Quad SLI.....getting out of hand?

[imported_taku]

Quad pci express slots would be great for financial applications. i use four monitors, dont play games and only need up to 1024 by 1280 pixels for portait mode.

Four pci express slots would allow eight monitors with inexpensive dual port DVI video cards.

I do agree for the gamer looks like a waste of money and time, i am waiting to buy such a motherboard that uses at least a AMD 939 +3800


MSI K8NGM2-FID
love this board.
2000 pro . sp4
xfx 6600GT antec tx 640b sp400 amd 939+3700 single layer Emprex dual layer cd dvd r/w floppy
2x120 ide maxtor corsair 2x512 3 dell 1905 FP protait mode 1024x1280
P4C800 deluxe p4 chip
2000 pro . sp4
everthing else about the same
except 4 dell 1905FP
pny 5500 dual port analog agp
and another one PCI dual port
portait mode 1024x1280
ASUS A8N VM CSM stored in the dust bin.

 

[Cookie Monster]

It has its cons and pros. But for most of us, its really out of our hands. To those with unlimited funds, they wont mind 7900GTX Quad Sli will they , or even 8 monitors all from one PC etc.

NV will defitnetaly conquer the ultra high end if this became discrete, not just a dell only product.

 

[aznrice54]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
...and how is this different from just making a GPU with more pipelines?

I see your point, but I'd prefer a single card with a gazillion pipelins than multiple cards...I dunno, it's just me, I've never been two attracted to the dual-card options (power, noise, heat etc.)

Originally posted by: Matthias99
While selling multiple cards can get to be a bit much, I personally think that moving towards multiple GPUs on cards (multiple discrete GPU cores working as one, not the 'sli-on-a-card' hackjobs we've seen so far) is almost inevitable.

I'm frankly very surprised we've gotten to 400+ million transistor GPU cores -- but then again, I didn't think many people would be willing to pay $600+ for a graphics card at a point where you can buy a full system for less than that.

Yeah, that was more of what I was getting at, having to have four cards in your system or something in order to achieve extreme performance. Of course there will be those who already have FX-60s and 1kW PSUs that will have no problem with Quad-SLI or Crossfire (gasp, multi-dongle), but I guess the rest of us will have to settle with more practical alternatives - not everyone has those 1kWs that can actually support these quad monsters.. Ah, the days when the performance crown meant a single card...

 

[CP5670]

I won't be buying this as I'm not that happy even with normal SLI, but it doesn't hurt to have the option for whoever wants it. As remarked earlier, people buy all sorts of other high end hardware like processors and memory that give very minimal performance boosts for the added price. For people who play the latest games a lot and have a 2560x1600 LCD, at least this will provide much better gains for the money.

 

[imported_Crusader]

Originally posted by: Matt2
SLI makes sense to me. But only if you're going with two mid-high end cards to get super highend performance.

7800GTs are the perfect example of when SLI makes sense, myself and several other baord members here can back me up on that one.

I paid $300 a pop a couple of months ago and I got better than 7800GTX 512 performance for $200 less.

I think one option we may be overlooking is Quad-SLI down in the lower mid range. I wonder what kind of performance we can get with 7600GTs in Quad SLI?

I agree.

SLI makes sense. As a single card is designed for maximum energy efficiency, two tends to push the limits.. any more and you are going beyond a lot of what many 400-600watt PSUs are capable of powering.

SLI can be mainstream, its reliable tested technology that doesnt really require an incredibly massive PSU.. no more massive than I would want anyway even if i didnt use SLI. Quad SLI is kinda silly though.. a nice oddity like the old quad core Voodoo 5 6000

I'm not bitter though like many who hate to see NV the performance king with things like this, brute force is how everyone takes the performance crown.
Marketshare is what matters, unfortunately for many, NV has that too.

 

[BenSkywalker]

It will be great for developers. Now instead of having to try and guess what level of complexity they can use when they start working on a new game they can target quad SLI at the beginning of development and by the time the game is ready to ship it will be a good baseline for performance. Given that games take a few years to build from scratch, it should be an attractive proposition. Of course, we need ATi to offer something comparable to avoid a heavy nV bias from devs(not intentional- but obviously you are going to try and make the game work well on your dev system).

 

[imported_Crusader]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Of course, we need ATi to offer something comparable to avoid a heavy nV bias from devs(not intentional- but obviously you are going to try and make the game work well on your dev system).

Theres not too many features that are NV or ATI dependant thankfully. Only when ATI or NV seem to fall behind in DX standards (or OGL standards I guess).

But you raise a good point, and I think it would be wise for devs to use something like this for an appropriate baseline when building an engine from scratch (or essentially doing so).

 

[Insomniator]

I think its good for gaming, at least the graphical aspect of it. Who cares if the single 500 dollar card wont run at high settings when medium still looks better then anything ever before it?
low/med/high are meaningless words. If quad SLI allows developers to make the game capable of looking better then before, then fine, because at least the capabilty for the game to look that much more amazing is still there for future graphics cards that dont cost 1600$ combined.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Just out of curiosity where are these people geting the 1KW figure for power draw. According to AT articles where they test this, a dual card SLI setup barely makes it over 350Watt. Tack on 2 more cards and you MAY hit 700 Watt. Yes, way too much for mine and others tastes, but still a far cry from 1KW.

-Kevin

Give that extra $1200 to charity. because you really dont need it,

Oh give me a break Mr. 2x Dual G5's! If you are going to pull that argument, none of us need our computers so hell, why dont i sell it and give THAT money to charity also??

(I think charity is excellent, and i give to it often; im just making a point right here)

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

I'm not even going to read this entire thread but from the looks of these responses it is the SAME exact SLI is a waste of money thread that happened at the beginning of 2005. Yeah Quad SLI is crazy but for those with the money and desire will buy it.

Look at it like this... Dells Renegade coming out is a prelude to the idea done right a few months later when we get the dual GPU boards that are able to run in an SLI config. Can't wait for that myself. We're lucky these 2 powerhouses are at war with each other, it's what gives us faster systems.

What are YOUR suggestions that are a better alternative to SLI? I'd love to hear em considering you can't have something better than the best thing out without doubling it up. The fastest card out is the fastest card out PURE and SIMPLE. What would you like to see...? The card that isn't out yet that upgrades itself to the nextgen board before it's released?

Until there is a faster setup than SLI, SLI or Crossfire is the only way to go for the ultimate configuration.

 

[TheRyuu]

Personally, I think that "dual" SLI is just fine. I have 2 7800GT's in SLI and thats one of the only viable options for the masses if they considered getting an SLI setup. Two video cards is plenty for me. I went SLI for the minimum framerates, as well as cranking up the eye-candy. IMO, I think it was worth it.

 

[essasin]

Im sure the people who actually buy these things have some much money its pretty much considered spare change. Its literally chump change to some companies cuz you see them dump their old servers, scsi setups, and networking equipment that are still worth thousands of dollars. So spending money on a quad sli setup for them does not seem that much.

 

[RossCorp]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Just out of curiosity where are these people geting the 1KW figure for power draw. According to AT articles where they test this, a dual card SLI setup barely makes it over 350Watt. Tack on 2 more cards and you MAY hit 700 Watt. Yes, way too much for mine and others tastes, but still a far cry from 1KW.

I was just ranting when I said that at the start. But if I had an oc'd dual core guzzling alongside 4 crazy clocked dual gpu whatever it may be at the time graphics cards, I'd probably be willing to spend the extra 100 or so for a kilowatt of juice