Better and easier cooling opportunities? I think at least with watercooling it's easier and cheaper as you can just use 2 GPU only blocks whereas a sandwich requires basically a custom solution.
Even with air cooling, the bottom sandwich doesn't exhaust heat out of the case does it (as the connectors are there)?
You won't be able to link to a post I've made that states I don't like multi GPU cmdrdredd, on this board or any other.
I've owned/used more multi GPU sets than anyone on this board most likely and always have multi GPU in my box when it's available.
Don't confuse me saying that multi GPU and single GPU are separate markets due to the idiosyncrasies of multi GPU, and pointing those idiosyncrasies out to back my position as me saying I don't like multi GPU.
If you can't link to what you say I've said, I think you should apologize and edit.
BTW:
5 sets of Voodoo 2 SLi
Rage Fury MAXX
6600GT SLi
6800 SLi
6800GT SLi
7800GTX SLi
7900GT SLi
7950 GX2
7950 GX2 SLi
8800GTX SLi
8800GTX SLi 3 way
GTX280 SLi
GTX295
These are the multi GPU configs I've owned/used. When you consider cards, cases, power supplies, and the 30" monitor I bought specifically to show scaling of 3 way I've spent literally thousands of dollars on multi GPU over the past 15 years.
I just spent $1700 on a i7 extreme board and RAM to push the GTX295, based on an article at Guru3d that showed if I get another, or go 3 way again, it will help with CPU limitation. The water cooled QX9650 I had wasn't CPU limited for any single GPU, so I had no reason to buy this other than multi.
That is "being a fan of multi GPU" on a level most people won't get into.
Dkcode
Senior member
- May 1, 2005
- 995
- 0
- 0
I bought a 4870X2 back in September to use on my 30" monitor and i hated it. The drivers crashed and was very buggy. Turning off CAT AI impacted performance in a negative way and turning it on caused aliasing on distant textures. Image quality was inferior to my 8800GTX in the form of texture filtering, probably down to the CAT AI. I also had wavy line interference in certain games when V-Sync was disabled and the card also ran very hot, causing the sticker on the cooler to 'bubble off'. This was inside an Akasa Mirage 62 with plenty of airflow. Please bare in mind this was back in September when drivers was infantile for this card, but heat issues may still remain.
When the card worked it was very, very fast and suited the 30" monitors splendid resolution. For me the card was too much hassle and not worthy of 400 quid for something that felt like an unfinished and incomplete product. I got a refund and purchased a GTX280, which took about 15 minutes to get up and working. Not had any issues with it touch wood, its all my 8800GTX was but faster. Not as quick as the X2 but still ample for 2560x1200.
As the OP is gaming at 1920x1200 i would certainly recommend the GTX280. More so if your put off with CF or SLI.
When the card worked it was very, very fast and suited the 30" monitors splendid resolution. For me the card was too much hassle and not worthy of 400 quid for something that felt like an unfinished and incomplete product. I got a refund and purchased a GTX280, which took about 15 minutes to get up and working. Not had any issues with it touch wood, its all my 8800GTX was but faster. Not as quick as the X2 but still ample for 2560x1200.
As the OP is gaming at 1920x1200 i would certainly recommend the GTX280. More so if your put off with CF or SLI.
cmdrdredd
Lifer
- Dec 12, 2001
- 27,052
- 357
- 126
You can't expect me to go digging through every old thread here, but I honestly do remember you and others who are praising the GTX295 here and on other forums were not enthusiastic about the 4870x2 when it was a multi-gpu solution. Now many of these same nay-sayers are praising a multi-gpu solution when it suits them to. Many of the posts were praising the GTX280 over the 4870x2 for one reason or another.
For me, I really dislike multi-gpu cards for the fact that you rely too much on a driver to get the thing to run at full speed.
I not only expect it, I demand it!
LOL-JK It would be easy to come to the conclusion I posted I didn't like multi GPU from some of those posts, because the point I was arguing is that multi GPU cannot be considered as a direct competitor to single GPU because multi GPU has some downsides single does not.
I tried to put a disclaimer in most of those posts stating I like multi GPU.
At the end of the day whether you consider these multi GPU cards competitors to the single is how sensitive you are to their idiosyncrasies. I was more down on the 4870X2 because they don't you let you see profiles, create or edit them. (and that's a definite factor in this decision)
Qbah
Diamond Member
- Oct 18, 2005
- 3,754
- 10
- 81
GTX295 will be the fastest card available. Launches in 2 weeks or so? I think it's the 9th of January.
As for:
He (nRollo) was probably saying that a GTX280 is better than HD4870x2 cause it doesn't have microstuttering and doesn't require that much of driver support. And now that the GTX295 will launch it is better than the HD4870x2 cause it's faster. Obviously ommiting the reasons why a HD4870x2 was worse before. Typical PR stuff
EDIT: Then again, a HD4870x2 was created to rival and beat the GTX280. Which it did. Some people say it's not a proper comparison cause one is a single GPU and the other a dual-GPU. But in the end one is a single card and the other is a single card too. It depends how one looks at it and how they want to show a product. Obviously an nVidia supporter and NFG member needs to show only the good sides of a nVidia product and show the bad sides of the competitor - hence the things they write. But then again... going by this logic a GTX295 is worse than a GTX280 cause it also suffers from microstuttering and needs heavy driver support. But they won't write this... Instead a HD4870x2 is worse than a GTX280, however a GTX295 is better than a HD4870x2... Not comparing it to a GTX280, cause the same arguments that were used against a HD4870x2 could be used against the GTX295
As for:
He (nRollo) was probably saying that a GTX280 is better than HD4870x2 cause it doesn't have microstuttering and doesn't require that much of driver support. And now that the GTX295 will launch it is better than the HD4870x2 cause it's faster. Obviously ommiting the reasons why a HD4870x2 was worse before. Typical PR stuff
EDIT: Then again, a HD4870x2 was created to rival and beat the GTX280. Which it did. Some people say it's not a proper comparison cause one is a single GPU and the other a dual-GPU. But in the end one is a single card and the other is a single card too. It depends how one looks at it and how they want to show a product. Obviously an nVidia supporter and NFG member needs to show only the good sides of a nVidia product and show the bad sides of the competitor - hence the things they write. But then again... going by this logic a GTX295 is worse than a GTX280 cause it also suffers from microstuttering and needs heavy driver support. But they won't write this... Instead a HD4870x2 is worse than a GTX280, however a GTX295 is better than a HD4870x2... Not comparing it to a GTX280, cause the same arguments that were used against a HD4870x2 could be used against the GTX295
Originally posted by: Qbah
GTX295 will be the fastest card available. Launches in 2 weeks or so? I think it's the 9th of January.
As for:
He (nRollo) was probably saying that a GTX280 is better than HD4870x2 cause it doesn't have microstuttering and doesn't require that much of driver support. And now that the GTX295 will launch it is better than the HD4870x2 cause it's faster. Obviously ommiting the reasons why a HD4870x2 was worse before. Typical PR stuff
EDIT: Then again, a HD4870x2 was created to rival and beat the GTX280. Which it did. Some people say it's not a proper comparison cause one is a single GPU and the other a dual-GPU. But in the end one is a single card and the other is a single card too. It depends how one looks at it and how they want to show a product. Obviously an nVidia supporter and NFG member needs to show only the good sides of a nVidia product and show the bad sides of the competitor - hence the things they write. But then again... going by this logic a GTX295 is worse than a GTX280 cause it also suffers from microstuttering and needs heavy driver support. But they won't write this... Instead a HD4870x2 is worse than a GTX280, however a GTX295 is better than a HD4870x2... Not comparing it to a GTX280, cause the same arguments that were used against a HD4870x2 could be used against the GTX295
Nope.
Same stuff applies, I wouldn't compare a GTX295 to a GTX285, or a HD4870.
Both have their pros/cons, but IMHO the SLi and Crossfire in a slot solutions really are more comparable with other forms of SLi and Crossfire, with the added advantage of only using one PCIE slot.
So for some people the best card on the market will be the GTX285, for others it will be the GTX295.
For me it will be 295.
I only argued about the 4870X2 so vociferously because lots of people who never had one and never will were marching around proclaiming ATi the undisputed king of the single slot, period.
All the while a lot of the guys who owned them were dumping them or posting about lower minimums, driver issues, microstutter and the like. (and some like video moderators BFG10K and n7 wouldn't even consider them due to past experiences with multi)
IMHO there are single GPU, dual, three, and quad champs and each should really be considered separately.
Qbah
Diamond Member
- Oct 18, 2005
- 3,754
- 10
- 81
Originally posted by: nRollo
Nope.
Same stuff applies, I wouldn't compare a GTX295 to a GTX285, or a HD4870.
Both have their pros/cons, but IMHO the SLi and Crossfire in a slot solutions really are more comparable with other forms of SLi and Crossfire, with the added advantage of only using one PCIE slot.
So for some people the best card on the market will be the GTX285, for others it will be the GTX295.
For me it will be 295.
I only argued about the 4870X2 so vociferously because lots of people who never had one and never will were marching around proclaiming ATi the undisputed king of the single slot, period.
All the while a lot of the guys who owned them were dumping them or posting about lower minimums, driver issues, microstutter and the like. (and some like video moderators BFG10K and n7 wouldn't even consider them due to past experiences with multi)
IMHO there are single GPU, dual, three, and quad champs and each should really be considered separately.
Cool, one is entitled to his own opinions. However this means that right now and for the past 4 months the best card for you was the HD4870x2 right? This is the thing I mean... You've been a strong supporter of the GTX280 since the HD4870x2 launched. But now that nVidia will have it's own single card solution, it's suddenly the GTX295.
And if somebody will want the fastest card on the 2nd on January? "Get the GTX280 cause it doesn't suffer from >blah blah blah< and plays everything plenty fast". The same question asked on the 10th? "Get the GTX295 cause it smokes the GTX285"
As I said, your opinions are heavily influenced (read: dictated) by the fact that you're an NFG member. And getting an honest opinion that might risk you getting kicked out or whatever just won't happen. So what do we get instead? Obviously things that sound right, but only because small details are ommited, things "forgotten" and not mentioned - typical sales talk. Also found in politics before reelections, where you speak what the people want to hear, not what is the full picture
EDIT: And so that we're clear. For me the champ is the GTX280 (will be the GTX285), as I really don't like dual-GPU solutions mostly because I play in windowed mode pretty often and SLi/CF doesn't work then. Also, I want the system to be as quiet as possible, something that the dual GPUs most certainly aren't
Cost is the third variable Originally posted by: Qbah
Cool, one is entitled to his own opinions. However this means that right now and for the past 4 months the best card for you was the HD4870x2 right? This is the thing I mean... You've been a strong supporter of the GTX280 since the HD4870x2 launched. But now that nVidia will have it's own single card solution, it's suddenly the GTX295.
And if somebody will want the fastest card on the 2nd on January? "Get the GTX280 cause it doesn't suffer from >blah blah blah< and plays everything plenty fast". The same question asked on the 10th? "Get the GTX295 cause it smokes the GTX285"
As I said, your opinions are heavily influenced (read: dictated) by the fact that you're an NFG member. And getting an honest opinion that might risk you getting kicked out or whatever just won't happen. So what do we get instead? Obviously things that sound right, but only because small details are ommited, things "forgotten" and not mentioned - typical sales talk. Also found in politics before reelections, where you speak what the people want to hear, not what is the full picture
EDIT: And so that we're clear. For me the champ is the GTX280 (will be the GTX285), as I really don't like dual-GPU solutions mostly because I play in windowed mode pretty often and SLi/CF doesn't work then. Also, I want the system to be as quiet as possible, something that the dual GPUs most certainly aren't
I'm not going to go off topic by discussing NFG, I'll just say we don 't get kicked out for posting positives about ATi and I have many times since the 4800 series launched.
I'll also say if I had to buy a card today, and couldn't wait for the GTX295 in a couple weeks, and couldn't own a non SLi motherboard, the 4870X2 would be my purchase.
Nothing is "dictated" to me in life, and for sure not my opinions.
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