Rollo's 6600GT SLI benches

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nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: sellmen
Originally posted by: James3shin
What is up with all the hate towards SLI? It seems that if it was good enough for NV, ATi deemed it good enough for them, after ATi stated they will have their own version of SLI.

I don't think there is any hatred towards SLI as a feature, more the implementation. The fact that Nvidia has to individually support every game makes it almost worthless, IMO. Gamers who are willing to spend the type of money SLI requires probably play all types of games. If your fancy 6600GT SLI rig effectively becomes one 6600GT for many of your games, what's the point? One 6600GT gets absolutely crushed by any 6800GT/X800 level card.

The second problem is that two 6600GT's in SLI make very little sense. As shown on benchmarks on anandtech and other sites, two 6600GT's get outperformed by one 6800GT, sometimes significantly, when using AA/AF and high resolutions. I'm going to assume anyone spending $400+ on a video card setup is going to use AA/AF and high resolutions - making the two 6600GT's a pretty poor option. SLI motherboards come at a $50-60 preminum - you're paying more money for less performance even in SLI compatible games, while at the same time getting poor performance in games that don't support SLI.

If you want to get a pcie card, the X800XL makes the most sense now. Faster than two 6600GT's, and even though retailers are still price gouging, you can get it for $370. Two 6600GT's plus the $50-60 extra for the SLi motherboard will run you more than that.

SLI really only makes sense if you get two 6800GT's or 6800 Ultras, where you will still get good performance in games that don't support SLI.


You are mistaken about several things, let me help you:

1. SLI compatible games: Check out the 71.80 drivers. There are eighty four game profiles in there by my quick count, and the vast majority of them have SLI enabled by default. You can edit to switch the others to SLI, although in some cases like NFS2, you need to turn off motion blur and light trails to see big gains.
84 of the most popular current games is not "a few" or "only some" - it's most games you're likely to actually be playing. I don't play Doom 1 anymore.

2. Price- you can buy two 6600GTs from Monarch for $356 shipped, any time. They have been cheaper also. You cannot buy a X800XL or 6800GT for $356 shipped with any regularity, they are usually well above $400.. $356 is also not "$400+", and you can't make a blanket statement that everyone who spends $356 on a video card(s) expects to play at 16X12 4X8x.

16X12 4X8X Far Cry
Hmmm 35fps average on your X800XL- smooth gaming there! While a 6600GT SLI would only be at 25 fps at that setting, I'd say either is way below playable?

3. WMV9 decode- 6600GT SLI has this, X800XL and 6800GT does not. Ask the guys who lit up the boards when they found their GTs didn't have it if they consider this important.

4. Overall feel of gaming. Average fps is nice, but as HardOCP noted, the 6600GT offers a "smoother" gaming experience than the single 6800GT or X800Pro. This counts for something, a higher average means less if the fluctuation of fps makes animation stilted.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njk2LDg=
The average framerate numbers that we had been exposed to previously that were supplied by NVIDIA simply undervalued the real gaming experience the cards would deliver. Almost across the board, the 6600 GT SLI delivered a better quality gaming experience than did a Radeon X800Pro or a GeForce 6800 GT.

5. If you have a SLI motherboard, the X800XL makes no sense at all right now. Why would you buy a card you can't SLI when you can find GTs for the same price or a little more, and have the possibility of upgrading to an UBER rig that will crush anything?

Last word an compatibility, you can write your own profile for ANY game if those 84 aren't enough for you. Odds are you don't need SLI to run those games super fast anyway, "even" on a 6600GT single, which is still offering greater than 9800XT performance, for well under $200..


Mostly you guys need to get off this idea that your video card choice is some measure of IQ and that you're somehow "doomed" if you don't get the absolute best value for your money.

I bought all of ATIs flagship cards when they were second or third best behind nVidia products (e.g. beloved MAXX), didn't mean I enjoyed them any less. Want to know what the difference is between a 6600GTSLI and X800XL/6800GT? 2XAA or one resolution setting.
Those cards play best at 12X10 4X8X, 6600GT SLI at 12X10 2x8X. Call out the POLICE! Missing out on that 2X means you're criminally insane!



 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: James3shin
you people do realize that rollo got SLI 6600GT's is so he can "play" with them right? Not for performance, he does have a x800xt in the house for play/performance as well...but to get back on topic about SLI performance. The performance gains of SLI are substantial enough for enthusiasts to take the plunge after looking at benchmarks from AT, especially in Doom and Far Cry if I recall. SLI is targeted for "enthusiasts" but there is that indirect target for the budget minded that want to upgrade at a cheaper price later on.


You are correct James, I have a A64 3000+/X800XT PE/19" Sony Trinitron in the spare bedroom that my 5 year old mostly uses. I can play with ATIs best whenever I like. (or at least 3fps below it, as they've re-released the X800 as the X850 with a 20MHz core bump)

The 6600GTs were to check out the way of SLI and decide whether or not to make the big price jump to GTs or Us.

What with all the "anti-SLI smack talk" I wanted to be sure it worked at all....
;)
 

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
9,396
0
0
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: Avalon
Rollo, Steam shouldn't throw too much of a hissy fit if you try to install your copy of HL2 on your son's computer. Just simply login to your account on his computer and install away.

If you're wrong it could cost him his key. Valve has been very touchy since the "From Russia with love" incident and prone to showy excess when it comes to protecting their property. They also tend to save up violations and spring them en masse.

Sorry for bringing back somewhate off topic, but this is just absurd. The whole point of steam is that you can log on, download and play whatever games you own though steam on whatever computer you want. Now don't go giving your account out to the world or logging in from multiple locations at the same time or that might get you banned, but feel free to just copy the whole steam directory over to disk and install that on whatever machine you want.
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
Originally posted by: Zebo
Welcome back Rollo.

I've always said two 6600GT's was a good bang for buck, dispite most peoples ridicule it still offers better bang for buck than 6800GT PCIe. Because they can be had for $350 vs. $500 if you're lucky on GT. The GT certainly does'nt perform 30% better to justify it's price premium, maybe at MSRP it will.

Oh ya and PVP works as well;)

That's a very good point for users who want to go the PCI-e route. However, until they make motherboards that come with both AGP and PCIe for SLI support, I don't see any reason to jump on the PCI-e bandwagon anytime soon. I think they are coming out or have came out with a Intel variant that does this, but I can't remember if it supports SLI. Besides, as you can see by the Intel SLI benchmarks, Intel is definitely not the route to take right now for SLI.
 

HardWarrior

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2004
4,400
23
81
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: Avalon
Rollo, Steam shouldn't throw too much of a hissy fit if you try to install your copy of HL2 on your son's computer. Just simply login to your account on his computer and install away.

If you're wrong it could cost him his key. Valve has been very touchy since the "From Russia with love" incident and prone to showy excess when it comes to protecting their property. They also tend to save up violations and spring them en masse.

Sorry for bringing back somewhate off topic, but this is just absurd. The whole point of steam is that you can log on, download and play whatever games you own though steam on whatever computer you want. Now don't go giving your account out to the world or logging in from multiple locations at the same time or that might get you banned, but feel free to just copy the whole steam directory over to disk and install that on whatever machine you want.

Absurd? Great choice of words there. I would have been glad to address your thoughts on this matter without the hyperbole. As it is, I'll just quietly marvel at the childish, self-serving stupidity that allows you to think that you can simply copy and paste a Steam delivered game wherever you want.

Now please, back to the interesting SLI discussion...

 

sellmen

Senior member
May 4, 2003
459
0
0
Originally posted by: Rollo
Originally posted by: sellmen
Originally posted by: James3shin
What is up with all the hate towards SLI? It seems that if it was good enough for NV, ATi deemed it good enough for them, after ATi stated they will have their own version of SLI.

I don't think there is any hatred towards SLI as a feature, more the implementation. The fact that Nvidia has to individually support every game makes it almost worthless, IMO. Gamers who are willing to spend the type of money SLI requires probably play all types of games. If your fancy 6600GT SLI rig effectively becomes one 6600GT for many of your games, what's the point? One 6600GT gets absolutely crushed by any 6800GT/X800 level card.

The second problem is that two 6600GT's in SLI make very little sense. As shown on benchmarks on anandtech and other sites, two 6600GT's get outperformed by one 6800GT, sometimes significantly, when using AA/AF and high resolutions. I'm going to assume anyone spending $400+ on a video card setup is going to use AA/AF and high resolutions - making the two 6600GT's a pretty poor option. SLI motherboards come at a $50-60 preminum - you're paying more money for less performance even in SLI compatible games, while at the same time getting poor performance in games that don't support SLI.

If you want to get a pcie card, the X800XL makes the most sense now. Faster than two 6600GT's, and even though retailers are still price gouging, you can get it for $370. Two 6600GT's plus the $50-60 extra for the SLi motherboard will run you more than that.

SLI really only makes sense if you get two 6800GT's or 6800 Ultras, where you will still get good performance in games that don't support SLI.


You are mistaken about several things, let me help you:

1. SLI compatible games: Check out the 71.80 drivers. There are eighty four game profiles in there by my quick count, and the vast majority of them have SLI enabled by default. You can edit to switch the others to SLI, although in some cases like NFS2, you need to turn off motion blur and light trails to see big gains.
84 of the most popular current games is not "a few" or "only some" - it's most games you're likely to actually be playing. I don't play Doom 1 anymore.

2. Price- you can buy two 6600GTs from Monarch for $356 shipped, any time. They have been cheaper also. You cannot buy a X800XL or 6800GT for $356 shipped with any regularity, they are usually well above $400.. $356 is also not "$400+", and you can't make a blanket statement that everyone who spends $356 on a video card(s) expects to play at 16X12 4X8x.

16X12 4X8X Far Cry
Hmmm 35fps average on your X800XL- smooth gaming there! While a 6600GT SLI would only be at 25 fps at that setting, I'd say either is way below playable?

3. WMV9 decode- 6600GT SLI has this, X800XL and 6800GT does not. Ask the guys who lit up the boards when they found their GTs didn't have it if they consider this important.

4. Overall feel of gaming. Average fps is nice, but as HardOCP noted, the 6600GT offers a "smoother" gaming experience than the single 6800GT or X800Pro. This counts for something, a higher average means less if the fluctuation of fps makes animation stilted.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njk2LDg=
The average framerate numbers that we had been exposed to previously that were supplied by NVIDIA simply undervalued the real gaming experience the cards would deliver. Almost across the board, the 6600 GT SLI delivered a better quality gaming experience than did a Radeon X800Pro or a GeForce 6800 GT.

5. If you have a SLI motherboard, the X800XL makes no sense at all right now. Why would you buy a card you can't SLI when you can find GTs for the same price or a little more, and have the possibility of upgrading to an UBER rig that will crush anything?

Last word an compatibility, you can write your own profile for ANY game if those 84 aren't enough for you. Odds are you don't need SLI to run those games super fast anyway, "even" on a 6600GT single, which is still offering greater than 9800XT performance, for well under $200..


Mostly you guys need to get off this idea that your video card choice is some measure of IQ and that you're somehow "doomed" if you don't get the absolute best value for your money.

I bought all of ATIs flagship cards when they were second or third best behind nVidia products (e.g. beloved MAXX), didn't mean I enjoyed them any less. Want to know what the difference is between a 6600GTSLI and X800XL/6800GT? 2XAA or one resolution setting.
Those cards play best at 12X10 4X8X, 6600GT SLI at 12X10 2x8X. Call out the POLICE! Missing out on that 2X means you're criminally insane!

1) 84 games is impressive? There are 20-30 PC games released every month. Is Nvidia going to update there driver every week so you can play with your SLI rig? 84 games is a pathetic number, considering the cost of SLI. No one here is talking about Doom 1, don't be stupid - there are hundreds of PC games released each year. I like all of my games to run well out of the box - not sure about you.

2) Add the cost of your fancy SLI motherboard to the cost of your cards. There is a $50-$60 premium on these boards, compared to a regular Nforce4 PCIE board - surely, you won't pay that extra money unless you're going to use SLI? The real cost of your SLI setup is $400+.

35 FPS is much more playable than 25 - not sure what you're trying to prove there. That X800XL is only 40% faster than two 6600GT's? That is a huge difference...

3) WMV9 decode could be a deciding factor, if you use it. As has been said, these cards may make more sense on a CAD type rig/workstation, than a gaming rig. I'm sure the early adopter 6800 crowd was mad at Nvidia; they outright lied about the functionality of their cards.

4) HardOCP's conclusions are useless, because they first decide a "playable' level for each card, and bench each card at different settings. After they do this, they say the 6600GT GT delivers a smoother experience - what a bunch of garbage. If you bench a 6800GT/X800XL vs SLI'ed 6600GT's at the same settingsusing AA and AF, the 6800GT/X800XL will have a higher average framerate and higher minimum framerate.

Even using their useless test methods, you can still see that the 6600SLI computer performed worse. On all the benchmarks, the 6600GT SLI computer had a lower minimum framerate, which really determines how smooth the game appears. Look at the Half Life 2 benchmarks; see how the 6600GT SLI computer has huge framerate dips?

5) I doubt anyone will buy a SLI motherboard, unless they want to use SLI. That's why I factored it into the costs above. If you do have an SLI motherboard, 6800GT's are still significantly more expensive than X800XL's, but I agree that a 6800GT PCIE wouldn't be a bad choice. At least you will get decent performance on non-SLI games.

6600GT's, on the other hand - you are paying more money, for less performance even when SLI works. And when it doesn't work - you get 6600GT performance, which is better than the 9800XT but significantly worse than any X800/6800.

If you want to waste your money, go ahead.
 

Avalon

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2001
7,567
156
106
Originally posted by: TheSnowman
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: Avalon
Rollo, Steam shouldn't throw too much of a hissy fit if you try to install your copy of HL2 on your son's computer. Just simply login to your account on his computer and install away.

If you're wrong it could cost him his key. Valve has been very touchy since the "From Russia with love" incident and prone to showy excess when it comes to protecting their property. They also tend to save up violations and spring them en masse.

Sorry for bringing back somewhate off topic, but this is just absurd. The whole point of steam is that you can log on, download and play whatever games you own though steam on whatever computer you want. Now don't go giving your account out to the world or logging in from multiple locations at the same time or that might get you banned, but feel free to just copy the whole steam directory over to disk and install that on whatever machine you want.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I've seen it. Besides, if you and a buddy are on your account, you can't play online at the same server as each other anyway, so excessive abuse won't exactly work so well. I originally let my brother use my account to try out which HL mods he wanted to see, and then he wound up buying a copy shortly after so we could frag together. There shouldn't be a problem.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Sellmen:
1) 84 games is impressive? There are 20-30 PC games released every month. Is Nvidia going to update there driver every week so you can play with your SLI rig? 84 games is a pathetic number, considering the cost of SLI. No one here is talking about Doom 1, don't be stupid - there are hundreds of PC games released each year. I like all of my games to run well out of the box - not sure about you.
LOL- like I said, you can copy/paste a profile and edit it in wordpad, it's not a big deal. There may be 20-30 games released a month, but for the most part they aren't a challenge for even one 6600GT when it gets right down to it. As far as "out of the box goes", I don't mind having to edit a few profiles to play with cool new tech. (although I don't really buy games that wouldn't have profiles- no "QBert vs Frogger" for me thanks)
The ones that can benefit from SLI, nV does profiles for.


Add the cost of your fancy SLI motherboard to the cost of your cards. There is a $50-$60 premium on these boards, compared to a regular Nforce4 PCIE board - surely, you won't pay that extra money unless you're going to use SLI? The real cost of your SLI setup is $400+.
IMO, the Asus A8N is the best, most "future proof" single CPU board out right now. The $50 extra is a small price to pay for the fact that it's the most flexible and upgradeable board available. Also, you can't consider motherboard/psu cost as part of video card cost. I can sell the 6600GTs for near what I paid for them, and I still have the good mobo and psu.

35 FPS is much more playable than 25 - not sure what you're trying to prove there. That X800XL is only 40% faster than two 6600GT's? That is a huge difference...
There's a pointless difference. 35fps is just as unplayable as 25fps, either would suck. I like the game characters to not look like they're doing that "Robot" dance?


3) WMV9 decode could be a deciding factor, if you use it. As has been said, these cards may make more sense on a CAD type rig/workstation, than a gaming rig. I'm sure the early adopter 6800 crowd was mad at Nvidia; they outright lied about the functionality of their cards.
It was worth it to me to try just for all the import many here put on it.

4) HardOCP's conclusions are useless, because they first decide a "playable' level for each card, and bench each card at different settings. After they do this, they say the 6600GT GT delivers a smoother experience - what a bunch of garbage. If you bench a 6800GT/X800XL vs SLI'ed 6600GT's at the same settingsusing AA and AF, the 6800GT/X800XL will have a higher average framerate and higher minimum framerate.
While you may think H's methods are useless, and I used to myself, there is some wisdom to their method. See your point about 35 vs 25- who cares? You'd never play at either.

Even using their useless test methods, you can still see that the 6600SLI computer performed worse. On all the benchmarks, the 6600GT SLI computer had a lower minimum framerate, which really determines how smooth the game appears. Look at the Half Life 2 benchmarks; see how the 6600GT SLI computer has huge framerate dips?
The lower minimums are important, but I think he meant overall playability and feel to the game. People who remember using 3dfx will know what I'm talking about here- the 3dfx cards motion always "felt" smoother for some reason. Beyond that, Kyle and I have used a 6800GT and a 6600GT SLI. While your review of some reviews may make you think you know something about the playability here, no substitute for hands on.

5) I doubt anyone will buy a SLI motherboard, unless they want to use SLI.
That's a nice, but totally unsubstantiated opinion. I would have doubted it would rain many days in January and February here in WI where it's usually below zero now, but rain it has.

That's why I factored it into the costs above. If you do have an SLI motherboard, 6800GT's are still significantly more expensive than X800XL's, but I agree that a 6800GT PCIE wouldn't be a bad choice. At least you will get decent performance on non-SLI games.
You keep coming back to this "non-sli games" stuff. What games are those?

6600GT's, on the other hand - you are paying more money, for less performance even when SLI works.
Really? What PCIE cards are available for less than 6600GT SLI that are readily available?
There are two vendors on Pricewatch right now selling X800XLs for $370: it starts at $416 and goes up from there for the rest.

And when it doesn't work - you get 6600GT performance, which is better than the 9800XT but significantly worse than any X800/6800.
Here you are again, back at your phantom, straw man point: "the games that don't work".
:roll: Like I said before, which are those, and who cares about some off beat games few buy that don't tax your card anyway?

If you want to waste your money, go ahead.
My friend, I have a A64 3800+/6600GT SLI rig in my den, and a A64 3000+/X800XT PE rig in my spare bedroom. (edited for frustrated rudeness) My money to waste, I come by it honestly.

Let's say I am "wasting" money. (not like I don't when I drink a $15 bottle of beer or Gentleman Jack instead of the regular, but what the heck, let's say "wasting money is bad")

I think we can agee a $370 from two vendors X800XL is the CLOSEST to the 6600GT SLI in price/performance.

So would you agree nothing at $300 touches a 6600GT SLI? If so I "wasted" $70.. Oh no.
 

zakee00

Golden Member
Dec 23, 2004
1,949
0
0
IMO, the Asus A8N is the best, most "future proof" single CPU board out right now. The $50 extra is a small price to pay for the fact that it's the most flexible and upgradeable board available. Also, you can't consider motherboard/psu cost as part of video card cost. I can sell the 6600GTs for near what I paid for them, and I still have the good mobo and psu.
even if that were true, stop by the mobo forum and take a gander at all of the issues people are having with them.
DFI NF4 SLI= best mobo ever made.
 

HardWarrior

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2004
4,400
23
81
Originally posted by: zakee00
IMO, the Asus A8N is the best, most "future proof" single CPU board out right now. The $50 extra is a small price to pay for the fact that it's the most flexible and upgradeable board available. Also, you can't consider motherboard/psu cost as part of video card cost. I can sell the 6600GTs for near what I paid for them, and I still have the good mobo and psu.

even if that were true, stop by the mobo forum and take a gander at all of the issues people are having with them.
DFI NF4 SLI= best mobo ever made.

This is at least partially true. I've seen more than a few complaints about the A8N. And though DFI makes sterling overclocker mb's, the NF4-SLI is still pretty new to the market and problems MAY crop up.

Would you care to expand on what you think makes the A8N more future-proof than other like boards, Rollo?

 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: zakee00
IMO, the Asus A8N is the best, most "future proof" single CPU board out right now. The $50 extra is a small price to pay for the fact that it's the most flexible and upgradeable board available. Also, you can't consider motherboard/psu cost as part of video card cost. I can sell the 6600GTs for near what I paid for them, and I still have the good mobo and psu.

even if that were true, stop by the mobo forum and take a gander at all of the issues people are having with them.
DFI NF4 SLI= best mobo ever made.

This is at least partially true. I've seen more than a few complaints about the A8N. And though DFI makes sterling overclocker mb's, the NF4-SLI is still pretty new to the market and problems MAY crop up.

Would you care to expand on what you think makes the A8N more future-proof than other like boards, Rollo?


Nope, because I meant that nForce4 SLI in general is the most future proof, not the A8N in particular. ;)

I have no problems with it though, and I'm even running Corsair Value RAM they don't recommend for dual channel in dual channel. If that's not a torture test, what is? ;)
 

sellmen

Senior member
May 4, 2003
459
0
0
If you want to waste your money, go ahead.
My friend, I have a A64 3800+/6600GT SLI rig in my den, and a A64 3000+/X800XT PE rig in my spare bedroom. Whatever you're gaming on, I'm doubting you're in a position to give me advice on "good gaming hardware". (odds are against it anyway) If you are, kudos, but I'm still not exactly playing at 6X4 on 90s hardware now am I? My money to waste, I come by it honestly.[/quote]

And that's the bottom line. You don't carry about price or performance, apparently, so you tout SLI like it's something grand. Most of us do...and most of us wouldn't stupidly waste our money, buying a two card solution that is slower than an X800XL/6800GT, while producing more heat and noise...

Two 6600GT's in SLI is just plain stupid for a gaming rig. 6800GT's/Ultras could make sense if you were going for the ultimate gaming rig now.

The X800XL is available now, BTW. "Only two vendors" - I 'm not sure exactly why that bothers you? You can get it now for $370, and the price will keep dropping until it hits the $300 MSRP. Will you still be proud of your $400 SLI rig when it is slower than a single $300 card? Probably...
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
0
81
Originally posted by: sellmen
If you want to waste your money, go ahead.
My friend, I have a A64 3800+/6600GT SLI rig in my den, and a A64 3000+/X800XT PE rig in my spare bedroom. Whatever you're gaming on, I'm doubting you're in a position to give me advice on "good gaming hardware". (odds are against it anyway) If you are, kudos, but I'm still not exactly playing at 6X4 on 90s hardware now am I? My money to waste, I come by it honestly.

And that's the bottom line. You don't carry about price or performance, apparently, so you tout SLI like it's something grand. Most of us do...and most of us wouldn't stupidly waste our money, buying a two card solution that is slower than an X800XL/6800GT, while producing more heat and noise...

Two 6600GT's in SLI is just plain stupid for a gaming rig. 6800GT's/Ultras could make sense if you were going for the ultimate gaming rig now.

The X800XL is available now, BTW. "Only two vendors" - I 'm not sure exactly why that bothers you? You can get it now for $370, and the price will keep dropping until it hits the $300 MSRP. Will you still be proud of your $400 SLI rig when it is slower than a single $300 card? Probably...
[/quote]

Its people like you who cause the problems in these forums. He did all these tests, and went out and spent a whole mess of money and all you can do is find fault in everything he says.

I do disagree with the fact that the A8N is the most future proof, it is no more futureproof than the DFI as both have almost exactly the same features.
 

BenSkywalker

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,140
67
91
Welcome back Rollo,

Any chance you could shut off the AA and bump the res up a bit for a few more runs? Your numbers are greatly appreciated, but I've been chomping at the bit to see some high res numbers for SLI setups. After getting used to playing @2048x1536 it is hard to go back to low res+AA.
 

HardWarrior

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2004
4,400
23
81
Originally posted by: Rollo
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: zakee00
IMO, the Asus A8N is the best, most "future proof" single CPU board out right now. The $50 extra is a small price to pay for the fact that it's the most flexible and upgradeable board available. Also, you can't consider motherboard/psu cost as part of video card cost. I can sell the 6600GTs for near what I paid for them, and I still have the good mobo and psu.

even if that were true, stop by the mobo forum and take a gander at all of the issues people are having with them.
DFI NF4 SLI= best mobo ever made.

This is at least partially true. I've seen more than a few complaints about the A8N. And though DFI makes sterling overclocker mb's, the NF4-SLI is still pretty new to the market and problems MAY crop up.

Would you care to expand on what you think makes the A8N more future-proof than other like boards, Rollo?


Nope, because I meant that nForce4 SLI in general is the most future proof, not the A8N in particular. ;)

I have no problems with it though, and I'm even running Corsair Value RAM they don't recommend for dual channel in dual channel. If that's not a torture test, what is? ;)

Ah, understood.

Value-class RAM on a monster like that? If I based my opinion on CW only I'd expect that you'd have all sorts of issues. Another myth exploded, I guess. "You MUST have high-quality, matched RAM to run dual-channel without problems!!!" ;)

 

HardWarrior

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2004
4,400
23
81
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Its people like you who cause the problems in these forums. He did all these tests, and went out and spent a whole mess of money and all you can do is find fault in everything he says.

Here we go with this BS, again. :disgust:

 

imported_humey

Senior member
Nov 9, 2004
863
0
0
As a asus user i love them but i need admit NF2/3/4 from DFI kill them and my buddy in the biggest irc channel for windows + betas has all the mobos and he hated the asus and now as of 1 week ago has DFI, its running 2.7gig touching 600+ fsb but ram is weak and running 2x 6600gts in sli with cores of 560mhz not sure on all specs to much he pasted in my im/pm windows.

BTW this isnt some dumb leet kid he is married man 45+ with kids and lots of pc know how and his job is that to, i trust him but he knows i use asus, and we agree asus has had lots of buggy beta bioses/drivers so far trying to get the nf4 running well.

I never will buy a rev 1.0 mobo, i sit and wait and see what transpires.
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
0
81
Originally posted by: HardWarrior
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Its people like you who cause the problems in these forums. He did all these tests, and went out and spent a whole mess of money and all you can do is find fault in everything he says.

Here we go with this BS, again. :disgust:

I wasn't aware that i did anything wrong. Please point out what i said that causes your disbelief.

-Kevin
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: sellmen
If you want to waste your money, go ahead.
My friend, I have a A64 3800+/6600GT SLI rig in my den, and a A64 3000+/X800XT PE rig in my spare bedroom. Whatever you're gaming on, I'm doubting you're in a position to give me advice on "good gaming hardware". (odds are against it anyway) If you are, kudos, but I'm still not exactly playing at 6X4 on 90s hardware now am I? My money to waste, I come by it honestly.

And that's the bottom line. You don't carry about price or performance, apparently, so you tout SLI like it's something grand. Most of us do...and most of us wouldn't stupidly waste our money, buying a two card solution that is slower than an X800XL/6800GT, while producing more heat and noise...

Two 6600GT's in SLI is just plain stupid for a gaming rig. 6800GT's/Ultras could make sense if you were going for the ultimate gaming rig now.

The X800XL is available now, BTW. "Only two vendors" - I 'm not sure exactly why that bothers you? You can get it now for $370, and the price will keep dropping until it hits the $300 MSRP. Will you still be proud of your $400 SLI rig when it is slower than a single $300 card? Probably...
[/quote]

Maybe- or maybe I'll have a 6800GT or Ultra SLI rig that will own all and be proud of that.

Or I might get a XGI Volari.

It's hard to tell with me. ;)


 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
SellMen:
Two 6600GT's in SLI is just plain stupid for a gaming rig.

LOL- what do you REALLY think? Stop waffling! LOL- you're quite the pill aren't you?

Let's see:
6600GT SLI is faster than any other rig except 6800GT/X800XL and up, and it matches them at some games settings, exceeds them at high res no AA on some games, and it's "stupid".
Uh huh. It's crazy to want that level of performance! Only the X800XL will do, because it is faster at some benches.

There are people here who are interested in this, I'll answer their questions instead of your pointless flames.

Out of curiosity, do you actually HAVE any of the hardware in question, or are you just a "I read some benchmarks and am now the expert" kind of guy?
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Welcome back Rollo,

Any chance you could shut off the AA and bump the res up a bit for a few more runs? Your numbers are greatly appreciated, but I've been chomping at the bit to see some high res numbers for SLI setups. After getting used to playing @2048x1536 it is hard to go back to low res+AA.

Holy crap! My monitor will only do 19X14 at 72Hz, but I'll see what I can do. Doom3 doesn't seem to let me go that high?
I played some research on Far Cry at High Settings, 19X14, and it ran smooth, but seemed a bit slow.
(which was strange to see, usually it seems like you get stuttering, but this was pretty fluid, just slower)

Perhaps a testament to the "Ave fps doesn't tell the whole story" Kyle at H and I were talking about.

 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Hard Warrior:
Value-class RAM on a monster like that? If I based my opinion on CW only I'd expect that you'd have all sorts of issues.

It seems to work fine, can't see spending the jing for CAS2 Corsair when the 2.5 stuff is doing the job. (and I doubt holding me back more than a couple frames)

I'll definitely send it to FS/T and upgrade if it gives me problems, but so far, so good.
 

sellmen

Senior member
May 4, 2003
459
0
0
Originally posted by: Rollo
SellMen:
Two 6600GT's in SLI is just plain stupid for a gaming rig.

LOL- what do you REALLY think? Stop waffling! LOL- you're quite the pill aren't you?

Let's see:
6600GT SLI is faster than any other rig except 6800GT/X800XL and up, and it matches them at some games settings, exceeds them at high res no AA on some games, and it's "stupid".
Uh huh. It's crazy to want that level of performance! Only the X800XL will do, because it is faster at some benches.

There are people here who are interested in this, I'll answer their questions instead of your pointless flames.

Out of curiosity, do you actually HAVE any of the hardware in question, or are you just a "I read some benchmarks and am now the expert" kind of guy?

Lets recap...

You are proud of your 6600GT SLI computer. It is slower than the X800XL, more expensive than the X800XL, louder than the X800XL, produces more heat than the X800XL.

And you come on this board, and claim that this is a good choice. Right...

And no, I don't have two 6600GT's, nor will I ever. My next computer will be based on the 6800GT PCIE or X800XL PCIE, which are faster than your little SLI rig without the heat, noise, or expensive motherboard. These cards don't choke when you play on high resolutions with AA and AF, which is what most people expect for $400+

If you like to blow your money, fine, just say that. You don't have to defend every purchase you make, you obviously enjoy playing with different hardware and that's fine. I have my own hobies where I spend more money that I should...but I don't violently defend every purchase I make.