7800 gtx SLI unnecessary ?

[ciproxr]

ive seen a few people with them and im just wondering what game could possibly be that demanding that it needs that much power ? Sure if money was not an issue i would buy it but why waste almost 700 $ on just a video card when u can get a 100 dollar 6600gt that plays most games on high ?

perhaps theres something that im not aware of ?

 

[stevty2889]

SLI helps with higher resolutions, 1600x1200 or higher with max settings and AA and AF.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
SLI helps with higher resolutions, 1600x1200 or higher with max settings and AA and AF.

what stevty said but still, i'm sure the stuff'll run fine with a single card too

 

[ciproxr]

900 bucks for 2x7800 gtx ? im not sure if its worth it, that was pretty much my whole budget for my pc, i cant imagine a non rich person spending that much on 2 vid cards......

 

[TheRyuu]

How about $600 for dual 7800GT's in SLI. Performance is about the same with a little OCing. Hell, thats cheaper than a 7800GTX 512

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
How about $600 for dual 7800GT's in SLI. Performance is about the same with a little OCing. Hell, thats cheaper than a 7800GTX 512

Yup.

Only 7800GT SLI is worth the price out to the all the SLI combos.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: ciproxr
ive seen a few people with them and im just wondering what game could possibly be that demanding that it needs that much power ? Sure if money was not an issue i would buy it but why waste almost 700 $ on just a video card when u can get a 100 dollar 6600gt that plays most games on high ?

Different people have different ideas as to what is "playable" and what settings are "high". That $100 6600GT (are they really priced that low now??) will NOT be able to play FEAR at settings such as 1280x960 with 4xAA and 16xAF without becoming a slideshow.

I suppose that's why we have so many graphics cards to choose from-- so that each individual can purchase at the price point they're willing to pay for the performance they're willing to accept.

I guess what I don't understand is why people are concerned about what other buyers spend their money on, or why they would want to say someone "wasted" money on something that wasn't "necessary"? .... perhaps there's something *I'm* not aware of?

 

[Jules]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
How about $600 for dual 7800GT's in SLI. Performance is about the same with a little OCing. Hell, thats cheaper than a 7800GTX 512

or a x1900xt or xtx version

 

[ciproxr]

take it easy there squirrelmaster, just wanted to see what everyone thought, its not like i directly told someone their purchase was a waste, im simply expressing that for someone like me whos on a budget it would be too much , and even if was had the money for me it would be a waste, but if someone wants to go ahread and buy that kind of hardware thats cool with me.

 

[bjc112]

I hate to say it OP.. But a single 6600GT doesn't cut it in 1600x1200. Not really that well @ 1280x1024 either

!

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: ciproxr
take it easy there squirrelmaster, just wanted to see what everyone thought, its not like i directly told someone their purchase was a waste, im simply expressing that for someone like me whos on a budget it would be too much , and even if was had the money for me it would be a waste, but if someone wants to go ahread and buy that kind of hardware thats cool with me.

:thumbsup: I agree with you completely here. And I wasn't trying to be an ass or anything... just trying to give some perspective. And I realize you're only wanting opinions, but when you ask "why waste almost 700 $ on just a video card", you're probably going to get responses from those that *did* spend that much and didn't feel it was "wasted".

Hell, I've been guilty of it myself-- telling someone not to buy SLI 7800GTs since they use an LCD that limits them to 1280x1024 and it would be a "waste". When, in actuality, there are some very good reasons to do so anyway.

Again, didn't mean to be combative, and I apologize if I came off that way.

 

[Fingersniffer]

Well I'm a pretty firm believer that SLI and Crossfire are a huge waste of money, meant only for those that need to tell everyone else how big thier e-penis is and to show how to waste money for a very minmal increase at high resolution which most peoples monitors/lcd's dont even support. Most people just want to brag or tell everyone how thier SLI/CF setup got 100 more points then your solo card setup... la de friggin da.

But IF your going to duo a pair of high end video cards without a doubt 2 x1900XT's will give a better overall performance then 2x 7800gtx 512's it will cost you a few hundred bucks less to do it.

I would be a firm supporter for SLI or CF if there was an actual performance increase other then resolution, like better FPS or better look etc. But I cannot justify $500-700 for such a small thing.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: Fingersniffer
how to waste money for a very minmal increase at high resolution

Fingersniffer, get yer finger out yer butt and actually do some research:

Doom3 at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 51.6fps
SLI GTs-- 95
Percent increase-- 84%

Far Cry at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 45.6fps
SLI GTs-- 73.8
Percent increase-- 62%

(same page)HL2 at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 57.9fps
SLI GTs-- 85.5
Percent increase-- 48%

Quake 4 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 29.9fps
SLI GTs-- 56.9
Percent increase-- 90%

COD2 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 18.6fps
SLI GTs-- 26.8
Percent increase-- 44%

FEAR 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 20fps
SLI GTs-- 33
Percent increase-- 65%

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 28.5fps
SLI GTs-- 53.6
Percent increase-- 88%

That's 7 of the most popular recently-released games, averaging about 70% increase in performance with SLI at 1600x1200. While, yes, that is a resolution that many LCDs do not support, it is not an insane resolution. Most CRTs support it, and about all LCDs 20" and above do.

I can see how it would be a "waste" for you if you're stuck on a 17" LCD at 1024x768. As SLI will likely not give you any improvements whatsoever (maybe with FEAR or COD2 if you crank up the AA/AF). But there are some who have purchased higher-end displays and *can* take advantage of the performance gains I linked to above. Your contention that SLI users only want to stroke their e-penis is a fallacy.

 

[AliasX]

Staying up to date. 2 7800GTX's are going to be able to run upcoming games for longer than a 7800GT will.