Great time for SLI!

[vision33r]

I know how much some folks are opposed to SLI but I think right now it's the beginning of the SLI tech maturing gradually and prices have come down.

Although I only have a 6600GT SLI but I picked them up for $153/card refurb @ newegg.

About $308 shipped together and I am getting 6800GT performance, but I think most importantly is I play at 1280x1024 in all my games now with all effects turn on max without any hiccups.

I almost bought the x800-XL but I think the Nvidia GPU is much more advanced in this gen than previous nvidia vs ATI battles.

 

[fierydemise]

Flamewar in 3..2..1.. FLAME!!!

 

[ericlala]

why not get a refurb 68ooGT and have the possibility for dual 6800gt for even better performance

 

[vision33r]

Yeah I thought about 6800GT but right now I play CS, UT2K4, Doom3, etc my 6600GT SLI A64 3000 @ 2.2GHZ running XP64bit is quite good.

I think I can use this rig until the next-gen games + cards come out.

 

[trinibwoy]

Well it's too late now since he's already got the 6600s. But the 6800GT would have been a better buy IMO. But at least you get to play around with the SLI tech so good luck!

 

[vision33r]

Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

 

[imported_DaveA]

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

 

[trinibwoy]

Try finding a PCIe GT for $259.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: trinibwoy
Try finding a PCIe GT for $259.

i doubt u can find them for so low....AGPs are pretty easy to find at that price now!

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

Yeah but you lose the CPU/memory performance and upgradibility. For some people not wholly influenced by gaming this matters too.

 

[Bar81]

CPU performance is the same whether S754 or S939 for AMD, they all overclock the same, certainly within 100Mhz of one another even with the new venice CPUs for 939. Memory performance is insignificant in the real world, it's not a deal maker or breaker. Upgradeability I assume you mean for both video and CPU. Well, CPU wise, yes 939 will allow for dual core processors, but don't kid yourself, socket M2 is coming and with it out goes your upgradeabiliity theory. Video similarly is not a deciding factor as AGP high end cards will continue to be produced for *at least* the coming generation and its refresh and I suspect even the next generation (unless the cards from nvidia and ATI heavily rely on the PCI-E x16 bandwidth in their implementation. We have no reason to believe that is the case at this point in time) AGP or PCI-E aka S754 or S939 is all the same.

 

[trinibwoy]

Originally posted by: ddogg
exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

He obviously has a PCIe motherboard. Why is the AGP 6800GT even being brought up?

 

[pol II]

Well congrats OP, have some fun with that setup and don't let the naysayers ruin your good time. You are obviously happy with your purchase, so enjoy it until you're ready to move on.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

What are you talking about? Dual 6600gts often have better performance than a 6800 ultra. benchmark from anandtech

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

Actually that's not true- he has better HL2 performance as well according to XBit (yes at 16x12 4X16X) better Halo performance according to FS, and better 20X15 performance according to FS.

(and you KNOW I can post links to all of this! )

I have a 6600GT SLI set as well as my 6800GT SLI set, and it is teh roxor. I've been thinking of upgrading my 5 year olds rig from it's AGP 6800NU status to SLI, haven't gotten around to it. (the fact he won't know the difference hasn't exactly been keeping me up nights wishing I'd done it)

Anyway, 6600GT SLI gets an undeserved bad rap. In my testing, the difference in using a 6800GT single and 6600GT SLI (where the 6800GT was better) is negated by running 2X8X on the 6600GTs instead of the 4X8X you could run on the 6800GT. Without AA, at high res, the 6600GTs are just plain better.

 

[Ackmed]

Try with AA, and another game besides Doom3. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2315&p=5 The Ultra is a better performer.

As for the thread topic, I think its dead on accurate. This is the best SLI has looked, since it came out. Cards are a LOT cheaper, and a lot of bugs are fixed. It it much more appealing than when it was first launched.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

What are you talking about? Dual 6600gts often have better performance than a 6800 ultra. benchmark from anandtech

Often? Sorry to bust your bubble, but when you crank up the resolution and turn on AA/AF, the dual 6600gts ALWAYS fall hopelessly behind even a single 6800gt, sometimes even without AA. See for yourself:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=14

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=7

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=13

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=15

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=17

To the OP, if you're happy with your setup, then it's all that matters. Personally, though, I would have rather had a single x800xl for the same price.

 

[imported_DaveA]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: DaveA

Originally posted by: vision33r
Another thing to mention about SLI is that once I'm done with this SLI rig, when I upgrade. I can just take 1 card and give it to my wife who doesn't game and the other card to my kid's PC so I'm reusing them without chucking them out.

and whats preventing me from doing that with my agp 6800 GT? oh and i bought this card for 259 so you are just barely getting the same performance as me but you spent 50 more. yeap makes sense....

exactly...u could have got an AGP 6800GT for 50less and had better performance than what ur getting now except for doom3

What are you talking about? Dual 6600gts often have better performance than a 6800 ultra. benchmark from anandtech

Often? Sorry to bust your bubble, but when you crank up the resolution and turn on AA/AF, the dual 6600gts ALWAYS fall hopelessly behind even a single 6800gt, sometimes even without AA. See for yourself:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=14

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=7

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=13

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=15

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284&p=17

To the OP, if you're happy with your setup, then it's all that matters. Personally, though, I would have rather had a single x800xl for the same price.

yeap 128bit memory interface kills it. if sli was capable of combining the 2 interfaces making 256bit then yeah it would kill a 6800GT but thats not the case.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: munky
Often? Sorry to bust your bubble, but when you crank up the resolution and turn on AA/AF, the dual 6600gts ALWAYS fall hopelessly behind even a single 6800gt, sometimes even without AA. See for yourself:

Always? That's odd coming from you Munky, since you are the one who provided me with that great Xbit link that totally refutes this myth:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf6800u-sli_19.html
I guess "always" to you means "other than at HL2"? 6600GT SLI is faster at both 16X12 4X16X benches?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf6800u-sli_16.html
Hmmm.... I guess "always" must mean "other than at Doom3" also? (and Quake 4 this summer) 6600GT SLI faster at Doom3 at 16X12 4X16X also, both benches?

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page7.asp">http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page7.asp</a>
What do you know? 6600GT SLI much faster at 16X12 4X8X Halo, I guess "always" doesn't mean Halo either?

Few absolutes in life Munky. Like I said though, usually the difference in the higher res between the two is 2X AA. (2X vs 4X)

 

[imported_DaveA]

ok fine it might be faster but it would still be better to get 1 6800gt pci express and then later get another when money allows it.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: munky
Often? Sorry to bust your bubble, but when you crank up the resolution and turn on AA/AF, the dual 6600gts ALWAYS fall hopelessly behind even a single 6800gt, sometimes even without AA. See for yourself:

Always? That's odd coming from you Munky, since you are the one who provided me with that great Xbit link that totally refutes this myth:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf6800u-sli_19.html
I guess "always" to you means "other than at HL2"? 6600GT SLI is faster at both 16X12 4X16X benches?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf6800u-sli_16.html
Hmmm.... I guess "always" must mean "other than at Doom3" also? (and Quake 4 this summer) 6600GT SLI faster at Doom3 at 16X12 4X16X also, both benches?

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page7.asp">http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/msi_nx6800/page7.asp</a>
What do you know? 6600GT SLI much faster at 16X12 4X8X Halo, I guess "always" doesn't mean Halo either?

Few absolutes in life Munky. Like I said though, usually the difference in the higher res between the two is 2X AA. (2X vs 4X)

OK, so there are exceptions. Still, if you have to drop the AA to 2x for the dual 6600gts then you gotta admit that in most cases they can't compete with a single 6800gt at 16*12 4x/16x.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: DaveA
ok fine it might be faster but it would still be better to get 1 6800gt pci express and then later get another when money allows it.

You could sell your 6600GTs and get the 6800GTs when money allows it too.

I've got 6600GT SLI, and I've had one 6800GT, IMO the 6600GT SLI (actually any SLI) is more fun to play with.

This is like the good ol' Voodoo2 SLI days all over but better- you could never get the gains AFR SLI yields with V2s.

SLI is just fun tech to play with, long over due in an era of single cards.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: munky
OK, so there are exceptions. Still, if you have to drop the AA to 2x for the dual 6600gts then you gotta admit that in most cases they can't compete with a single 6800gt at 16*12 4x/16x.

IMO neither of those rigs are capable of 16X12 4X8X. I consider 6800Us and X850XTs only marginally capable of it, with 6800GT SLI the baseline for decent performance at that setting.

So what's left is the 6600GT SLI and 6800GT SLI duking it out at 12X10 4X8X, and it's pretty close a lot of the time.

For me, I'd rather play at 16X12 0X8X on those rigs to ensure rock solid performance and good detail.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: Rollo
This is like the good ol' Voodoo2 SLI days all over but better- you could never get the gains AFR SLI yields with V2s.

Eh? IIRC, two V2s in SLI literally doubled your performance. I think the best AFR will get you is a 75% improvement in some games--not bad, but not 100%.