ATI's Multi-Rendering (SLI) 2nd qtr 2005

[Mrvile]

The Inquirer reports.


The ATI multi-rendering (their version of SLI) isn't gonna even be named until 2nd quarter of 2005, so don't expect it to actually come out until this time next year. Don't wait, build what you want to now and have fun

Unless you do wanna wait a year.

 

[Mik3y]

i cant wait till it comes out tho.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

looks like a dropped ball to me, nVidia's nForce 4 SLI should be available by the end of the year with plenty of PCIe card options to go along with it. Unless ATI can offer some interesting features with their technology nVidia clearly has the advantage. Perhaps one thing could be a mixing of cards such as a X800 with an X700 (although I wouldn't be suprised if the current X series is not the series to see "multi rendering" but the new R500 stuff...)

However I don't think anyone expected ATI too pull out their "SLI" out of their ass before the end of this year

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
looks like a dropped ball to me, nVidia's nForce 4 SLI should be available by the end of the year with plenty of PCIe card options to go along with it. Unless ATI can offer some interesting features with their technology nVidia clearly has the advantage. Perhaps one thing could be a mixing of cards such as a X800 with an X700 (although I wouldn't be suprised if the current X series is not the series to see "multi rendering" but the new R500 stuff...)

ati claims that their multi-rendering system will be superior to nvidia's sli. though they wont really give any closer details, i really have high hopes for it.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

The only way it could be supier is if it is faster, which would mean either more than 2 cards or a more efficient driver. Other than that the only way I could see it being better if it is more flexible, such as being able to mix two different speed cards together having a $200 card do say 25% of the work while having a $400 card to 75%...

 

[Mrvile]

You guys still forget that SLI is only appealing to a small percentage of us. Only to those who are willing to spend over 800 bucks for video. Otherwise, (imho) I would stick with ATI.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
You guys still forget that SLI is only appealing to a small percentage of us. Only to those who are willing to spend over 800 bucks for video. Otherwise, (imho) I would stick with ATI.

You also seem to either be neglecting or forgetting that SLI offers more than just extreme performance, but an upgrade path for the future.

 

[Mrvile]

Meh. I hate waiting

 

[LTC8K6]

By the time you wait to buy that second card for SLI, you'll be behind the curve already. You'll end up wanting a whole new rig anyway.

The guys with the dough will have 2 cards in SLI right away, making you look slow. When you get to where you will add your second card, they will have a whole new rig with an even faster setup, using 2 newer cards, making you look slow all over again even with your 2 cards.

Waiting never seems to work out in the computer world imo, except to get a lower price on tech that has been surpassed.

 

[Gagabiji]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Meh. I hate waiting

Me too, (don't we all lol) and I really hate paper launches.

 

[Mrvile]

I'm sticking with a single X800XT. PCIe though for upgrades later.

 

[Gagabiji]

Originally posted by: Mrvile


I'm sticking with a single X800XT. PCIe though for upgrades later.

Yeah...I want one in my next rig. You can get em' for $455 at NewEgg, and that's a pretty good deal! Plus you can get em' in bl00, and bl00 rocks. :laugh:

 

[Mrvile]

Well...


First I said PCIe, which are damn near impossible to find and are usually more expensive. I found a sexy one for a great price (550 bucks, even cheaper than some AGP ones). Also, the link you gave me is to an OEM card. I usually prefer retail on everything except cheap stuff like hard drives and stuff.

 

[Terranboy]

Not really concerned. SLI is not really worth the money.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
By the time you wait to buy that second card for SLI, you'll be behind the curve already. You'll end up wanting a whole new rig anyway.

No, not really. When the new cards came the offered about twice the performance of the old cards. Instead of shelling out $400-600 for that kind of performance you shell out $200 or so to upgrade to such performance saving you that much money for when you go all out on a system again...

Waiting never seems to work out in the computer world imo, except to get a lower price on tech that has been surpassed.

yeah, waiting usually never turns out well, because when you wait, there will always be something coming out right around the corner to make you want to wait again... only the filthy rich would be unphased by it as it would be nice to be able to keep up with the latest and greatest without having to worry about falling behind the curve.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
By the time you wait to buy that second card for SLI, you'll be behind the curve already. You'll end up wanting a whole new rig anyway.

No, not really. When the new cards came the offered about twice the performance of the old cards. Instead of shelling out $400-600 for that kind of performance you shell out $200 or so to upgrade to such performance saving you that much money for when you go all out on a system again...

Except the fact that you never know how fast the next gen will be.

Say you buy a 6800GT PCI-E and a dual PCI-E mobo this fall, if its out then. Then say a year from then, you want more performance. So you think about adding another, for probably about $200-$250, new or used. Except the new $400 model is 2x as fast as the 6800GT. So you can either buy another 6800GT, and SLI it. Or you can sell your old 6800GT for around $200'ish, and put the other $200 towards a new card. Either way you get about the same speed. Would you rather have two card, sucking up more juice and producing more heat, or just one card, that might even have more features? The choice is simple for me.

Perhaps the new card wont be 2x as fast, but you never know. I would have never thought the X800/6800's would be twice as fast in newer (DX9) GPU intensive games, but they in the settings I play in.

I dont think buying into SLI with the thought of upgrading a year down the road is a good idea. Things change so fast, its probably not going to work out as planned. Especially since a 6800GT is faster than 2x6600GT's in SLI currently, and both are about $400. Doing it with the thought of adding another in a few months makes more sense to me.

 

[Drayvn]

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
By the time you wait to buy that second card for SLI, you'll be behind the curve already. You'll end up wanting a whole new rig anyway.

No, not really. When the new cards came the offered about twice the performance of the old cards. Instead of shelling out $400-600 for that kind of performance you shell out $200 or so to upgrade to such performance saving you that much money for when you go all out on a system again...

Except the fact that you never know how fast the next gen will be.

Say you buy a 6800GT PCI-E and a dual PCI-E mobo this fall, if its out then. Then say a year from then, you want more performance. So you think about adding another, for probably about $200-$250, new or used. Except the new $400 model is 2x as fast as the 6800GT. So you can either buy another 6800GT, and SLI it. Or you can sell your old 6800GT for around $200'ish, and put the other $200 towards a new card. Either way you get about the same speed. Would you rather have two card, sucking up more juice and producing more heat, or just one card, that might even have more features? The choice is simple for me.

Perhaps the new card wont be 2x as fast, but you never know. I would have never thought the X800/6800's would be twice as fast in newer (DX9) GPU intensive games, but they in the settings I play in.

I dont think buying into SLI with the thought of upgrading a year down the road is a good idea. Things change so fast, its probably not going to work out as planned. Especially since a 6800GT is faster than 2x6600GT's in SLI currently, and both are about $400. Doing it with the thought of adding another in a few months makes more sense to me.

And also to add to ur post, the newer cards will have more features which in the end will make the card faster in fact.

By the end of next year, u have 2 6800GTs while (im guessing the number) the 6900 GT (or ultra) will have fancy new features, and will be able to run something like UE3 at great FPS, while ur 6800GTs will be chugging along. Remember they used a highly overclocked 6800 and a highly overclocked computer system to run UE3 at about 10-15, so realistically, the 6800 would be doing that or maybe hitting the 20 FPS mark in SLI.

 

[Marsumane]

Actually ati's version will be different, from what ive read, in the sense that they are trying to run multiple cards that are entierly different from eachother. So say u had an r420 based card, u could then, later on, upgrade by buying an r520 based card and combine their speeds. Personally, this feature makes me drool.

Then again, ati is saying "our next year's technology will be better then nv's this year technology". My comment is, "I'd sure hope so". Hopefully both companies will develop something similar where we can keep reusing the fastest of our old cards to combine with our new card.

 

[McArra]

Repost

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
By the time you wait to buy that second card for SLI, you'll be behind the curve already. You'll end up wanting a whole new rig anyway.

The guys with the dough will have 2 cards in SLI right away, making you look slow. When you get to where you will add your second card, they will have a whole new rig with an even faster setup, using 2 newer cards, making you look slow all over again even with your 2 cards.

Waiting never seems to work out in the computer world imo, except to get a lower price on tech that has been surpassed.

Um, no one cares if you look slow. The day you buy something, there is always gonna be someone ocing way past anything you have, so no matter what you do, you will never have the fastest pc. The point of sli for the people who wont want to spend 800 bucks is this. We buy say a 400 card now. In a year or 2, we can buy that card again for less then a hundred bucks. If you could almost double your current performance for a relatively small price, would you?

 

[stnicralisk]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
You guys still forget that SLI is only appealing to a small percentage of us. Only to those who are willing to spend over 800 bucks for video. Otherwise, (imho) I would stick with ATI.

Youre forgetting that the 6800 ultra will cost 200 bucks in a year and you could just add one to your current one instead of buying the next top of the line product.

 

[Ackmed]

The 6800U will NOT cost $200 in a year. The only way that would ever happen, is if it was used, and the seller wasnt very bright. You wont find a new one from newegg or any other e-store for $200.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: stnicralisk

Originally posted by: Mrvile
You guys still forget that SLI is only appealing to a small percentage of us. Only to those who are willing to spend over 800 bucks for video. Otherwise, (imho) I would stick with ATI.

Youre forgetting that the 6800 ultra will cost 200 bucks in a year and you could just add one to your current one instead of buying the next top of the line product.

yeah right dude. how much does the 9800xt cost? $400+ still. it's been over a year, and the price has barely dropped.

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: Mik3y

Originally posted by: stnicralisk

Originally posted by: Mrvile
You guys still forget that SLI is only appealing to a small percentage of us. Only to those who are willing to spend over 800 bucks for video. Otherwise, (imho) I would stick with ATI.

Youre forgetting that the 6800 ultra will cost 200 bucks in a year and you could just add one to your current one instead of buying the next top of the line product.

yeah right dude. how much does the 9800xt cost? $400+ still. it's been over a year, and the price has barely dropped.

:thumbsup: Seriously, in a year the 6800GT might cost 300 bucks, so in order to get SLI for the same price as an X800XT (as of now) you'd need to wait like three years.