ATI 3870X2 or 8800GT SLi?

[apak]

In AnandTech's review it was pretty clear that a 8800GT SLI set-up outperforms the 3870X2 by a healthy margin.

So is there any reason why one should go for 8800GT SLi instead? One my local retailers is selling them for $220 retail box each, while the 3870X2 is $380, so ends up $40 cheaper.

Or should I wait it out for 9800GX2?

 

[Syntax Error]

Get one 8800GT and ride on that until you see something really definitive in terms of next-generation cards...I have this dabbling feeling that the 9800GX2 will also be disappointing for the price.

 

[boomhower]

I agree. I am just not into the dual gpu deal, whether it is on one PCB or two. The performance just varies to much from game to game depending on drivers. Some will scale very well others hardly at all. Just give me one powerful chip and be done with it. I am looking at a GT myself. As you can see I don't upgrade cards very often as I don't game very much so this should last me another 2-3 years.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Starting from scratch i would get the ATI card due to the fact that the motherboard would not need to be Crossfire capable therefore it would be a cheaper mobo.
I would buy the 2 Nvidia cards if i already had a SLI mobo

2 x 8800 GT = 440 to 460
1 x SLI mobo = 120 and up
Minimum price would be $560 (estimate, i didn't check prices)

1 x 3870X2 = 450
1 x single PCIe mobo = 60 and up
Minimum price would be $510 (again an estimate)

If my analogy is correct i think $50 difference is fair given the performance advantage the SLI rig would have. It's up to you if you wanna save 50 bucks. i would save and get 2 gigs of Memory with them.

 

[Munky]

I wouldn't get either. The fact that in most games these dual card setups rely on AFR, which introduces input lag, is a deal breaker to me.

 

[crisium]

As stated, the 3870X2 can work on any motherboard. That's its advantage.

But I also agree that I wouldn't get either. The 8800GTS 512mb is more than $100 cheaper and guarantees consistent performance.

 

[Blacklash]

If you play 1680x or less with medium filtering I'd get a 8800GT 512Mb and call it a day.

Below is a review that actually benched single 8800GTs @ 1920x-

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/8800GTs/COD4.php

Monster cards for the cash IMO.

 

[Marty502]

These dual GPU video cards are too much of a gamble IMO. Sometimes they shine, sometimes they crawl, and you can't do a thing about that.

If I could blow the cash, I'd wait until the next single GPU high end card shows up and buy that. I have no doubt that it will be much better than either the 9800GX2 or the 3870X2, at least whyen it comes to consistency and bang for buck.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: apak
In AnandTech's review it was pretty clear that a 8800GT SLI set-up outperforms the 3870X2 by a healthy margin.

So is there any reason why one should go for 8800GT SLi instead? One my local retailers is selling them for $220 retail box each, while the 3870X2 is $380, so ends up $40 cheaper.

Or should I wait it out for 9800GX2?

I think your current motherboard and the resolution you play at are required to answer this question.

If you have an SLi motherboard the 8800GT SLi would give you higher performance and more driver flexibility than a 3870X2.

If you have a single slot motherboard that adds cost to the equation of motherboard upgrade, making the 3870X2 the better deal.

Last, if you have a 19" 12X10 monitor, a single GPU solution would be preferable to either of these for most games.

Hope this helps.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Rollo
If you have an SLi motherboard the 8800GT SLi would give you higher performance and more driver flexibility than a 3870X2.

That's a load of crap if I ever heard one. Other than that, I agree with all your other points, though only partially with the last one.

 

[phexac]

I am with people who say wait for the next generation of cards and buy a high-end one then if you want to spend that much money. Up to about 1920x1200 there is nothing really that can run on 2 cards that you cannot play on a single 8800GT, or even a G80 8800GTS. I mean it's not like dual-GPU solution will allow you to play Crysis at max settings. That is why I would rather wait for the next generation of cards come out and spend my money when I know I will getting a card with qualitatively higher potential than anything on the market today.

 

[JackBurton]

How about 2 x 3870X2 on a Crossfire board?

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: apak
In AnandTech's review it was pretty clear that a 8800GT SLI set-up outperforms the 3870X2 by a healthy margin.

So is there any reason why one should go for 8800GT SLi instead? One my local retailers is selling them for $220 retail box each, while the 3870X2 is $380, so ends up $40 cheaper.

Or should I wait it out for 9800GX2?

$220x2=$440. $440-$380=$60, not $40.

Not trying to nitpick, just showing you there is a $20 difference, which may or may not help you make your decision. Your choice is really dependent upon your settings. Your res is a key factor.

 

[starchbrother1]

id recomend the ati beacause the perfomance is slightly better than the gtx on beta drivers! and for the price it aint bad i think with a price of 220 thats the 256mb version i hope u dont plan on higher reses. bump! and on the sli . its like i said beta drivers . did they use oc version cards?

 

[Ackmed]

The above user makes a good point, one that I missed. The AT article has 8800GT 512mb cards, not 256mb cards. Are the ones you looking at 256, or 512? The difference in the two can be rather large. Again, it depends greatly on your settings, mainly your res.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: Rollo
If you have an SLi motherboard the 8800GT SLi would give you higher performance and more driver flexibility than a 3870X2.

That's a load of crap if I ever heard one. Other than that, I agree with all your other points, though only partially with the last one.

You'll agree with that one in a moment as well.

1. SLi allows users to edit game profiles, CF does not
2. SLi allows users to create game profiles, CF does not
3. SLi allows users to select three default render modes for non profiled games (AFR, AFR2, SFR), CF allows one. (AFR)
4. You can turn SLi off with 8800GT SLi, you cannot turn CF off on a 3870X2. This can result in less than single card performance in some games.


So, the NVIDIA drivers are more flexible, always have been. ATi just got the "force AFR" a few months ago, and AFAIK, that's the only change in CF flexibility since it began years ago.

 

[Piuc2020]

I agree, SLI and CF is not worth it and never has been, there is just too much trouble with the implementation, get a 8800GT (there is a sale right now on Newegg, Zotac 8800GT 512MB for just $230) and wait for the next big thing to come out, after all, the 8800 cards are 1.5 years old.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I originally considered sli however the results are never the same depending on the application so I chose the best single card at the time. Neither scale consistantly so take it for what its worth.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
How about 2 x 3870X2 on a Crossfire board?

that isn't supported yet. they're saying late feb/early march right now for it. "IF" they can implement that properly then it will be pretty cool, but again it will depend very heavily on drivers.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I wouldn't make a decision till a review with non beta drivers comes out.

 

[tvdang7]

get the 3870 x2. it should be a decent card if you have the cash. let us know how it goes if you do.

 

[apak]

Thanks for the opinions.

One thing is that I have a 24" monitor, so ideally would want to run the games at at the native res (1920), which is why I was considering either 8800GT SLI or the 3870.

Looking at Anand's review again, a SLI 8800GT will give 60-100% performance increase at these resolutions compared to single card.

 

[BFG10K]

If you're going the SLI route why not wait for the 9800 GX2?

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
I agree, SLI and CF is not worth it and never has been, there is just too much trouble with the implementation, get a 8800GT (there is a sale right now on Newegg, Zotac 8800GT 512MB for just $230) and wait for the next big thing to come out, after all, the 8800 cards are 1.5 years old.

I disagree. Compared to things like buying the top end CPU at any given time, SLi and CF are a bargain in the "bang per buck" department.

Compare the performance difference in a $500 CPU and a $1000CPU to the performance difference in one $500 video card and two $500 video cards.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: Rollo
If you have an SLi motherboard the 8800GT SLi would give you higher performance and more driver flexibility than a 3870X2.

That's a load of crap if I ever heard one. Other than that, I agree with all your other points, though only partially with the last one.

You'll agree with that one in a moment as well.

1. SLi allows users to edit game profiles, CF does not
2. SLi allows users to create game profiles, CF does not
3. SLi allows users to select three default render modes for non profiled games (AFR, AFR2, SFR), CF allows one. (AFR)
4. You can turn SLi off with 8800GT SLi, you cannot turn CF off on a 3870X2. This can result in less than single card performance in some games.


So, the NVIDIA drivers are more flexible, always have been. ATi just got the "force AFR" a few months ago, and AFAIK, that's the only change in CF flexibility since it began years ago.

Single-card CrossFire, unless the title itself has problems with their rendering pipeline and AFR, should always yield at worse no net gain. ATI had also made sure that if a title doesn't support AFR, the card drops to single GPU.

Driver support is also seamless; you don't have to enable CrossFire or fiddle with any settings, the card just works. AMD's Catalyst drivers attempt to force an Alternate Frame Render (AFR) mode whenever possible, but be warned that if there are issues with the 3870 X2's multi-GPU rendering modes and a game you may only get single-GPU performance until AMD can fix the problem. In our testing we didn't encounter any such issues but as new games and OS revisions come out, as we saw with the GeForce 7950 GX2, there's always the chance.

To me, THAT is a far better solution than having to create "profiles" for each and every piece of software on your system.

Sure, NV drivers may offer more settings, but I prefer ease of use myself. (For the record, I do not support/endorse either company's products, I use both ATI & NV in my systems)