G92 GTS SLI vs. 9800 GX2

Hauk

Platinum Member
Nov 22, 2001
2,808
0
0
Considering the 780i block diagram, G92 GTS specs, and rumored specs of 9800 GX2, seems a GTS SLI setup would be a bit faster? Opinions?

Will SLI pros/cons be the same for either setup? I mean if a game scales well for one setup will it scale well for both?
 

MTDEW

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 1999
4,284
37
91
I think they both rely on different drivers.
So it would depend on how good the sli drivers are vs the X2 drivers.

You would think if a game scales good for one, it would scale just as good for the other, but that probably wont be the case 100% of the time.


 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,209
594
126
It will depend on the clock speed of 9800GX2, which will depend on thermals. Traditionally two card SLI has been faster than single-card SLI for that reason. But 9800GX2 will have its own advantage (platform-agnostic, space-saving, etc.)
 

AmdInside

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2002
1,355
0
76
I have no idea what the new card is like but I personally am not a fan of dual GPU cards. The first, ATI Rage Fury Maxx had the worst drivers ever. The Voodoo 5500 wasn't bad but was out performed by NVIDIA's single card solution at the time (Geforce DDR I believe). The Geforce 7950GX2 hardware wise was an elegant solution in that it provided a lot of video memory, used mobile GPUs so it did not consume much power but the drivers were initially very immature. ATI's newest card to me is not that impressive to me. It barely beats out NVIDIA's single GPU offering, it is very loud and very power hungry. I don't know what NVIDIA's next card will be like but given the track record of dual GPU cards, I'm not expecting much. I guess if I already had an SLI motherboard, I would just go ahead and buy two cards instead of a dual GPU graphics card. NVIDIA's next card is more geared towards people like me go do not have an SLI motherboard.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
Originally posted by: SteelSix
Considering the 780i block diagram, G92 GTS specs, and rumored specs of 9800 GX2, seems a GTS SLI setup would be a bit faster? Opinions?

Will SLI pros/cons be the same for either setup? I mean if a game scales well for one setup will it scale well for both?

interestingly, the 3870x2 actually beats crossfired 3870's in several cases. The scaling appears to be very good, too. If nvidia can pull off the same stunt, then the 9800gx2 would be a no-brainer. Also, even assuming it outperforms the 3870x2 it is unlikely to sell for much over $499, so it will be quite a bit cheaper than the current price for 2x8800gts g92's.

 

MTDEW

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 1999
4,284
37
91
Also, even assuming it outperforms the 3870x2 it is unlikely to sell for much over $499, so it will be quite a bit cheaper than the current price for 2x8800gts g92's.
And the best part is the 9800gx2 will work on Intel chipset mobos. :D
 

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,009
417
126
Originally posted by: AmdInside
I have no idea what the new card is like but I personally am not a fan of dual GPU cards. The first, ATI Rage Fury Maxx had the worst drivers ever.

Well, the Voodoo 2 was actually the first SLI (I know because I had it). Their drivers were not so bad, but it did suck with all the external pass-thru and connection cables, and you still needed a 2D graphics card (luckily at the time, on-board was included in just about everything).
 

AmdInside

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2002
1,355
0
76
Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Originally posted by: AmdInside
I have no idea what the new card is like but I personally am not a fan of dual GPU cards. The first, ATI Rage Fury Maxx had the worst drivers ever.

Well, the Voodoo 2 was actually the first SLI (I know because I had it). Their drivers were not so bad, but it did suck with all the external pass-thru and connection cables, and you still needed a 2D graphics card (luckily at the time, on-board was included in just about everything).

I wasn't referring to two seperate cards. I was referring to two graphics chips on a single card.

P.S. I had the works back then. Canopus TNT card for 2D and two Canopus Voodoo II cards in SLI mode. I loved how Canopus fed the signal back to the graphics card instead of the other way around so there was no loss in image quality. It was pricey but it felt like heaven.
 

MTDEW

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 1999
4,284
37
91
Canopus TNT card for 2D and two Canopus Voodoo II cards in SLI mode
I remember that, i had a TNT and a pair of Voodoo 2 's also.
Best of both worlds at the time. :thumbsup:
Heck i still have my voodoo 2's , man these cards are huge.
 

Hauk

Platinum Member
Nov 22, 2001
2,808
0
0
Thanks for the input. MTDEW, I think you made the best point, drivers will probably be the determining factor.

On the one hand you have GTS SLI cards which will clock to 750/1750/2000 or higher, but are susceptible to traditional SLI scaling uncertainty.

On the other hand you have a sandwich card that from what rumors say will have lower clocked GPU's. Who knows where default clocks will start or how well the card(s) will overclock. If drivers allow the GPU's to perform as one without the need for SLI profiles, consistency may compensate for slower clocks.

This NDA thing is crap.

Tulip, pull that guy aside and rub his ears or something. Then hand him a questionaire I'm prepared to send you...
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
in theory the GX2 would have improvements that the G92 doesnt. (like DX10.1 support and possible optimizations and speedups).

So maybe you should compare 9800 in sli vs the GX2 when they all arrive... the question is WHEN will they arrive.
 

Rusin

Senior member
Jun 25, 2007
573
0
0
Well Geforce 9600 GT will have improved AA performance compared to 8800-cards, consumes less vram. This could be essential when using 9600 GT 256MB. For example 8800 GT 256MB's performance in few cases are low compared to HD 3850 256MB.