is it time to upgrade to sli?

[moonboy403]

okay...i have a 7800 gtx now

but i'm really tempted to upgrade to 7800 gt sli

the question is...the next generation video cards that are due in the first quarter

is it gonna outperform a pair of gt when that comes out?

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
okay...i have a 7800 gtx now

but i'm really tempted to upgrade to 7800 gt sli

the question is...the next generation video cards that are due in the first quarter

is it gonna outperform a pair of gt when that comes out?

Of course the new stuff will out perform the old stuff.

At some point you have to be happy with what you have or you can spend thousands of dollars each year trying to have the "latest greatest".

In recent years I go for sweetspot performance as I have found tons of things to spend money on besides videocards.

Why do you want to upgrade anyway? Is it for a game you play or a benchmark? Hard to believe you would have trouble with any game out.

 

[moonboy403]

games like nfs mosted wanted
i'm having a hard time with everything maxed out even in 12 * 10

cod2 is a no brainer

but what i meant was that...a single new card can out perform a pair of gt?

 

[nitromullet]

Well, a GTX 512MB is about even with SLI'ed GT's, so chances are G71 (and definitely G80) will outperform them. If you really have to upgrade, get a second GTX or consider an X1800XT. Getting rid of one superior card to buy two inferior ones doesn't make much sense IMO.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
games like nfs mosted wanted
i'm having a hard time with everything maxed out even in 12 * 10

cod2 is a no brainer

but what i meant was that...a single new card can out perform a pair of gt?

It might take a while but you can be sure a future single card will outperform a pair of modern gt's. Might take 6 months, might take a year, but it will happen.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I know that a single 512 GTX outdoes 2 GTs...

Watch it, I rean NFS Most Wanted at 1280x1024, and found this laggyness at points where the game would seem to skip 10 frames...not your hardware/computer...its crappy programming. I got really annoyed by that game...got to blacklist 3, and tried to beat blacklist 3 guy, but in the end just ended up getting no enjoyment out of the game...I'll stick with COD2 FEAR...

COD2 gets laggy at times at that res, but I'm not minding it so much.

 

[moonboy403]

where did you guys get the notion that a pair of gt gets outperformed by a single 512 gtx??
everywhere i checked...a pair of gt outperforms it

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I know that a single 512 GTX outdoes 2 GTs...

Watch it, I rean NFS Most Wanted at 1280x1024, and found this laggyness at points where the game would seem to skip 10 frames...not your hardware/computer...its crappy programming. I got really annoyed by that game...got to blacklist 3, and tried to beat blacklist 3 guy, but in the end just ended up getting no enjoyment out of the game...I'll stick with COD2 FEAR...

COD2 gets laggy at times at that res, but I'm not minding it so much.

2 gt's ALWAYS outperform a 512GTX (maby except in Half Life 2, but thats CPU limited and with all the SLI overhead...you get the point). The lead of the GT's seems to be more evident as you turn up the eye-candy i think. Do other people agree with me? I was going to get the GTX512, but opted for the GT's instead becuase they were cheaper and would perform better.

Look, if you can afford a pair of GT's, then just go for another GTX. The only thing that's going to outperform a GTX in SLI is a GTX512 in SLI, and not by that much. Look here and go through the pages to see the benchmarks. If you ARE considering SLI as an upgrade path, just get another GTX.

 

[darXoul]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
2 gt's ALWAYS outperform a 512GTX (maby except in Half Life 2, but thats CPU limited and with all the SLI overhead...you get the point). The lead of the GT's seems to be more evident as you turn up the eye-candy i think. Do other people agree with me? I was going to get the GTX512, but opted for the GT's instead becuase they were cheaper and would perform better.

I agree. I also wanted to go for a single GTX 512 but:
a) availability is a serious problem,
b) GTs in SLI perform better,
c) GTs in SLI are cheaper or about the same price in my country,
d) if I get the 512, it might be difficult to upgrade to SLI later because of questionable availability, plus price might not drop significantly if it's really meant as a PR product to beat ATI more than a long lasting market presence.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I know that a single 512 GTX outdoes 2 GTs...

Watch it, I rean NFS Most Wanted at 1280x1024, and found this laggyness at points where the game would seem to skip 10 frames...not your hardware/computer...its crappy programming. I got really annoyed by that game...got to blacklist 3, and tried to beat blacklist 3 guy, but in the end just ended up getting no enjoyment out of the game...I'll stick with COD2 FEAR...

COD2 gets laggy at times at that res, but I'm not minding it so much.

2 gt's ALWAYS outperform a 512GTX (maby except in Half Life 2, but thats CPU limited and with all the SLI overhead...you get the point). The lead of the GT's seems to be more evident as you turn up the eye-candy i think. Do other people agree with me? I was going to get the GTX512, but opted for the GT's instead becuase they were cheaper and would perform better.

Look, if you can afford a pair of GT's, then just go for another GTX. The only thing that's going to outperform a GTX in SLI is a GTX512 in SLI, and not by that much. Look here and go through the pages to see the benchmarks. If you ARE considering SLI as an upgrade path, just get another GTX.

This man speaks the truth. Down the line, hopefully 7800gts get cheap, so I can run two of 'em when all this new fangled technology comes out.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
I know that a single 512 GTX outdoes 2 GTs...

Watch it, I rean NFS Most Wanted at 1280x1024, and found this laggyness at points where the game would seem to skip 10 frames...not your hardware/computer...its crappy programming. I got really annoyed by that game...got to blacklist 3, and tried to beat blacklist 3 guy, but in the end just ended up getting no enjoyment out of the game...I'll stick with COD2 FEAR...

COD2 gets laggy at times at that res, but I'm not minding it so much.

2 gt's ALWAYS outperform a 512GTX (maby except in Half Life 2, but thats CPU limited and with all the SLI overhead...you get the point). The lead of the GT's seems to be more evident as you turn up the eye-candy i think. Do other people agree with me? I was going to get the GTX512, but opted for the GT's instead becuase they were cheaper and would perform better.

Look, if you can afford a pair of GT's, then just go for another GTX. The only thing that's going to outperform a GTX in SLI is a GTX512 in SLI, and not by that much. Look here and go through the pages to see the benchmarks. If you ARE considering SLI as an upgrade path, just get another GTX.

This man speaks the truth. Down the line, hopefully 7800gts get cheap, so I can run two of 'em when all this new fangled technology comes out.

I just ordered my second one yesterday, can't wait for SLI. (though I'll probably be waiting on my mobo to come)

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Well, a GTX 512MB is about even with SLI'ed GT's, so chances are G71 (and definitely G80) will outperform them. If you really have to upgrade, get a second GTX or consider an X1800XT. Getting rid of one superior card to buy two inferior ones doesn't make much sense IMO.

Actually, getting a 2nd GTX would be pretty expensive compared to selling his current one and buying a pair of GTs. For me getting rid of the superior card and buying two inferior cards made a lot of sense. I sold my GTX for $460 and bought two GTs for ~$500. That's a 60-70% increase in performance for $40. Sounds pretty smart to me.

OP- I think SLI'd GTs are a pretty good deal right now. They won't depreciate in value as quickly as a single top of the line card and they offer more performance too (yes, even more performance than the 512MB 7800GTX). If you decide that you want the R580 or G71 than you can always sell your cards down the road and pick one up.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Well, a GTX 512MB is about even with SLI'ed GT's, so chances are G71 (and definitely G80) will outperform them. If you really have to upgrade, get a second GTX or consider an X1800XT. Getting rid of one superior card to buy two inferior ones doesn't make much sense IMO.

Actually, getting a 2nd GTX would be pretty expensive compared to selling his current one and buying a pair of GTs. For me getting rid of the superior card and buying two inferior cards made a lot of sense. I sold my GTX for $460 and bought two GTs for ~$500. That's a 60-70% increase in performance for $40. Sounds pretty smart to me.

OP- I think SLI'd GTs are a pretty good deal right now. They won't depreciate in value as quickly as a single top of the line card and they offer more performance too (yes, even more performance than the 512MB 7800GTX). If you decide that you want the R580 or G71 than you can always sell your cards down the road and pick one up.

Thats what I plan on doing, just got to GT's for SLI, when that G71/G80/R580 comes around, selling them and getting that (unless performance isn't much better, but I doubt that)

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Well, a GTX 512MB is about even with SLI'ed GT's, so chances are G71 (and definitely G80) will outperform them. If you really have to upgrade, get a second GTX or consider an X1800XT. Getting rid of one superior card to buy two inferior ones doesn't make much sense IMO.

Actually, getting a 2nd GTX would be pretty expensive compared to selling his current one and buying a pair of GTs. For me getting rid of the superior card and buying two inferior cards made a lot of sense. I sold my GTX for $460 and bought two GTs for ~$500. That's a 60-70% increase in performance for $40. Sounds pretty smart to me.

OP- I think SLI'd GTs are a pretty good deal right now. They won't depreciate in value as quickly as a single top of the line card and they offer more performance too (yes, even more performance than the 512MB 7800GTX). If you decide that you want the R580 or G71 than you can always sell your cards down the road and pick one up.

That's a nice chunk you got for your GTX... My KO's sold for less. Next gen, I'm going to wait a bit before I buy to see how things level off. If I had waited, I would have probably gone with SLI'ed GT's instead of GTX'es (or the X1800XT), since it is the best deal out there. I guess it really depends on how much you can get for the GTX, and like I said, the value on them is dropping fast. I was competing against a guy selling multiple brand new KO's with a Buy-it-Now price if $400. The only edge I had was that his were OEM and blue, and mine were retail and black. Almost no used GTX'es are selling for even $450 anymore, and new ones aren't even getting that much either.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

That's a nice chunk you got for your GTX... My KO's sold for less. Next gen, I'm going to wait a bit before I buy to see how things level off. If I had waited, I would have probably gone with SLI'ed GT's instead of GTX'es (or the X1800XT), since it is the best deal out there. I guess it really depends on how much you can get for the GTX, and like I said, the value on them is dropping fast. I was competing against a guy selling multiple brand new KO's with a Buy-it-Now price if $400. The only edge I had was that his were OEM and blue, and mine were retail and black. Almost no used GTX'es are selling for even $450 anymore, and new ones aren't even getting that much either.

True. I should have stated that I sold my card over a month ago, right before the 512MB beast came out. I guess I still think SLI'd GTs would be a better value than picking up a 2nd GTX. If he sells his current GTX for $375 or so, he could probably pick up a pair of GTs for $550 or maybe $500 if he sells the games that come with them. So upgrade cost is $125-175. If he buys another GTX he's out $450 , maybe $375 if he buys a used one and it will only perform about 10-15% faster than the GTs.

 

[DaveBC]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
okay...i have a 7800 gtx now

but i'm really tempted to upgrade to 7800 gt sli

the question is...the next generation video cards that are due in the first quarter

is it gonna outperform a pair of gt when that comes out?

I had that same thought..... now I have an SLI board with a single 7800GTX 512mb card. I was planning to add another a year or so down the line. Well they may be history now. So don't plan on using SLI for an upgrade path. If your going to use SLI you better get both cards you want at the same time. Or you may end up like me. I notice the 6800GT has gone too. So people who wanted to add a second as an upgrade path are SOL too. :disgust:

 

[moonboy403]

how much power would i need in terms of psu? (a pair of gt)

i wonder if my psu can handle it

my dual rail is rated for 15 and 18 amp

 

[Elfear]

SLI'd GTs don't take much power at all compared to the GTX and X1800XT. Here is a comparison between a few flavors of SLI and single cards. SLI'd GTs had about the same power consumption at load as the "Black Pearl" 7800GTX.

 

[moonboy403]

oh...by the way...since my dfi board was modded to sli

i don't have the dfi sli bridge, but i do have an epox sli bridge

would that work?

 

[Spring2188]

should work fine

 

[RampantAndroid]

Originally posted by: Elfear
SLI'd GTs don't take much power at all compared to the GTX and X1800XT. Here is a comparison between a few flavors of SLI and single cards. SLI'd GTs had about the same power consumption at load as the "Black Pearl" 7800GTX.

Sorry, but I don't trust that listing of power consumption...the 6600GT doesn't have an extra power dongle (a quick search I did, I found 1 that did) that means it is limited to around 80 Watts supplied by the motherboard....Anandtech had a review with power consumptions on it...lemme find it.

 

[RampantAndroid]

AT Review

Sadly, it doesn't list the 6600...the consumption ratings for the 7800GT look about the same for bot AT and Tom's

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
AT Review

Sadly, it doesn't list the 6600...the consumption ratings for the 7800GT look about the same for bot AT and Tom's

that consumes way to much power i am going to have to either get an external power supply or fit one of the shuttle 300W in mine.

mines only a 240W.......

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid

Sorry, but I don't trust that listing of power consumption...the 6600GT doesn't have an extra power dongle (a quick search I did, I found 1 that did) that means it is limited to around 80 Watts supplied by the motherboard....Anandtech had a review with power consumptions on it...lemme find it.

That's total system power, not just the video card.

 

[Wall7486]

Just remember 2 cards = 2x more heat. I don't mind during the winter, but in the summer it was killing me.