single 6800GT, due to the smaller framebuffer. After all, 512MB cards are gonna be debuting soon, so 256MB will likely be pretty much standard for midrange cards, meaning that more and more games will be written to use more than 128MB buffers. Anyways, I got a 6600GT, and it's great, but I lost faith in using SLI as an upgrade path (I used to have an A8N-SLI, but when I had problems I just sent it back for my chaintech), so I hold no illusions about how long my card will be useful for. If I were buying a card today, I'd wait for a place to have the X800XL in stock for sub-$300 - Compusa and Circuit City often have prices around $275 when the actaully have these cards. That card will have 6800GT performance but for $100 lower. Of course, it's gonna take some work getting the cards for $300 or less, since most etailers that have reliable stock are charging $375, at which point I think the 6800GT is the better buy.
 
Originally posted by: Rollo
Originally posted by: KoolDrew
IMO SLI is a waste of money. Get a better single card.
Click to expand...

The only people who say SLI is a waste of money are the people who have no SLI.
Click to expand...

NO.... In this case it IS a waste of money. 1 6800GT is better than 2 6600GTs in most cases, and if he buys an SLI motherboard, he can always add another 6800GT a year or two from now and increase his performance. (or if he wants, he can get a X800XL for $100+ less than a 6800GT for similar performance)

 
Get SLI, get a good card, add another later. 2(6600GT) ~ 6800GT (pricewise). And one 6800 will outperform 2 6600's
 
At this point, I am not aware of one respectable hardware site that thinks sli is a good deal, with current drivers. But you can read a well known thread here that is actively promoting the sale of sli. So read your reviews and buy what you want. I am sure almost anything you buy in that price range will play your games.
 
Originally posted by: ronnn
At this point, I have not aware of one respectable hardware site that thinks sli is a good deal, with current drivers. But you can read a well known thread here that is actively promoting the sale of sli. So read your reviews and buy what you want. I am sure almost anything you buy in that price range will play your games.
Click to expand...

Ronnn- that hurts. Everyone knows I have two SLI threads- one for my 6600GTs, one for the 6800NUs.
 
Originally posted by: dfedders
Originally posted by: Rollo
Originally posted by: KoolDrew
IMO SLI is a waste of money. Get a better single card.
Click to expand...

The only people who say SLI is a waste of money are the people who have no SLI.
Click to expand...

NO.... In this case it IS a waste of money. 1 6800GT is better than 2 6600GTs in most cases, and if he buys an SLI motherboard, he can always add another 6800GT a year or two from now and increase his performance. (or if he wants, he can get a X800XL for $100+ less than a 6800GT for similar performance)
Click to expand...

Well, what's the point? Two 6800Ultras would be better too, and two 512MB 6800Ultras would be better than that.

He didn't ask if he should buy 6800GT SLI, his only question was whether he should spend the extra $50 on an SLI motherboard now, or save the $50 and get a single slot board. Apparently his budget now is at $200 for graphics, and he's considering spending $50 more on the motherboard.

If he takes your advice (SLI motherboard and 6800GT) he spends $250+ more at the start, which I'm guessing he doesn't have if he's buying a 6600GT?

Anyway, OP, I have a 6600GT SLI rig, I've had a 6800GT, and I have 6800NU SLI as well. (which I'm telling you so you know I've actually used the stuff in question, not read a review and said "Oh no! 5 fps slower! :roll: )

What I can tell you about the 6600GT SLI is:
1. At no AA, no AF, it's faster than a 6800GT, sometimes Ultra. (so if you like 16X12 0X0X, it rocks that)

2. At AA/AF, I'd call it a very strong 12X10 2X8X set, and the 6800GT a very strong 12X10 4X8X card. IMO that is the difference in the two.

3. If you want the full Purevideo feature set (WMV9 decode, etc) the 6600GT should have it when MS releases their .dll. The 6800GT and U will not.

And of course, the 6800GT SLI rig will slaughter all of the above, as well it should for >$850..

 
Originally posted by: ronnn
At this point, I am not aware of one respectable hardware site that thinks sli is a good deal, with current drivers. But you can read a well known thread here that is actively promoting the sale of sli. So read your reviews and buy what you want. I am sure almost anything you buy in that price range will play your games.
Click to expand...

BTW Ronnn-

Anand not respectable?
From a performance standpoint, SLI is just about as good as it gets.
Click to expand...

Kyle not respectable?
Almost across the board, the 6600 GT SLI delivered a better quality gaming experience than did a Radeon X800Pro or a GeForce 6800 GT. There is more bang for the buck value in a GeForce 6600 GT SLI configuration than anything comparable.
Click to expand...

Firing Squad not respectable?
Overall SLI offered a performance improvement of roughly 1.5 times over stock, which is a respectable figure considering that we cranked all visual quality settings to their highest settings, running games like DOOM 3 and Half-Life 2 at settings some gamers can only dream of playing with adequate performance.
Click to expand...

I suppose only Driverheaven and Xbit are respectable, eh Ronn?

Xbit:
Da. SLI is NOT an ATI product, not fit for Cossacks! Nyet!
Click to expand...

 
Originally posted by: Rollo

Ronnn- that hurts. Everyone knows I have two SLI threads- one for my 6600GTs, one for the 6800NUs.
Click to expand...

Sorry, guess I haven't been paying attention. :beer:

hardocp had a change of mind I guess, since that dated quote you dug up. Firingsquad I don't know much about. Anyways, as I said read your reviews and buy what you want, I am sure they all work well. For the money I would say go x800xl, good certified drivers that work out of the box and upgrade when your games demand it.
 
If you can afford it, go with a single card right now, but a SLI motherboard so that in the future you can buy another card as you need it.
 
Originally posted by: ronnn
Originally posted by: Rollo

Ronnn- that hurts. Everyone knows I have two SLI threads- one for my 6600GTs, one for the 6800NUs.
Click to expand...

Sorry, guess I haven't been paying attention. :beer:

hardocp had a change of mind I guess, since that dated quote you dug up. Firingsquad I don't know much about. Anyways, as I said read your reviews and buy what you want, I am sure they all work well. For the money I would say go x800xl, good certified drivers that work out of the box and upgrade when your games demand it.
Click to expand...

Ronnn- while HardOCP did indeed put out that "Shortchanges Gamers" article, a LOT has happened since January 19th!

1. nVidia has drivers in for WHQL certification that have profiles for over 70 games
2. CoolBits allows you to force SLI on any game
3. There are at least two point and click profile creator programs

So H's little graph of "SLI only works on these 5 games!" is a thing of the past.

 
had both sli msi 6600gt and they do great in benchmarks(15000 in 03) but suck in real life. I mean compared to a 6800gt. Trust me get one single 6800gt.
 
Originally posted by: ca1n
had both sli msi 6600gt and they do great in benchmarks(15000 in 03) but suck in real life. I mean compared to a 6800gt. Trust me get one single 6800gt.
Click to expand...

I don't trust you Cain, I think you're wrong. Here's why:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page4.asp
TRAOD 12X10 4X8X 6800GT=52fps 6600GTSLI= 54fps

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page7.asp
Halo 16X12 4X8X 6800GT=52fps 6600GT= 65fps

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page8.asp
Far Cry 12X10 4X8X 6800GT=60fps 6600GT SLI= 55fps

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2315&p=4
Doom3 12X10 4X8X 6800U=56fps 6600GT SLI=50fps

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2315&p=8
Wolf ET 16X12 4X8X 6800U= 79fps 6600GTSLI=76fps

6600 GT SLI doesn't "suck" compared to anything, and I have a set of 6600GT SLI as well:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1517222&enterthread=y
 
ok they you go on out and get you self 2 6600 and turn on the aa and af and run the valve stress test and watch.Your next move will be searching the forums for a used 6800gt and selling your 6600gts. One thing buddy is reviews are not allways as they are cranked up to be. But since you have all the FACTs why are you asking the still >? go and buy its.
Now I owned them and actually just sold then yesterday here is my bench of over 15,000
which is better than they get in reviews.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3739772
Now that shows I had everything set up right. Now playing my favorite games (css) on a single gt @1280 res with 4xaa 8xaf I get 130fps
The 2 6600gts I got 90fps
and when in the game you just feel the lack of power.
I do own a x850 xt pe and I can show you equal amount of reviews that show you the sli is sheet but I think I have spent enough time with just this reply.
trust me? Been their done that.
 
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