Question about dual videocards

[Danywachy]

I was wondering whats the word on using two video cards in games and maybe in 3d apps ? I have an sli motherboard that supports two videocards. Currently I have a 7900 gt, and I want to know if its worth it to put a second videocard later. IS it going to increase performance in games right now ? or games have to support the feature ? anything you can say about this will be helpfull thanks.

 

[essasin]

It is worth putting two top gen cards in sli. But it is not worth upgrading to sli when a new gen card is out because 1 next gen card > 2 old gen cards and you get more for your money.

 

[Danywachy]

Ok, so lets say, if I buy another 7900 gt, is it going to increase performance in todays games? is this supported right out of the box or the game has to specifially suport dual cards ?

 

[Tig Ol Bitties]

Originally posted by: essasin
It is worth putting two top gen cards in sli. But it is not worth upgrading to sli when a new gen card is out because 1 next gen card > 2 old gen cards and you get more for your money.

Uhhh, in his case, SLi'ing those 7900 gt's will beat any current single flagship card (7900 gtx or x1900xtx) in almost all games (not sure about Oblivion). It is shown in several benchmarks already...you can easliy substitute 7800 gtx SLi benchmarks for 7900 gt SLi, although the 7900 is a bit faster. I wouldn't know about OC benches, but its probably the same results with SLi performing better as well
TechReport

Anandtech

To answer OP's question, yes, in todays games, SLi is widely supported out of the box and performance should increase by 25-50%. I dont think you'll see much of a difference in 3D apps, but games will see a framerate boost surely.

 

[Danywachy]

So then two 7900 gt will beat any single card today ?

 

[Tig Ol Bitties]

Well, Ill just say it'll will perform at least equivalent if not better...there have been a couple suprises here and there in certain games, but thats the game talking