For gaming, is it better to run tri 9800's? or get latest greatest card?

[mlah384]

For a gaming computer, is it better to run tri SLI 9800GT's? (i have 1 9800GT 1gig now) or get Latest greatest video card out?

 

[roid450]

Ive seen on incrysis forum some dude running 3 9800GTX+ and is constantly running over 80FPS in Crysis Warhead all maxed out with 8XAA

It's mentioned near the bottom by gerardfraser http://www.incrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=24924

The pic links aren't working that he had posted. but I remember seeing them a few days ago, one was 110 FPS on DX10 i believe on the Ultra config with 8XAA

 

[geokilla]

It all depends on what games you use. Some games will benefit from Tri-SLI, some won't. I personally would just sell the 9800GT and get a 4850/4870 or GTX260.

What system do you have?

 

[MarcVenice]

Probably at 800*600 ? A 9800gtx+ will run out of memory and/or memory bandwith the moment you try 8xaa @ 1920*1280 or higher, and you won't have min fps of 80. More like 25-30, if that.

I think it's better to wait for the refresh to hit the market, grab one of those, or maybe a old gtx280, depending on the prices, and sell your 9800gt. Or keep it for physx, but right now that means throwing $100 away.

 

[Bman123]

I think a single card is the ebst bet since some games do not scale well at all.

I am waiing for the new cards to come out so hopefully I can get a gtx260 or 280 for a reasonable price

 

[Ares202]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Probably at 800*600 ? A 9800gtx+ will run out of memory and/or memory bandwith the moment you try 8xaa @ 1920*1280 or higher, and you won't have min fps of 80. More like 25-30, if that.

Im probably being a bit of a noob here but doesnt 512mb*2 =1024mb which is the same memory as a GTX 280 has

or is SLI fundementally different on how it manages memory

 

[Liberator21]

The memory in an SLI or three way SLI is not cumulative, meaning that two 1GB cards could still only allocate 1Gb instead of 2.

 

[Andrew1990]

I thought only the 9800GTX could do Tri Sli? I know my BFG 9800GT only came with one SLI connector on the card, but I am not sure on other's cards.

 

[roid450]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
I thought only the 9800GTX could do Tri Sli? I know my BFG 9800GT only came with one SLI connector on the card, but I am not sure on other's cards.

For Tri SLI they have 2 of those little SLI connectors on the card. If yours is a GT then it only has one so it can only do SLI, not Tri. Seems onlt the 9800GTX+ has Tri

 

[Zap]

The 9800 GT does not support 3-way SLI. Some companies (ahem, Asus) made cards with the requisite SLI connectors for 3-way, but unless NVIDIA unlocks it within their drivers, it ain't gonna work.

 

[Sureshot324]

I thought that was the main difference between the 8000 series and the 9000 series. The 8800GT and 9800GT are completely identical, except only the 9800GT supports Tri SLI.

Anyway, investing in 3 512mb cards is a huge waste of money since having only 512mb will bottleneck you unless you play at 1280x1024 0xAA 0xAF, and then what's the point? I think the AMD 4800 series is a better deal anyway since they price dropped it.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Ares202

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Probably at 800*600 ? A 9800gtx+ will run out of memory and/or memory bandwith the moment you try 8xaa @ 1920*1280 or higher, and you won't have min fps of 80. More like 25-30, if that.

Im probably being a bit of a noob here but doesnt 512mb*2 =1024mb which is the same memory as a GTX 280 has

or is SLI fundementally different on how it manages memory

Basically, data is being mirrored in the second cards ram, so what data you have in your first cards ram you'll also have into the second, so two 9800GTXs in SLI, for example, will work with only 512mb of vram and that can hurt performance in some specific games and settings.

I believe it's a total waste to use multiple GPUs with cards that have only 512 mb of vram.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
I thought that was the main difference between the 8000 series and the 9000 series. The 8800GT and 9800GT are completely identical, except only the 9800GT supports Tri SLI.

Anyway, investing in 3 512mb cards is a huge waste of money since having only 512mb will bottleneck you unless you play at 1280x1024 0xAA 0xAF, and then what's the point? I think the AMD 4800 series is a better deal anyway since they price dropped it.

8 series mainstream and above SLI, Tri SLI, Quad SLI

SLI:
8800GTS 320/640
8800GT
8800GTS512
9600GSO
9600GT
9800GT
9800GX2

SLI/Tri SLI:
8800GTX
9800GTX
GTX260
GTX280

Quad SLI:
9800GX2

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: mlah384
For a gaming computer, is it better to run tri SLI 9800GT's? (i have 1 9800GT 1gig now) or get Latest greatest video card out?

Got a manufacturer part number for your card?
Also, look at how many sets of SLI connections there are on your card. If there is only one, you can only do standard SLI (2 cards). If you have two (on a 9800GT) then it is just the OEM utilizing the 9800GTX PCB. This may or may not allow Tri-SLI. We need to see the specifications of your card.

I'm going to guess you have one of the following cards in a 1GB version.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121283

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121268

Both ASUS. It would appear they are just using the 9800GTX PCB but Tri SLI support isn't enabled for 9800GT's in Nvidia's drivers. AFAIK.

Adding a second 9800GT should add noticable performance increases in most games.
Or, you could go with a faster single card. GTX260 192/216 would probably offer similar performance to 2x 9800GT's. They hover in price range anywhere from 200 to 250 depending on model and bundle, and then you can either sell your 9800GT and recoup some cash, or save it for a PhysX processor as Marc Venice suggested.

You have quite a lot of options available to you.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
I thought that was the main difference between the 8000 series and the 9000 series. The 8800GT and 9800GT are completely identical, except only the 9800GT supports Tri SLI.

Nope, the main (and only, I guess) difference between the two is that the 9800GT is 55nm.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: vj8usa

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
I thought that was the main difference between the 8000 series and the 9000 series. The 8800GT and 9800GT are completely identical, except only the 9800GT supports Tri SLI.

9800GT is 55nm.

Some are 55nm. Most of them however are 65nm.