nitromullet
Diamond Member
- Jan 7, 2004
- 9,031
- 36
- 91
Anyone with an SLI rig care to confirm or deny that statement? I am quite partial to v-sync myself, so this concerns me.
PSUstoekl, in my view, SLI is best seen as a chance to get next-generation performance today. Instead of having to wait for the 7800GTX, you could've used two 6800Us in SLI. Of course, SLI doesn't scale perfectly, but it's as close as we're gonna get, and in some cases it does allow for close to twice the performance of a single high-end card, which is about what next-gen high-end cards typically offer.
Jaxidian
Platinum Member
I see SLI as a cheap way to upgrade in the future. Let's say I buy a 6800GT right now. That's plenty powerful enough for today's games for me. But in a year or two from now, it will probably be pretty weak. However, I could always buy a second 6800GT (for pretty cheap) at that time and then have my video card setup be comparable with the newer cards and still competetive for another year or two. I am getting an SLI system but I'm not starting out with SLI because it's too expensive at the moment and I really have no current need to.
-Jax
-Jax
Gamingphreek
Lifer
- Mar 31, 2003
- 11,679
- 0
- 81
How are we supposed to know. Cross Fire hasn 't even been released yet (only prelim benches).
Not a dillemma. You can keep pushing this upgrade back for ever. There is always something right around the corner. If you want max performance SLI is your only option as of right now as is Nvidia until ATI releases the R520 with Cross Fire (I dont think Cross Fire X850's will match a 7800GTX, much similiar to SLI 6800GT/ Ultras)
-Kevin
yeah it definitely seems as though a lot of people seem to enjoy this whole concept of spending twice as much to get just a little bit more...
and by the way, while those Far Cry benchmarks are certainly impressive, it is very much an exception to the rule. i have seem several tests where the sli configuration might not even affect the framerate. in some odd cases (2xAA,4xAF?) it might even perform worse. this is especially true for Half Life 2, a game which I consider to be the one most important when purchasing graphics cards.
When UT 2007 comes out, there will probably be a pretty big performance jump with sli. then again, the game will be on ps3 so who the hell knows.
and by the way, while those Far Cry benchmarks are certainly impressive, it is very much an exception to the rule. i have seem several tests where the sli configuration might not even affect the framerate. in some odd cases (2xAA,4xAF?) it might even perform worse. this is especially true for Half Life 2, a game which I consider to be the one most important when purchasing graphics cards.
When UT 2007 comes out, there will probably be a pretty big performance jump with sli. then again, the game will be on ps3 so who the hell knows.
also...i have some wishes for sli.
1st = you shouldn't hace to have two identical cards running parallel, each drawing half the screen. this is archaic. get some quality programming together and do something sweet, like getting both cards to run in tandem. I know it's an insanely difficult proposition, but guess what? It would actually be something that everyone could agree on. and in that case, i would dive right into "scalable link interface"
2nd = it should just work. i've paroused these boards and seen countless people struggling with drivers and random programs, vsync etc. in conjunction with an sli configuration. do you know why console gaming is so popular? cause it JUST WORKS. no drivers or weirdness. make it the same way.
1st = you shouldn't hace to have two identical cards running parallel, each drawing half the screen. this is archaic. get some quality programming together and do something sweet, like getting both cards to run in tandem. I know it's an insanely difficult proposition, but guess what? It would actually be something that everyone could agree on. and in that case, i would dive right into "scalable link interface"
2nd = it should just work. i've paroused these boards and seen countless people struggling with drivers and random programs, vsync etc. in conjunction with an sli configuration. do you know why console gaming is so popular? cause it JUST WORKS. no drivers or weirdness. make it the same way.
Elfear
Diamond Member
- May 30, 2004
- 7,165
- 824
- 126
I don't know if I agree with you there. Generally X850XT PE > 6800 Ultra so x2 should be even better. From all the reviews I've seen on the web the 7800GTX isn't that much faster than the X850XT PE anyway, until you get above 1600x1200 in resolution or in a few certain games. We're talking 5-10% from most of the reviews I've seen.
Not to take away any of the 7800GTX's thunder (probably be my next card) just throwing my opinion out there. Of course with Cross-fire yet to be released this is mostly conjecture on my part.
I do not believe SLI is worth it for the majority of consumers. There are a couple things going against it:
1) You need special profiles for games to take advantage of the ~100% performance benefit SLI offers.
2) Additional system requirements increase overall cost (SLI mobo, PSU)
3) Next generation cards are equal in performance (7800GTX)
I believe SLI will be primarily limited to those investing in the fastest machine available or potentially upgraders, however the additional system requirements may limit this.
Cost & user friendliness (no profiles & works with every game) are the 2 reasons why the majority of consumers will not ever purchase an SLI solution.
Just my opinion, of course.
1) You need special profiles for games to take advantage of the ~100% performance benefit SLI offers.
2) Additional system requirements increase overall cost (SLI mobo, PSU)
3) Next generation cards are equal in performance (7800GTX)
I believe SLI will be primarily limited to those investing in the fastest machine available or potentially upgraders, however the additional system requirements may limit this.
Cost & user friendliness (no profiles & works with every game) are the 2 reasons why the majority of consumers will not ever purchase an SLI solution.
Just my opinion, of course.
I'm gonna chime in. I agree SLI is an niche for the upper extreme gaming market. I for one am glad I didnt fall for it, I was tempted. But the preformance of the latest and greatest single vid card is enough to run all games sold now at more than exeptable framerates. My AGP 6800GT that I bought a year ago is giving good enough prerfomance on new titles. I's a given that won't go on forever. At some point I'll have to upgrade. But my upgrade wont be a dual vid card solution.
I picked up a SLI mobo but have no plans on getting a second GTX. I just wanted to keep all options open.
I'd like to have the extra power because I like using the highest possible AA settings and even at 1280x1024 I could use a little extra juice.
I'd like to have the extra power because I like using the highest possible AA settings and even at 1280x1024 I could use a little extra juice.
first off.. i have SLI. one, the special profiles are provided, and they are customizable. therefore, you play around with them to get the performance. besides, if you don't want to tinker around in settings and such, why do you have it? also, SLI works in all games. its just some of the less recent ones are not supported, therefore you won't see as large of increases. there are global driver settings which run if you don't have a game specific profile loaded. honestly, the user friendliness is there. atleast, i have found it to be. especially with the ease of use that coolbits provides. the SLI mobo and the psu aren't that large of an upcost from any other PSU you might have. granted, the mobo is a bit more expensive, but if you are going to go SLI, chances are you can afford another50-80 dollars for the board (especially since you are already investing so much in the dual graphics cards). yes, it sucks you need two of the same cards, but why the hell wouldn't you want to use the exact same cards. think if you were to pair a 6800 ultra, with a 6200. the second would lag badly. now, thats assuming you have more common sense than to do that, but some don't.
umm... its not archaic, in the least. if anything, running one card is archaic if you really want to press THAT argument i will. but if they are running paralell, they are running in tandem. and besides, why the hell (besides cost) would you want to run two different
cards?? i can see maybe equivalent ATI and GeForce, but even that is somewhat stupid.
well, for me, it does JUST WORK. i have never had any problems with drivers etc. in fact, i have had less trouble with SLI than i did running one graphics card (a 9800xt) in AGP.
Bah. I can't believe we've all fallen for your obvious trolling post to start a flame war.
It's nice you don't like SLI. Anyone who's curious about it should read some reviews to find out the truth, or PM me for links to my benchmarks.
The point is you'd never run a 7800GTX under 16X12 4X8X, and it's a lot faster than any ATI card at that setting.
BFG10K
Lifer
- Aug 14, 2000
- 22,709
- 3,004
- 126
SLI is there to provide the best possible performance and it's usually 50%-100% faster than a single card setup.
I personally don't think it's worth it as I prefer to buy single cards more often (e.g. rather than getting two 6800Us I can now pick up a single 7800 GTX or Fudo and get better performance), but I can definitely see the attraction SLI offers.
I personally don't think it's worth it as I prefer to buy single cards more often (e.g. rather than getting two 6800Us I can now pick up a single 7800 GTX or Fudo and get better performance), but I can definitely see the attraction SLI offers.
QFT
Even if you don't think it's a worthwhile investment (and personally, I don't), you can't deny the sheer power at non-CPU limited resolutions. Claiming it's only 15% faster at resolutions you don't pay 800 dollars to play is inane. People who claim "SLi is only really faster at super high resolutions/settings" need to realize that is the entire point.
What about Vertical sync? Is everyone avoiding the question?
I have a DFI Ultra-D and the Enermax 535W SLI PSU, so SLI option is semi-open to me, and I might capitalize some day, but I know most people choose to turn vertical sync off for performance (brag about image quality all you want, but if the image is sheared in 2, it's just not appealing). I just wonder if vertical sync is fully functional with perforamce boosts on SLI systems. Any answers welcome
I have a DFI Ultra-D and the Enermax 535W SLI PSU, so SLI option is semi-open to me, and I might capitalize some day, but I know most people choose to turn vertical sync off for performance (brag about image quality all you want, but if the image is sheared in 2, it's just not appealing). I just wonder if vertical sync is fully functional with perforamce boosts on SLI systems. Any answers welcome
badacid, to help with you question... i have been playing half life 2 at 1600x1200 with every thing on, anti aliasing and everything else all the way up, and when i turned v-sync on i actually saw improvement with SLI. you can look at my system specs in my sig. regardless, i have had no problems with it after about an hour of gameplay. (coolbits settings are at split screen rendering for my SLI settings). honestly, it loaded the level much faster when i had it on, same goes with other loading screens. i'll edit this for other games when i get the chance. unfortunately, i don't have any hard evidence, just a personal experience.
Originally posted by: BadAcid
What about Vertical sync? Is everyone avoiding the question?
I have a DFI Ultra-D and the Enermax 535W SLI PSU, so SLI option is semi-open to me, and I might capitalize some day, but I know most people choose to turn vertical sync off for performance (brag about image quality all you want, but if the image is sheared in 2, it's just not appealing). I just wonder if vertical sync is fully functional with perforamce boosts on SLI systems. Any answers welcome
1. I don't know what this "horrible tearing" people are referring to is about? Maybe monitor specific issue, I don't see it with vsynch off.
2. I just did the timedemo of Doom3 16X12 4X8X, vsynch on- 57.3 fps. Then I played the game with vsynch on, no problem.
Then I played UT2004 with Vsynch on, 19X12 4X8X Torlan. Played fine, but the fps was consistently higher (80s-100) than my possible refresh rate at that resolution. (85Hz) IIRC from the days I cared about vsynch, fps are capped at refresh rate?
So there you have it- app controlled vsych surely works, through control panel it may not. (if my memory is correct)
Elfear
Diamond Member
- May 30, 2004
- 7,165
- 824
- 126
Not sure what you mean by a lot. Here are a few benchmarks I found:
FarCry 1600x1200 4AA/8AF
FarCry 1600x1200 4AA/8AF
FarCry 1600x1200 4AA/16AF Catacombs
Half-Life 2 1600x1200 4AA/?AF
Half-Life 2 1600x1200 4AA/8AF Town
Half-Life 2 1600x1200 4AA/8AF Canals
Half-Life 2 1600x1200 4AA/8AF
UT2004 1600x1200 4AA/8AF
UT2004 1600x1200 4AA/?AF
The 7800GTX is the fastest card out on the market right now but I wouldn't say it's a lot faster than ATI's current flagship card. At least in the games I play. I'm sure in Doom3 the X850XT gets it's butt handed to it, but that's pretty much a given.
I do think you misunderstood me, and I can see why...I worded that sentence wrong.
What I meant was, it's archaic to require that two identical cards have to simply "split hairs" somewhat and divy up the screen. It just seems, to me anyway, that there's a better way.
The better way to which I'm referring would be to indeed combine the awesome powers of these great video cards instead of dividing them. In essence, make two cards act as one. I know this isn't readily possible, and would take some work. I'm ok with that. I'm just saying that eventually, such an option would be very, very nice to exploit.
i would think though, that if they act as one it would still have the same effect. would you rather have a better card running half the load, and another running the other half. i mean, i think that it is accomplishing the effect of them running "as one" by seperating the load between them. though, i do agree it would be nice to have them act as one, but even then wouldn't it still be the same net effect? i don't know.
would it have the same net effect? who's to say?
it's just the concept of combining powers, merging as if it were a Dark Archon...it's really what's behind this whole SLI (and soon, crossfire) thing...that we can supposedly solve all sorts of frame issues by simply throwing additional horsepower at it.
and from what I've seen, the whole thing needs some serious work.
it's just the concept of combining powers, merging as if it were a Dark Archon...it's really what's behind this whole SLI (and soon, crossfire) thing...that we can supposedly solve all sorts of frame issues by simply throwing additional horsepower at it.
and from what I've seen, the whole thing needs some serious work.
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