is 7900GTs sli worth it?

[nitromullet]

All PCIe 7900GT's are SLI compatible IIRC.

 

[beggerking]

Originally posted by: xNIKx
how loud is a single 7900GT?

I think 7900GT is actually louder than 7950gx2.

7950gx2 is actually pretty good with noise level.

7900GTX has the best cooler.

if you don't want to change your mb, get D805 and OC follow this article

if you don't mind a mb change, then wait for E6300.

 

[xNIKx]

i was reading a review of the 7900GTs im getting and some 1sayd that 7900GTs die fast in sli
" ordered 2 of these to run in SLI. One died about two weeks later, which apparently isn't uncommon for 7900GTs. Newegg promptly RMA'd it & the replacement has worked great"
is this true?

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: xNIKx
i was reading a review of the 7900GTs im getting and some 1sayd that 7900GTs die fast in sli
" ordered 2 of these to run in SLI. One died about two weeks later, which apparently isn't uncommon for 7900GTs. Newegg promptly RMA'd it & the replacement has worked great"
is this true?

I don't think the person meant because he put it in SLI...just that it died, which has happening to the 7900GTs. However, I think they fixed the problem with a newer revision. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[xNIKx]

"I think they fixed the problem with a newer revision"
thats a releif, also since there in sli do they get hotter? if so how hot do they get, i will have 1 fan blowing on them.

 

[akshayt]

1) Get 1800XT Crossfire instead if its performance is on par, I don't know how well corssfire compares to sli
2) Consider 7950GX2 which has 1GB claimed VRAM, but it has atleast 512mb.
3) As a cheaper alternative get a 1900XT and upgrade later to dx 10

 

[xNIKx]

what about this processor?
AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology

 

[Bobthelost]

No, not yet. There's a price drop coming up for AMD chips, even then i'd be getting a conroe if i were you.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: akshayt
2) Consider 7950GX2 which has 1GB claimed VRAM, but it has atleast 512mb.

It has one 1 GB of VRAM to acess through the motherboards PCI-E lane, so in a way it does have 1 whole GB. However, when the cards are being used, and a game is using the memory, it does it through SLI, which does not combine memory from both cards to use as a whole. Each GPU can only access 512MB's. The whole 1 GB or 512 MB thing is kinda grey.

 

[xNIKx]

is the AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology better then the Intel® Pentium® D Processor 930 w/ Dual Core Technology 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB? Also im getting my new comp for my birthday so im getting the card depending on how much my parents want to spend.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: xNIKx
is the AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology better then the Intel® Pentium® D Processor 930 w/ Dual Core Technology 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB? Also im getting my new comp for my birthday so im getting the card depending on how much my parents want to spend.

Yes. And I vote for a single 7900GT. Get the good eVGA one. It has a nice cooler which is quieter than a "normal" one, it's overclocked, and has a lifetime warranty.

 

[xNIKx]

the thing im worried about with the AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology is the Processor Speed is 2.0 GHz and most games require 1.8 so if the require like 2.2 i wont be able to play them?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Ok, I just have to do a small rant here. Please actually listen to the advice being given here. I mean, you asked for our advice and what people are saying about the CPUs, motherboards, and video cards are all completely correct.

1) Wait and get a Core2 Duo CPU!!! Why, well, just look at the numbers, using your specified high end game, Oblivion. Just getting a new Core2 Duo E6300 over a Pentium D960, you will see a 30% frame rate improvement. 30%!!!!! And the price difference you ask? A SAVINGS of $380. Yes, you read that correct. By getting a Core2 Duo E6300 you will get a 30% speed increase in your game performance AND SAVE over $380 vs the top of the line Intel D960. This is also the reason why Intel is ceasing production on the D960 by the way. Compairing against the D945, well the E6300 gives you an approx 45% performance increase at only 12% more cost (a whole $20 for the processor).

2) As a direct result of the CPU discussion, you should be looking at a single graphics card solution at this immediate point in time. The motherboards that are available that support the Core2 Duo are limited in terms of SLI support at the moment. Read the article on anandtech's front page: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797

3) Yes, you will be thanking us for this advice if you follow it. The price differences we are talking here are extremely small for the performance gains that we are also taking about! In fact if you even try to come close to the performance that this new CPU offers you from a current CPU, that CPU would cost you ~$800, in other words, you SAVE $600 by getting this CPU.

Again, we kinda know what we are talking about here. I mean, you asked us for our advice, and it is the above. You are wasting your money if you get a Pentium D series CPU. I can not think of a single reason to get one at this point in the game. The only reason might be because it was free...

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: xNIKx
the thing im worried about with the AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology is the Processor Speed is 2.0 GHz and most games require 1.8 so if the require like 2.2 i wont be able to play them?

That is different with AMD though because of how they differ from Intel. I believe it has something to do with the way the two draw information from the cache? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Trust me, I've got an Opteron 148 Venus (single core) which is stock clocked at 2.2 GHz. It does fine with all of my games, even Oblivion and even at stock speeds.

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Originally posted by: josh6079

Originally posted by: xNIKx
the thing im worried about with the AMD Athlon? 64 X2 3800+ with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology is the Processor Speed is 2.0 GHz and most games require 1.8 so if the require like 2.2 i wont be able to play them?

That is different with AMD though because of how they differ from Intel. I believe it has something to do with the way the two draw information from the cache? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Trust me, I've got an Opteron 148 Venus (single core) which is stock clocked at 2.2 GHz. It does fine with all of my games, even Oblivion and even at stock speeds.

It has to do with pipeline differences.

Anyway, say a game recommends a 2.8 GHz processor, an Athlon64 2.0 GHz will work just fine. That's one reason the proc is called 3800+.

For instance, Quake 4 recommends "Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor or higher." The 2000+ ran at 1.4 Ghz or around that.

A 2.0 GHz Athlon 64, whether single-core or dual-core, will run games more smoothly than a 3.0GHz P4/P-D, and that's a fact.

Conroe, or Core 2 Duo, the new Intel chip which still isn't out yet, is even better than A64. People recommending you get that are giving you good advice. If you can't wait, or just don't want C2D, then an A64 is still a great option for gaming.

 

[Job]

7950gx2 gives upgrade path to quad sli for the future

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: Job
7950gx2 gives upgrade path to quad sli for the future

Possibly, since Quad SLI is not currently supported by drivers, not planned to be supported for at least the current generation (from what i gather from Nvidia press releases) and considering the timeline for upgrades you'd proabably be chosing between G80 and SLI'd 7950GX2s at extortionate pricing (Nvidia don't drop the price of thier cards for the high end)...

I really wouldn't count on it.