8800 now, or 8600 SLI later?

[XMan]

For around the same price (given the charts I've seen) I'd be laying out about the same for a 8800 GTS and a pair of 8600 Ultras.

Obviously, if I get a GTS now, I can always add another one later when they get cheaper, and increase performance that way. On the other hand, my current power supply (2 20A rails) might not be enough, and might warrant an upgrade, which would add to the cost of not waiting.

But, if I wait for the 8600s, they will probably be faster than the 8800 (when SLI'd), will require less power, and be cooler. Down the road I'll have to replace them both, but I can do it with the mid-range "9600" or whatever the next-gen product is.

Thoughts?

 

[Munky]

But, if I wait for the 8600s, they will probably be faster than the 8800 (when SLI'd), will require less power, and be cooler.

I highly doubt that. Not only does SLI not scale 100% in games, but history has shown that a single high end card is faster than 2 midrange cards, and often quieter too.

 

[SKoprowski]

With the recent revelation by Nvidia that SLI is difficult to program in Vista- I would go for a 8800 or maybe wait for the ATI DX10 gpu.

 

[n7]

8800 GTS 320 MB.

Cumming soon.

 

[Extelleron]

SLI or Crossfire on low-end/midrange solutions is never a good idea IMO. A single card is always a better idea.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
SLI or Crossfire on low-end/midrange solutions is never a good idea IMO. A single card is always a better idea.

Wisdom speaks.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
SLI or Crossfire on low-end/midrange solutions is never a good idea IMO. A single card is always a better idea.

I don't know if I buy that.

Obviously there's no 8600 benchmarks out right now. I'm not going to run resolutions higher than 1600x1200, because that's the native resolution of my monitor, which I have no plans on replacing anytime soon because it still works great (Dell 2001FP).

AT Review Numbers

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2870&p=1
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2833&p=1

7950GT SLI - 1600x1200 / 4X AA - 133.5 fps (HL2 - Ep 1)
8800 GTS - 1600x1200 / 4X AA - 128.3 fps (HL2 - Ep 1)

Half-Life 2 is a game I actually play, I don't play Oblivion, but the trend continues there.

7950GT SLI - 1600x1200 / No AA - 32.9 fps (Oblivion)
8800 GTS - 1600x1200 / No AA - 29.1 fps (Oblivion)

The testbeds were the same in each review save for the video cards.

So will 8600 Ultra be slower than 7950GT? I doubt it, but if so, I can pick up a pair of 7950GT's for dirt cheap when the 8600s do come out. Based on the specs, 8600 Ultra looks like it should do about 2/3rds the performance of 8800 GTS, so two of them, even without 100% scaling should theoretically be faster.

I'm not worried about SLI in Vista, I don't think I'll be upgrading to Vista until it has a service pack or two under it's belt. I waited for XP SP2 before I made the move there, my XP systems are still running fine for all the games I play and the apps I use.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I would go for the 8800GTS over 7950GT SLI. At this point its hard to say what the 8600 series will be like. For all we know the "ultra" variant is all hoax and fairy tale. Last time i heard we are looking at March/April release.

1) Its a single card. Will consume less power than 7950GT SLI, while producing less heat and noise.

2) Dont have to face the SLI limitations e.g vsync, profiles, wont always gain performance etc

3) I would prefer 8800GTS due to its superior AF (angle independent), CSAA and HDR + AA.

Benchmarks differ from site to site.

For instance bit-tech has the 8800GTS playable in HL2 episode 1 at 19x12 16xCSAA + TRSSAA 16xAF

Its quite true that single high end card will always be faster/bteer overall than 2 mid range cards.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
I would go for the 8800GTS over 7950GT SLI. At this point its hard to say what the 8600 series will be like. For all we know the "ultra" variant is all hoax and fairy tale. Last time i heard we are looking at March/April release.

1) Its a single card. Will consume less power than 7950GT SLI, while producing less heat and noise.

2) Dont have to face the SLI limitations e.g vsync, profiles, wont always gain performance etc

3) I would prefer 8800GTS due to its superior AF (angle independent), CSAA and HDR + AA.

Benchmarks differ from site to site.

For instance bit-tech has the 8800GTS playable in HL2 episode 1 at 19x12 16xCSAA + TRSSAA 16xAF

Its quite true that single high end card will always be faster/bteer overall than 2 mid range cards.

1) 8800 GTS - 30A, 7950GT SLI - 28A. Who knows what 8600 will look like. . .

2) You have a point there.

3) Like I said, 1600x1200 is as high as I need to go. The nice thing going now is that most all of the cards out there perform nicely at the resolutions I use.

I don't know why I'm so reluctant to drop 400 bones on a GTS . . . maybe it's just that it's so darn BIG.

 

[Skott]

Firstly you are speculating on actual info not yet availble. We dont know at what performance the new cards are going to be or their costs. If you know for a fact you dont plan to play higher than 1600x1200 resolutions then a single card solution is probably going to be the more ideal than a dual card solution IMO. We will have to wait and see what the new cards actually do and cost though before we can say one way or another for sure.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: n7
8800 GTS 320 MB.

Cumming soon.

You may have a point, sir. Given AT's review . . .

 

[thegimp03]

I'd say go with a 8800 gts 640mb in a month or two after R600 comes out. Prices are sure to fall a few bucks on these then.

In my opinion, it's not really worth it to go SLi in the long run. You end up spending more money and the performance gains are minimal in many cases.

 

[40sTheme]

Originally posted by: n7

Cumming soon.

ew
Don't SLi 8600's. Wait it out; see what gets here on the horizon.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Extelleron
SLI or Crossfire on low-end/midrange solutions is never a good idea IMO. A single card is always a better idea.

I don't know if I buy that.

Obviously there's no 8600 benchmarks out right now. I'm not going to run resolutions higher than 1600x1200, because that's the native resolution of my monitor, which I have no plans on replacing anytime soon because it still works great (Dell 2001FP).

AT Review Numbers

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2870&p=1
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2833&p=1

7950GT SLI - 1600x1200 / 4X AA - 133.5 fps (HL2 - Ep 1)
8800 GTS - 1600x1200 / 4X AA - 128.3 fps (HL2 - Ep 1)

Half-Life 2 is a game I actually play, I don't play Oblivion, but the trend continues there.

7950GT SLI - 1600x1200 / No AA - 32.9 fps (Oblivion)
8800 GTS - 1600x1200 / No AA - 29.1 fps (Oblivion)

The testbeds were the same in each review save for the video cards.

So will 8600 Ultra be slower than 7950GT? I doubt it, but if so, I can pick up a pair of 7950GT's for dirt cheap when the 8600s do come out. Based on the specs, 8600 Ultra looks like it should do about 2/3rds the performance of 8800 GTS, so two of them, even without 100% scaling should theoretically be faster.

I'm not worried about SLI in Vista, I don't think I'll be upgrading to Vista until it has a service pack or two under it's belt. I waited for XP SP2 before I made the move there, my XP systems are still running fine for all the games I play and the apps I use.

Even without discussing the SLI situation in Vista, I still don't think low-end or midrange cards are good deals with SLI or Cross-fire. When you start dealing with SLI setups, there's always a chance SLI won't work with a game or that a game won't provide good performance with SLI. I firmly believe that if there's a single-card solution that satisfies your needs, you should go with it rather than two cards. Also, you can get an 8800GTS 640MB for around $350 now, somehow I doubt 2x 8600 Ultra's are going to go for less than that. This is all speculation of course... we don't even know that there WILL be an 8600 Ultra.

As for your question of "8800 now, or 8600 SLI later?", I would advise neither if you can wait. Come late March/April we know ATI will be launching their R600 and likely nVidia will launch a refresh of the G80 as well. I think it's pretty likely that the R600XL or whatever ATI calls it will out perform the 8800GTS for a similar price to what it is now, and certainly an 8900GTS would as well.