Crossfire vs. SLI performance comparison.

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Do any of you with these high-end SLI/CF rigs actually pay for electricity, or do you rent or live in your mom's basement?

These setups probably cost in excess of $30/month if you leave them running a fair bit, perhaps even more if you overclock. :Q

do you just pull these figures out of your .. air ?
:roll:

add it up ... *MAYBE* a couple of more bucks a month

and in a frigid place like yours it doubles as a heater for most of the year

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Do any of you with these high-end SLI/CF rigs actually pay for electricity, or do you rent or live in your mom's basement?

These setups probably cost in excess of $30/month if you leave them running a fair bit, perhaps even more if you overclock. :Q

More than that, now that you can use them for Boinc!

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Do any of you with these high-end SLI/CF rigs actually pay for electricity, or do you rent or live in your mom's basement?

These setups probably cost in excess of $30/month if you leave them running a fair bit, perhaps even more if you overclock. :Q

do you just pull these figures out of your .. air ?
:roll:

add it up ... *MAYBE* a couple of more bucks a month

and in a frigid place like yours it doubles as a heater for most of the year

Actually, I budget my computer at $10/month, and it's very basic and undervolted. I'm sure that a high end SLI/CF rig would eat up $30+ per month. There are websites with calculators if you don't believe me; I'm just too lazy to do it for you ATM.

 

[Tempered81]

If you're gaming like a zombie 24/7 or folding, the quadfire rigs are pulling 700watts.

Like having a hair dryer, microwave, or 10 lightbulbs on 24/7. That probably adds a bit to the bill.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
If you're gaming like a zombie 24/7 or folding, the quadfire rigs are pulling 700watts.

Like having a hair dryer, microwave, or 10 lightbulbs on 24/7. That probably adds a bit to the bill.

If your computer pulls 1000w (which some do now), you're basically paying for a kilowatt hour every hour. At 24 hours per day, that's $2.40 at 0.10/kwh (which is cheap).

$2.40 x 30 days per month = $72

I know that's extreme, but it's definitely possible.

My guess is that a current high end CF/SLI rig costs $30/month for electricity. :light:

 

[Keysplayr]

I would have to take a stab at this and say that people interested in such high end systems aren't really concerned with electricity usage. Usually. And if 30.00 per month is the difference between living on your own, and living in your Mom's basement, well, then you have no business buying rigs like these.

MSI has never really impressed me from a support standpoint. One good thing I see is they have jacked up their warranty to 3 years from 1 year. But in the 3rd year, it will cost you 45.00 to ship your card and have it replaced/repaired. Buying from a vendor that has a transferrable lifetime warranty, like XFX would be my first choice. That alone may make the card easier to sell, if the buyer knows he's getting a lifetime warranty. Although this can only be done (registered) twice, original buyer and second owner. Still a great thing.

 

[Hauk]

It's not too bad if you don't leave a high end gaming rig running all day. Mine's on two hours a day on average.

Even so, burning 350 watts while surfing, meh. My girlfriend burns that with the lights she leaves on..

 

[AzN]

I wouldn't trust overclockers club with a 10" pole. Overclockerclub also wrote an article where 8600gts was beating 3850 in many of their benchmarks.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Azn
I wouldn't trust overclockers club with a 10" pole. Overclockerclub also wrote an article where 8600gts was beating 3850 in many of their benchmarks.

Of course.

Was it this one? OC's HD3850 review

Conclusion snippit:
"The Sapphire HD3850 was a great looking card that ended up being able to kick some butt for an amazingly small price tag. It was able to stand up to some of the current leaders in the graphics card scene and hold its own. This was proven in 3DMark06 when the HD3850 beat the 8800GTS in the 1680x1050 benchmark. Not only during benchmarks was it able to hold its own, but in real world testing, it was able to prove itself against the 8800GTS in BioShock... where the HD3850 fell short by just a few frame rates, which was very surprising."

Looks like they gave the 3850 a good rating even against an 8800GTS.

It's the only one I found that actually had a 8600GT/GTS in the same review with a 3850.
I may have missed the exact one you are referring to. So please show us what you are talking about.

OC and Xbit:

They did use the latest drivers you know. The problem with Xbit is they take so long to get a review to their site, that newer drivers usually available at the time of their publishing instantly render the whole in depth review, outdated. I like Xbit, but they need to get their reviews out in a more timely fashion.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: jaredpace
If you're gaming like a zombie 24/7 or folding, the quadfire rigs are pulling 700watts.

Like having a hair dryer, microwave, or 10 lightbulbs on 24/7. That probably adds a bit to the bill.

If your computer pulls 1000w (which some do now), you're basically paying for a kilowatt hour every hour. At 24 hours per day, that's $2.40 at 0.10/kwh (which is cheap).

$2.40 x 30 days per month = $72

I know that's extreme, but it's definitely possible.

My guess is that a current high end CF/SLI rig costs $30/month for electricity. :light:

I look at power useage figures, but I really don't concern myself too much with it. My wife and I own our own place (well, the bank does for another 21 years, than it's our's. ; ) and have no issues with our electric bill. I use my PC all the time, I leave it on and let it fold quite often. We also have a large-ish TV that's on all the time, AC, etc. The PC is really a drop in the bucket to me.

I agree with Key's here, if power useage is that big of a concern for some than those people probably shouldn't be looking using multiple GPU rigs.

The only thing that's holding me back from adding another card is we only have 15 amps to the upstairs (computer room) of our house. With a space heater going in winter and a window unit air conditioner going in summer with my wife's and my computer going, we're close to tripping the breaker already.

 

[Hauk]

Yea now that's what I'm talkin about.. trouble me with power consumption when I'm close to tripping the breaker! Otherwise, let me game in peace..

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: jaredpace
If you're gaming like a zombie 24/7 or folding, the quadfire rigs are pulling 700watts.

Like having a hair dryer, microwave, or 10 lightbulbs on 24/7. That probably adds a bit to the bill.

If your computer pulls 1000w (which some do now), you're basically paying for a kilowatt hour every hour. At 24 hours per day, that's $2.40 at 0.10/kwh (which is cheap).

$2.40 x 30 days per month = $72

I know that's extreme, but it's definitely possible.

My guess is that a current high end CF/SLI rig costs $30/month for electricity. :light:

i call BS on your figures

NO ONE games 24/7

NO ONE pulls 1000w continuously

talk about *others* posting FUD and nonsense
- this does not even fit under Bad "guess"
:roll:

 

[SlowSpyder]

Some do fold on their cards though. If you're folding constantly over the GPU, then power usage does matter. For someone like me who is only concerned with gaming really, than power use doesn't matter as much.