I want multi GPU

[Steelski]

Well. Multi GPU is upon us now.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/14/..._preview_of_the_nvidia_quad_gpu_setup/

i want to find out who here would honestly consider or already have what.

Is all this getting to be a bit silly with all this GPU power?

Coments would be apreciated as to why the choice.

 

[Avalon]

I'm still chugging along with one GPU doing everything I need at the moment, so I don't really need a multi-GPU setup. Hey, would be nice, though.

 

[Eureka]

It'd be nice if there'd be a GPU slot on the motherboard like the CPU instead of the interface. Then, it'd be nice if you could stack GPUs on top of each other, like legos. Get 30 of them .

Norm

 

[Snooper]

I'm still hoping for a G71 dual GPU card by February-March time frame. I HAVE to upgrade my old 9800 Pro 128 SOON! Given how much I have to speend to replace my MB and 2GB of DDR3200 memory, I want to REALLY splurge on a monster video card too. Worse case, I might end up with the ASUS dual 7800 GT card or possibly a single G71 card. Depends on it's speed when I have cash in hand.

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: Snooper
I'm still hoping for a G71 dual GPU card by February-March time frame. I HAVE to upgrade my old 9800 Pro 128 SOON! Given how much I have to speend to replace my MB and 2GB of DDR3200 memory, I want to REALLY splurge on a monster video card too. Worse case, I might end up with the ASUS dual 7800 GT card or possibly a single G71 card. Depends on it's speed when I have cash in hand.

i think they are only making a very limited number of the the Asus cards.

 

[nRollo]

Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

 

[fbrdphreak]

I don't see multi-GPU power as a waste necessarily. What I see as a waste is current games: there is no reason FEAR and COD2 should be as taxing as they are. Frankly, they don't look THAT much better than HL2/D3 and those games scaled quite nicely on older hardware.

Programming needs to catch up with technology. All this power is NOT being harnessed properly by software developers, especially GPU's and dual core CPU's. I'll give 'em a break on the dual core part, since it is fairly new (even tho SMP isn't); but the GPU thing is ridiculous. More efficient coding is needed to allow these GPU's to have a longer life cycle. I just got my 7800GT and I'm already considering SLI.....

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I don't see multi-GPU power as a waste necessarily. What I see as a waste is current games: there is no reason FEAR and COD2 should be as taxing as they are. Frankly, they don't look THAT much better than HL2/D3 and those games scaled quite nicely on older hardware.

Programming needs to catch up with technology. All this power is NOT being harnessed properly by software developers, especially GPU's and dual core CPU's. I'll give 'em a break on the dual core part, since it is fairly new (even tho SMP isn't); but the GPU thing is ridiculous. More efficient coding is needed to allow these GPU's to have a longer life cycle. I just got my 7800GT and I'm already considering SLI.....

Bingo.

Ever get the feeling that because such hardware exists that developers are slacking on the coding front and are being alowed to code badly because it will run really well on two absolute top cards.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Programming needs to catch up with technology.

Software is limited by time contraints and acceptable prices. So developers prefer cheap sloppy code with the cost ultimately shifted to the end-user by way of higher hardware requirements.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Auric

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Programming needs to catch up with technology.

Software is limited by time contraints and acceptable prices. So developers prefer cheap sloppy code with the cost ultimately shifted to the end-user by way of higher hardware requirements.

And?

Doesn't mean it shouldn't change

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: Auric

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Programming needs to catch up with technology.

Software is limited by time contraints and acceptable prices. So developers prefer cheap sloppy code with the cost ultimately shifted to the end-user by way of higher hardware requirements.

which drives which more.

 

[Steelski]

at the moment noone is goiubg to buy 3 cards

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

Is slightly better performance in FEAR (one half-decent game) worth the cost of another card? Right now, that's pretty much what it boils down to in my experience. I've played Quake 4, HL2, HL2 Lost Coast, FEAR, and WoW (4xAA/16xAF) on a single X1800XT and SLI'ed GTX'es, and the only game that played noticably smoother on the SLI rig was FEAR. There was absolutely no difference in the gaming experience in any of the other games between the two setups except that the colors were nicer looking with the Radeon and the AF looked better. I'm not knocking SLI, it's great, but is it worth the extra cost..? I'm not sure. I think the main reason people like you and I are attracted to SLI is because it has a geek coolnes factor that has few rivals at this point.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

sure http://img323.imageshack.us/img323/4139/4166911236262923mk.jpg

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: BlingBlingArsch

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

sure http://img323.imageshack.us/img323/4139/4166911236262923mk.jpg

KING KONG 2 ......... He's back. and he's packin a piece.

 

[biostud]

as long as they keep producing faster, smaller, less watt pr. operation GPU's I think one will be fine for me

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

Is slightly better performance in FEAR (one half-decent game) worth the cost of another card? Right now, that's pretty much what it boils down to in my experience. I've played Quake 4, HL2, HL2 Lost Coast, FEAR, and WoW (4xAA/16xAF) on a single X1800XT and SLI'ed GTX'es, and the only game that played noticably smoother on the SLI rig was FEAR. There was absolutely no difference in the gaming experience in any of the other games between the two setups except that the colors were nicer looking with the Radeon and the AF looked better. I'm not knocking SLI, it's great, but is it worth the extra cost..? I'm not sure. I think the main reason people like you and I are attracted to SLI is because it has a geek coolnes factor that has few rivals at this point.

did you feel dooped into buying two cards first time round?

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmmm I see a whole lot'o fox and grapes smacktalk a comin'!

LOL

"Only a FOOL would spend that sort of money on their graphics cards for those returns!"

and

"My (insert card X) does everything I want it to just fine! I don't WANT to play FEAR at 16X12 with 4X AA!"

:roll

Is slightly better performance in FEAR (one half-decent game) worth the cost of another card? Right now, that's pretty much what it boils down to in my experience. I've played Quake 4, HL2, HL2 Lost Coast, FEAR, and WoW (4xAA/16xAF) on a single X1800XT and SLI'ed GTX'es, and the only game that played noticably smoother on the SLI rig was FEAR. There was absolutely no difference in the gaming experience in any of the other games between the two setups except that the colors were nicer looking with the Radeon and the AF looked better. I'm not knocking SLI, it's great, but is it worth the extra cost..? I'm not sure. I think the main reason people like you and I are attracted to SLI is because it has a geek coolnes factor that has few rivals at this point.

Although I respect your AchyBreaky haircut, I must beg to differ.
There are MANY games that see the advantage of higher minimum fps, higher possible settings, and SLI AA with SLI, benefits impossible to achieve on any single card.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Steelski
did you feel dooped into buying two cards first time round?

No way dude. I enjoyed playing with all four SLI sets. It didn't matter to me that the 6600GT SLI was a little slower than the X800XT PE it shoved out of my box, for example, it was fun to check out the SLI ways in the early days of it. Than to move up to the 6800NU SLI, fun again, the AA/AF was better, and it performed a little better than a 6800U.
The 6800GTs pretty much ruled the Earth until the 7800s came out, and are serving my five year old well.

Only a chump feels "dooped" if the company releases a faster card, or some guy gets a better setup. Smart people enjoy what they have and don't pointlessly second guess about deal they might have got if only they'd waited a little longer. I've been buying computer parts since 1988 and can guarantee you everything you will ever buy will be trumped by someone else's deal or hardware soon.

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

SLI was a beast the first time around in the Voodoo 2 phase, and it quickly died out as more powerful single card solutions eventually came along. I don't think it's gonna disappear anytime soon but it's never gonna become mainstream. The multi card setup is for the 1% of the market that are willing to pay the price for the best performance available. Frankly, I and probably the rest of the market, would rather see things getting slightly more powerful and come in smaller more compact packages. Eventually there's gonna be a smaller, quieter, and more powerful single card solution. It just comes down to whether or not you're one of those people that needs the best there is from the start.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Steelski

which drives which more.

Well, an OS such as Windows may be more equivalent to hardware when it comes to long-term development schedules, but as for games 'twould seem they are much more driven by hardware that is forecast to be available than the reverse. The hardware advancement seems to plod along regardless and prolly more due to zeal and competition than what is required.

 

[nitromullet]

Although I respect your AchyBreaky haircut, I must beg to differ.
There are MANY games that see the advantage of higher minimum fps, higher possible settings, and SLI AA with SLI, benefits impossible to achieve on any single card.

They are both sweet, and SLI is obviously the faster of the two. However, I find that the speed difference between the two is not noticable in the games I play. Possibly, this is because I'm not comparing a single GTX to dual GTX's, but an XT to dual GTX'es. I am starting to get the impression that 4xAA/16xAF has a much greater performance hit on the NV cards than it does on the XT, which is what I play at.

I also think you might be missing the point. The question isn't if SLI/Crossfire are the fastest, because they are. The question is whether or not doubling the cost of your video card solution is worth it, for most people I beleive the answer would be no. That being said, I certainly won't rule out the possibility of SLI'ed G71's or G80. I honestly never thought I'd have an R520 based card, but you can see my sig...

did you feel dooped into buying two cards first time round?

Nah, I'm a pretty educated consumer. I knew what I was getting into. Plus, SLI really does rock. I don't want anyone to think I'm saying otherwise. The performance is phenomenal and it's just as compatible and easy to use as a single card. I honestly was just kind of curious about the X1800XT because I felt that it was getting a bad rap in terms of performance because it was late to market. The whole deal with it being late did pretty much bite, and I think ATI needs to get it's act together in that dept, but the card itself is really nice and I am very pleased with it. I didn't check out the XT because I was in any way dissatisfied with my SLI rig. I decided to keep the XT and sell the GTX'es because I already have my eye on next gen. Basically, I felt that I could recoup more of my investment on the GTX'es if I sold them now then later because their value has been plummeting like a rock pretty much since I bought them. I got about 70% of what I paid for them on ebay, which should still be plenty to get me into either an R580/600 or G71/80 card. The XT has proven to be a great single card performer that will keep me happy until my next upgrade, and I feel that the additional RAM over the GTX'es will add a bit to its longevity.

 

[CP5670]

I have gone the SLI route (with 7800GTs, which are actually a pretty good deal compared to the other similarly priced options) since I want to play most older games I have at 2048x1536 with whatever AA/AF settings I can use and still get a constant 60fps at all times. The benchmarks I have seen show quite a few games getting significantly higher framerates with this setup than on any single card at those settings. It looks like SLI has become pretty mature with the latest drivers and most of the bugs have been fixed, so hopefully everything will work out with this.

 

[Steelski]

did you feel dooped into buying two cards first time round?

Nah, I'm a pretty educated consumer. I knew what I was getting into. Plus, SLI really does rock. I don't want anyone to think I'm saying otherwise. The performance is phenomenal and it's just as compatible and easy to use as a single card. I honestly was just kind of curious about the X1800XT because I felt that it was getting a bad rap in terms of performance because it was late to market. The whole deal with it being late did pretty much bite, and I think ATI needs to get it's act together in that dept, but the card itself is really nice and I am very pleased with it. I didn't check out the XT because I was in any way dissatisfied with my SLI rig. I decided to keep the XT and sell the GTX'es because I already have my eye on next gen. Basically, I felt that I could recoup more of my investment on the GTX'es if I sold them now then later because their value has been plummeting like a rock pretty much since I bought them. I got about 70% of what I paid for them on ebay, which should still be plenty to get me into either an R580/600 or G71/80 card. The XT has proven to be a great single card performer that will keep me happy until my next upgrade, and I feel that the additional RAM over the GTX'es will add a bit to its longevity.

Thats what i thought.

Rollo, I know you dont feel duped.... ...I asked coz sometimes i get "the buyers remorse" when i see there was something cheaper (be it not as fast). As you pointed out to me before, you did have a absolute top end rig for around 6 months and one which will play anything available in the next 6 months (at high res)

 

[Steelski]

Originally posted by: CP5670
I have gone the SLI route (with 7800GTs, which are actually a pretty good deal compared to the other similarly priced options) since I want to play most older games I have at 2048x1536 with whatever AA/AF settings I can use and still get a constant 60fps at all times. The benchmarks I have seen show quite a few games getting significantly higher framerates with this setup than on any single card at those settings. It looks like SLI has become pretty mature with the latest drivers and most of the bugs have been fixed, so hopefully everything will work out with this.

I have a high end display now with that res and was wondering what to acompany it with. I cant say that i will try the GT's but i will be interested with multi GPU.

P.s if you play GTA SA, do you get double vision in the top res. I do with my 9800 pro, but it workes (faster than i was expecting but not playable)