8800GTx2 or 8800 GTXXXXX?

cdh123

Junior Member
Feb 9, 2008
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Hi this is an awesome forum!

I have a question about graphics cards. I am building a new system soon. I am debating on whether to get two (2) 8800 GT w/ 512, or a single 8800 GTX. Which would be better 2x 8800 GTs in SLI, or a single top of the line 8800 GTX (pimped out version)? I want to run three monitors on the set up but would be willing to get a cheap card to run the third monitor if the GTX is the better one to get. I know that I?ll not be able to use all the monitors while using the SLI function, that?s ok with me, I?d only use it when playing graphics-intense games anyway. The screens that I will be using are 2x 1650x 1050 as the secondary?s and a larger 1360 x 768 as the main. I wouldn?t ever use all three screens as a single image or anything. So, knowing all that, which would be better to get? 2 GTs or a 8800 GTXXX Super Overclock Ultra (or whatever the top-of ?the-line GTX is called)?

Oh and what size PSU would I really need to run whichever configurations?

Thanks for the advice!
 

qbfx

Senior member
Dec 26, 2007
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I wonder why would you buy two 8800GT's when the 9800GX2 is just around the corner, is supposed to cost less and to easily beat 2 x 8800GT if cooling is ok ?
 

krnmastersgt

Platinum Member
Jan 10, 2008
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Why would it beat 8800 GTs in SLI? The 9800X2 is based on the G92, same process as the 8800GT, and the noise/heat they produce will likely be much more than the 8800 GTs. Probably will cost more too.
 

Piuc2020

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2005
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Well why wouldn't it? For one the 9800GX2 is based on dual 128 shaders G92 (a.k.a. 8800GTS) and it will likely be overclocked, it will DEFINITELY beat 8800GTs in SLI, whether it beats 8800GTS (G92) in sli is debatable but the HD 3870 X2 has proven that a single-slot dual GPU solution CAN indeed be less troublesome (and equally performing) than a dual slot GPU solution.
 

Narse

Moderator<br>Computer Help
Moderator
Mar 14, 2000
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I can tell you this, I had a 8800GTX and had to sell it due to some unexpected finance issues, now that I am back on track I purchased two 8800GTs and in SLI they rock!!
 

krnmastersgt

Platinum Member
Jan 10, 2008
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It might beat the 8800 GTs in SLI by a bit, but the heat is going to limit its abilities to overclock, the 3870s run cool as they are, but single slot 8800 GTs produce a lot of heat, putting 2 of them together isn't exactly run cool, so I doubt it can be overclocked much. Also, its going to cost more, just like the 3870X2 costs more than 2 3870s.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,209
594
126
Do you really want to spend close to $500 for a GTX at this point in time. A single GT can match a GTX in many occasions and it can be had for ~$220. You can try EVGA Step-Up when 9800GX2 comes out, too.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: lopri
Do you really want to spend close to $500 for a GTX at this point in time. A single GT can match a GTX in many occasions and it can be had for ~$220. You can try EVGA Step-Up when 9800GX2 comes out, too.

GTXs don't cost $500, or close to it.

newegg pricing

BFG and EVGA GTXs for under $400., two other models under $425.. All in stock, and it's been like this for at least a week.

Also, the GTX beats the GT in most situations. Lower memory bandwidth, less memory, and fewer stream processors limit the GT. (not that they are not a great deal- they're just not a GTX)
 

NinjaJedi

Senior member
Jan 31, 2008
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Originally posted by: nRollo
Originally posted by: lopri
Do you really want to spend close to $500 for a GTX at this point in time. A single GT can match a GTX in many occasions and it can be had for ~$220. You can try EVGA Step-Up when 9800GX2 comes out, too.

GTXs don't cost $500, or close to it.

newegg pricing

BFG and EVGA GTXs for under $400., two other models under $425.. All in stock, and it's been like this for at least a week.

Also, the GTX beats the GT in most situations. Lower memory bandwidth, less memory, and fewer stream processors limit the GT. (not that they are not a great deal- they're just not a GTX)

There are no GTX for under $400 on newegg. Yes after a rebate it might be under than but the out of pocket expense is at the cheapest $446 and then a 4-6 week+ wait for your money back.


cdh123 8800gt is more than enough right now. GTX is not worth the money anymore. If you wanted to spend $445+ on a card/s 2 GT in SLI would be the better bet.
Here are some very good deals on some GT cards.
eVGA $220 http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0279319
eVGA superclocked $230 http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0276270
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: NinjaJedi
Originally posted by: nRollo
Originally posted by: lopri
Do you really want to spend close to $500 for a GTX at this point in time. A single GT can match a GTX in many occasions and it can be had for ~$220. You can try EVGA Step-Up when 9800GX2 comes out, too.

GTXs don't cost $500, or close to it.

newegg pricing

BFG and EVGA GTXs for under $400., two other models under $425.. All in stock, and it's been like this for at least a week.

Also, the GTX beats the GT in most situations. Lower memory bandwidth, less memory, and fewer stream processors limit the GT. (not that they are not a great deal- they're just not a GTX)

There are no GTX for under $400 on newegg. Yes after a rebate it might be under than but the out of pocket expense is at the cheapest $446 and then a 4-6 week+ wait for your money back.


cdh123 8800gt is more than enough right now. GTX is not worth the money anymore. If you wanted to spend $445+ on a card/s 2 GT in SLI would be the better bet.
Here are some very good deals on some GT cards.
eVGA $220 http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0279319
eVGA superclocked $230 http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0276270

I wasn't answering whether 8800GT SLi is a better deal than a 8800GTX, I was replying to what I quoted.

In the scenario you and the OP are referring to, I agree with you that 8800GT SLi is a better deal;however, each have their advantages.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
mmm, that is a heft mail in rebate. only reason to buy those though is for tri-sli.

I recommend you get a single 8800GTS 512MB and then upgrade when the GF 9 cards arrive.
Or two in SLI. the GX2 will be better then two GT in SLI but PROBABLY worse then two GTS512 in sli, because its based off of the 128SP (eg, GTS) cores but it has less bandwidth due to being in a single slot.

Also you are probably better off getting XFX thanks to their transferable warranty, sell it on ebay for more money then another brand, and buy a GF9.
With eVGA step up they have ABSOLUTELY NO CROSSSHIPPING. That means you are without a video card for at LEAST a few days, actually probably gonna be at least a week, and people on their forums complain that they had to wait over 2 weeks without a video card on occasion.
 

krnmastersgt

Platinum Member
Jan 10, 2008
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Won't the OP have to buy an nVidia chipset board for SLI? That's the major reason I think that most people don't bother with SLI since Intel chipset boards can only run crossfire.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Won't the OP have to buy an nVidia chipset board for SLI? That's the major reason I think that most people don't bother with SLI since Intel chipset boards can only run crossfire.

There's a couple things about this that should be considered:

1. If a person is a FPS gamer, I don't know that this choice makes a lot of sense. CPU speed becomes largely irrelevant on games at the settings people buy SLi for.

AT examines CPU scaling and SLi

Given the knowledge pretty much any mid 2GHz Intel C2D or Quad is going to be fine for SLi, the need for "the highest OCing motherboard" becomes somewhat of a moot point.

2. Is it worth having an Intel motherboard to use Crossfire given the limitations of Crossfire vs SLi?
a. Can't create or edit profiles.
b. No single chip high end parts to run in tandem.
c. No drivers as yet to run single ATi high end dual chip part in tandem.
d. Only one possible fall back rendering mode for non profiled games vs. 3 for SLi.
e. Unable to deselect CF on non scaling games for one high end dual chip card in any way other than disabling Cat AI, which also disables optomizations and patches for the game.
f. Greater wait time for profiles due to far less dev relations with ATi.
g. Weak DX10 performance.

The one current advantage of CF is the ability to run two monitors with it enabled.

If you're a gamer, are the above limitations of CF worth buying an Intel motherboard over a 780i? Not that I can see.

3. Intel motherboards or not, SLi has always outsold Crossfire by a huge percentage.

There's no doubt Intel makes first class motherboards, but I can't see why any gamer would prefer Crossfire over SLi, or really even be able to choose it.

3850CF- Barely competes with a single 8800GTS 512, and costs more, and has far inferior performance in games that don't scale.
http://www.tweaktown.com/artic...ntroduction/index.html

3870CF- a fair competitor to 8800GT SLi in games that scale, but significantly slower in games that don't, so advantage still NVIDIA.

3870X2 CF- Hard to say, unknown at this point. One question might be: Are there any games where it would be advantageous to deal with the limitations of four GPUs vs two in a 8800GTX SLi vs 3870X2 CF decision? (i.e. are there any settings/games where there would be a meaningful difference in framerate or image quality between these two ~$850 graphics solutions?)
My hunch is the only possibility for this will be at 25X16, and that puts you in pretty rare air for the monitor crowd. Some might say the latency of each additional frame of AFR somewhat outweighs the "advantages" quad will offer. Time will tell here.
(I've never been sensitive to the "mouse lag" of multi card solutions, but some say they can tell)

Very limited utility for CF at this point from what I can see.
 

NinjaJedi

Senior member
Jan 31, 2008
286
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0
I would like to remind everyone that nRollo is a NV marketing tool. His sole purpose is to boost the image of NV based products while diminish ATI based ones. For those that don't know what a focus group is read the wiki link and the "see also" link "coolhunting" at the bottom of the wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group

I would also like to say he has said a lot of stuff that is true but most needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: NinjaJedi
I would like to remind everyone that nRollo is a NV marketing tool. His sole purpose is to boost the image of NV based products while diminish ATI based ones. For those that don't know what a focus group is read the wiki link and the "see also" link "coolhunting" at the bottom of the wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group

I would also like to say he has said a lot of stuff that is true but most needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

If you disagree with something I said, can you specify which point so the board and myself have an opportunity to evaluate what you disagree with?

I'd be happy to retract if proven wrong.

While I agree my post makes NVIDIA/SLi look like a more favorable choice than any current Crossfire product, I believe that is due to the nature of current Crossfire products.

Points 2.a. to 2.g. are all indisputable facts, it's not my fault they make ATi look like a worse choice.

Similarly, for FPS gaming at 16X10> with AA, video performance is more often the limitation than CPU. I can provide other links to illustrate as needed.

I don't particularly care what you think of me getting free hardware (not like I'm going to refuse it) but I do care about the quality and accuracy of information presented to people to make their buying choices.

If you have a problem with my accuracy, how about contributing something more relevant than stating what everyone on this board has discussed 8,496 times-
Yep, I get free hardware, and yep, I don't go out of my way to promote ATi. If you'd like to, lets discuss what you feel merits promoting.

As it stands, you're only trying to take away from the post in this thread that offers more relevant info about the current state of multi card than any other post in this thread.

Care to tell us why you want these facts hidden from buyers?
 

Blacklash

Member
Feb 22, 2007
181
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0
Below is a good GT with a great cooler IMO-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127329

229usd and clocked @ 660 out of the box. IMO a single overclocked GT is plenty of card for 16x. If you want something with a little more push try the GTS 512Mb. They are as low as 269usd with rebate @ Newegg and should do anywhere from 750-800 as an OC.

If you're going to keep your card more than two years grab a card from XFX or Evga as they have lifetime warranties. They also support end user overclocking and HSF replacement. Doing those things does not void your warranty.

If you resell you cards go XFX. You can transfer your lifetime warranty to your buyer. That builds value with people.

Two good XFX cards I would own-

GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150259
GTS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150261

BTW the only way a rebate wouldn't "count" in figuring the final cost of product is if you're too lazy to print it out and mail it in.
 

NinjaJedi

Senior member
Jan 31, 2008
286
0
0
Originally posted by: nRollo
Originally posted by: NinjaJedi
I would like to remind everyone that nRollo is a NV marketing tool. His sole purpose is to boost the image of NV based products while diminish ATI based ones. For those that don't know what a focus group is read the wiki link and the "see also" link "coolhunting" at the bottom of the wiki page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group

I would also like to say he has said a lot of stuff that is true but most needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

If you disagree with something I said, can you specify which point so the board and myself have an opportunity to evaluate what you disagree with?

I'd be happy to retract if proven wrong.

While I agree my post makes NVIDIA/SLi look like a more favorable choice than any current Crossfire product, I believe that is due to the nature of current Crossfire products.

Points 2.a. to 2.g. are all indisputable facts, it's not my fault they make ATi look like a worse choice.

Similarly, for FPS gaming at 16X10> with AA, video performance is more often the limitation than CPU. I can provide other links to illustrate as needed.

I don't particularly care what you think of me getting free hardware (not like I'm going to refuse it) but I do care about the quality and accuracy of information presented to people to make their buying choices.

If you have a problem with my accuracy, how about contributing something more relevant than stating what everyone on this board has discussed 8,496 times-
Yep, I get free hardware, and yep, I don't go out of my way to promote ATi. If you'd like to, lets discuss what you feel merits promoting.

As it stands, you're only trying to take away from the post in this thread that offers more relevant info about the current state of multi card than any other post in this thread.

Care to tell us why you want these facts hidden from buyers?

Blah blah blah...
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
ok, it's cool to attack the nvidia guy, but didn't the OP specifically ask about NVIDIA products? it's not like the OP said "I'm considering a 3870 or a 3850 512, which is better?". rollo is probably a pretty good person to talk to about differences between nvidia products.
 

NinjaJedi

Senior member
Jan 31, 2008
286
0
0
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
ok, it's cool to attack the nvidia guy, but didn't the OP specifically ask about NVIDIA products? it's not like the OP said "I'm considering a 3870 or a 3850 512, which is better?". rollo is probably a pretty good person to talk to about differences between nvidia products.

My post was never meant as an attack. I apologize to all if it seemed that way. You are correct that the OP was asking about NV products and Rollo is probably one of the better people to answer those questions. The thing that gets me is the fact that no one said anything about Xfire being better than SLI or vice versa. Yet rollo wrote a long post arguing that issue. I do understand him wanting to give good info about NV based products but why did he have to start posting things about the pros and cons of SLI vs Xfire when no one was saying one was better than the other.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
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Originally posted by: NinjaJedi
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
ok, it's cool to attack the nvidia guy, but didn't the OP specifically ask about NVIDIA products? it's not like the OP said "I'm considering a 3870 or a 3850 512, which is better?". rollo is probably a pretty good person to talk to about differences between nvidia products.

My post was never meant as an attack. I apologize to all if it seemed that way. You are correct that the OP was asking about NV products and Rollo is probably one of the better people to answer those questions. The thing that gets me is the fact that no one said anything about Xfire being better than SLI or vice versa. Yet rollo wrote a long post arguing that issue. I do understand him wanting to give good info about NV based products but why did he have to start posting things about the pros and cons of SLI vs Xfire when no one was saying one was better than the other.

Actually they were, look at the post I was replying to.

krnmastersgt took the approach the GT SLi would not be the route to go because "That's the major reason I think that most people don't bother with SLI since Intel chipset boards can only run crossfire. "

I stated why that's not a good reason to avoid SLi boards. I gave facts about the tech being discussed, you discussed the poster.

I didn't know I had anything to do with GTXs or SLi, how are you "on topic" and me "off".



 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,209
594
126
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
ok, it's cool to attack the nvidia guy, but didn't the OP specifically ask about NVIDIA products? it's not like the OP said "I'm considering a 3870 or a 3850 512, which is better?". rollo is probably a pretty good person to talk to about differences between nvidia products.
nRollo is the only one who brings up AMD out of the context in this thread, I'm afraid. It seems like in every single thread he's waiting for someone to mention 'AMD' or 'ATI' whether the thread is about George Bush or vaginal reconstructive surgeory. Amazing, really.

Originally posted by: nRollo
e. Unable to deselect CF on non scaling games for one high end dual chip card in any way other than disabling Cat AI, which also disables optomizations and patches for the game.
I see the above being the main attacking point of NV when their 9800GX2 comes out. How pathetic. See, this is what's bad about having a marketeer in a forum. Even before NV sends out slides to reviewers (or maybe they did) we already get the preview. (Maybe it is a good thing? :confused: )
 

krnmastersgt

Platinum Member
Jan 10, 2008
2,873
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That wasn't what I meant Rollo, I wasn't saying there's a reason to avoid SLI boards, I'm just stating that most people prefer the Intel chipset boards for better OCing on their cpus, and almost all modern Intel boards can only run CrossFire. And guys give Rollo a break, if there was any info he posted that was wrong tell him/us the correction, don't blatantly flame him just because he has a history here.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: lopri
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
ok, it's cool to attack the nvidia guy, but didn't the OP specifically ask about NVIDIA products? it's not like the OP said "I'm considering a 3870 or a 3850 512, which is better?". rollo is probably a pretty good person to talk to about differences between nvidia products.
nRollo is the only one who brings up AMD out of the context in this thread, I'm afraid. It seems like in every single thread he's waiting for someone to mention 'AMD' or 'ATI' whether the thread is about George Bush or vaginal reconstructive surgeory. Amazing, really.

Originally posted by: nRollo
e. Unable to deselect CF on non scaling games for one high end dual chip card in any way other than disabling Cat AI, which also disables optomizations and patches for the game.
I see the above being the main attacking point of NV when their 9800GX2 comes out. How pathetic. See, this is what's bad about having a marketeer in a forum. Even before NV sends out slides to reviewers (or maybe they did) we already get the preview. (Maybe it is a good thing? :confused: )

it IS a good thing, imo

we can also point out an additional fact he left out about Crossfire - it's ability to use "mismatched" GPUs - together - while allowing a separate overclock on each one.