Rollo's 6800NU SLI vs 6800GT SLI vs 6800GT Benches

[xtknight]

I still think the 6800GT has better value than the SLI'd 6800NUs.

Ok, so I was bored, really bored, but also curious. Here's some actual value numbers for the cards. Assuming the price of the 6800GT is $400, the price of two 6800NUs is $600, and the price of two 6800GTs is $800.

Of course, the value readings mean nothing if the FPS is unplayable. The majority of his benchmarks yielded playable rates. Bolded results indicate unplayable (less than 60 FPS) rates, so they should be ignored value-wise. Some were close (59-57 FPS) and still bolded, so be sure to refer back to his benchmarks.

(rounded to nearest hundredth, less is better)

Doom3...................NUs dollars/FPS......GTs dollars/FPS........GT dollars/FPS
12x10 2X8X............$7.79....................$8.42......................$5.55
12x10 4X8X............$10.53..................$9.64......................$5.88
16x12 2X8X............$9.84....................$9.52......................$7.69
16x12 4X8X............$14.29..................$11.94.....................$10.53

Half.Life.2...............NUs dollars/FPS......GTs dollars/FPS........GT dollars/FPS

12x9 4X8X
at_c17_12..............$10.34...................$13.56.....................$6.45
at_canals_08..........$6.82.....................$8.89......................$4.82
at_coast_05............$6.59....................$8.70.......................$4.21
at_prison_05...........$6.67....................$8.08.......................$4.76

16x12 4X8X
at_c17_12..............$11.32....................$13.79.....................$7.69
at_canals_08..........$7.89......................$9.20......................$6.67
at_coast_05............$7.06.....................$8.79.......................$4.82
at_prison_05...........$8.57.....................$8.99.......................$6.67

Far.Cry...............NUs dollars/FPS......GTs dollars/FPS........GT dollars/FPS

10x7 4X8X
Regulator............$10.53...................$12.31.....................$7.27
Research.............$6.59....................$7.14.......................$4.55
Training...............$9.52....................$11.59.....................$6.35
Volcano...............$6.59....................$7.34.......................$4.82

12x10 4X8X
Regulator............$13.64...................$13.79......................$9.52
Research.............$9.09....................$8.79........................$6.56
Training...............$12.00..................$12.31......................$8.51
Volcano...............$9.23....................$8.70........................$7.02

16x12 4X8X
Regulator.............$17.65..................$16.67......................$12.90
Research..............$12.00..................$11.11......................$8.70
Training................$15.38..................$14.81......................$11.11
Volcano................$12.24..................$11.27......................$9.52

(rounded to nearest hundredth, more is better)

3D.Mark.05...........NUs marks/dollar......GTs marks/dollar........GT marks/dollar
............................$11.27....................$10.69.......................$12.03

3D.Mark.03...........NUs marks/dollar......GTs marks/dollar........GT marks/dollar
............................$23.79.....................$23.50.......................$28.14

Number.of.Unplayable.Settings..........NUs......GTs........GT
..................................................................11........5............11

The 6800GT came out as the best overall value as you can see from the tables. The dual 6800GTs yielded the most playable settings. The 6800NUs are the best value for a SLI machine.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: housecat
I know SLI is the sh!t, but theres quite a difference between your results and mine.

I dont know what I'm getting in the rest of your benchmarks. But the numbers looks roundabout what I'm getting. Tho I do believe I'm hitting 100+ FPS in HL2@1680x1050 4xAA/8xAF.

SLI results, from what I've seen, seem to have a bit of variance (though, I suppose, like any benchmark result amongst several people).

Here are my results, side-by-side with Rollo's. My specs are a tad different, and I've noted where I've tested differently:

A64 3000+ (313* 8x /133 divider pc3200 2.5-3-3-7)
2x BFG 6800GT
XG 75.90a Quality
DFI NF4 SLI-D (onboard sound)

3DMark05 Rollo 6800GT SLI vs. mine
8555...... 8351

3DMark03 Rollo vs. mine
18799...... 16712

Half Life 2

16x12 4xAA 8xAF, all High "reflect all" Rollo vs. mine

at_c17_12
58...... 65

at_canals_08
87..... 80

at_coast_05
91..... 100

at_prison_05
89..... 87

Far Cry v1.3 build 1337

Used HardwareOC Far Cry Benchmark Utility
Settings: Ultra details 16x12 4xAA 8xAF

Ubisoft- Regulator Rollo vs. mine
48..... 42

Ubisoft Research
72..... 63

Ubisoft Training
54..... 57

Ubisoft Volcano
71..... 61

I've also got some UT2k4 using the Umark Utility.

I would have done Doom3 also, but for some reason, I cannot get it to run using SLI. It constantly comes back with 30fps, though it gets 37fps in non-SLI. So, something's not quite right there and I can't figure it out.

I think that happens because of vsync.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Thats the DVI issue? that doesnt even apply to most LCD users then.

Agreed- that's a joke. We've got Ackmed in every single SLI thread tossing out "too bad it doesn't work with DVI" as if no one with an LCD is using SLI, and if that's it we're talking about people with a couple monitors on one game engine that I know of.

LOL- way to spread the FUD Ackmed. :roll:

I remember reading this issue on a review, wish I remembered the link though. It showed graphics corruption when running in widescreen. I shoulda been more specific, the problem seems to arrise while running in widescreen mode. Could anybody else with SLI and widescreen confirm this? You can probably google the topic and im sure you will find more on this problem.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Thats the DVI issue? that doesnt even apply to most LCD users then.

Agreed- that's a joke. We've got Ackmed in every single SLI thread tossing out "too bad it doesn't work with DVI" as if no one with an LCD is using SLI, and if that's it we're talking about people with a couple monitors on one game engine that I know of.

LOL- way to spread the FUD Ackmed. :roll:

I remember reading this issue on a review, wish I remembered the link though. It showed graphics corruption when running in widescreen. I shoulda been more specific, the problem seems to arrise while running in widescreen mode. Could anybody else with SLI and widescreen confirm this? You can probably google the topic and im sure you will find more on this problem.

What I've seen about it is a. there is a thin line on top of the picture running SLI on widescreen b. HL2 in widescreen aspect ratios is jittery

Not really the end of the world for most of us, few have widescreen lcds, very few widescreen games AFAIK, and what there are you can run at "normal" aspect ratios until there's a driver fix for the widescreen.

 

[user1234]

the reality is that sli has problems, it doesn't work at all or has little effect on about 25% of games, and has other issues on another 25% of games. So it only noticeable improves perofrmance without causing problems on half the games, but even then it rarely doubles the graphics performance. $0.02

 

[deadseasquirrel]

What are you using as 25%? List some games. Let's take some accurate numbers, since everybody knows 86% of all percentages used are made up. I mean, if someone only plays EQ2 and Riddick, they could say SLI works on 0% of their games.

SLI 6800GTs are working perfect for most of the games that I play. And I can't really say that NOLF2 is suffering from SLI support as it plays extremely well maxed out with only using the single GT.

Face it, you're attempting to make a generalization that SLI is bad and shouldn't be purchased. I don't think that's an accurate representation of the facts. If someone has an LCD or old monitor that is stuck at 1280x1024, then I would have to agree with you that they should not invest in an SLI setup. Or, like I mentioned above, if they only play games that are unsupported and have no intention of playing SWAT4, Splinter Cell, or Battlefield 2 (and, hopefully, next gen games will be supported such as AOE3 and Elder Scrolls 4).

Can you agree with me that it highly depends on the individual and their gaming needs on whether or not SLI would be useful to them?

 

[user1234]

for older games it's even worse, but even for newer games I'm sure I can come up with a non working game for every 3 working games that you could come up with. and btw, this whole business of investing in something based on what it supports from the current games you play is BS because you never know about future games for sure. So far it's been shown that at least one in every four new games (at least) does not work well with sli, and you could expect that for your own future games as well - one in every four games you will play in the future will not benefit from sli.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel
What are you using as 25%? List some games. Let's take some accurate numbers, since everybody knows 86% of all percentages used are made up. I mean, if someone only plays EQ2 and Riddick, they could say SLI works on 0% of their games.

SLI 6800GTs are working perfect for most of the games that I play. And I can't really say that NOLF2 is suffering from SLI support as it plays extremely well maxed out with only using the single GT.

Face it, you're attempting to make a generalization that SLI is bad and shouldn't be purchased. I don't think that's an accurate representation of the facts. If someone has an LCD or old monitor that is stuck at 1280x1024, then I would have to agree with you that they should not invest in an SLI setup. Or, like I mentioned above, if they only play games that are unsupported and have no intention of playing SWAT4, Splinter Cell, or Battlefield 2 (and, hopefully, next gen games will be supported such as AOE3 and Elder Scrolls 4).

Can you agree with me that it highly depends on the individual and their gaming needs on whether or not SLI would be useful to them?

Good luck deadseasquirrel. The people who can't afford SLI or hate nVidia are going to post nonsense no matter what you say- helps them feel better about not having it I guess.

I love the guys that post "it doesn't work on 90% of all games!" when there are no stats compiled whatsoever and they just pulled their numbers out of the air.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: user1234
and btw, this whole business of investing in something based on what it supports from the current games you play is BS because you never know about future games for sure... <snip> - one in every four games you will play in the future will not benefit from sli.

So, you're saying that "you never know about future games for sure", yet say 1 in every 4 future games will not work. If you can throw out guesses, so can everyone else and then, ultimately, every single guess is worth the same-- squat.

I won't disagree with you on the fact that we just don't know what the future holds as far as SLI support. I mean, we just don't know. However, SLI was released before the first of this year and if you look at the top selling games since January (Sims 2, WoW, Brothers in Arms, Halo (yes, it's still hitting the top-selling charts), HL2, SW Republic Commando, Pirates!), they ALL support SLI.

And, according to the Nzone list, big upcoming titles such as Battlefield 2, Splinter Cell, and Swat4 are supported. I don't like going by thiis list, because it is not all-inclusive. It's simply nV's "certified" to work list. The latest official nV drivers allow the user to easily create a profile for any game. There are several games that work with SLI that nV has not "certified".

So you can focus on a couple of problem games out there, or old games, or old OSs like 2k if you want to. The fact remains, SLI supports the top money-making games this year, as well as many of last year. And, they've already pegged that some big upcoming titles are certified.

So, yes, the next time a poster asks if he should get SLI 6600GTs for his AXP 1700, with a 19" LCD, for his kid who plays Harry Potter all the time, I will stand right next to you and agree that no, he should not invest in SLI.

But I cannot see how you can tell someone that they should not go SLI when they have a good 21" CRT capable of 2048x1536 at 85hz, play any of the popular games today, and have the money to spend on such a system, and, most important of all, want the best performance. Rollo's benches, as well as the many others out there, show that SLI performance is unmatched. To ignore this is to ignore facts. The only "good" argument I have heard against SLI is that it is more expensive than a non-SLI system.

 

[heedoyiu]

sli is very good tech yet i think the linux dude had a point with the price ratio, right now there is no point to sli a 6800 gt, well on a "logical" person would do, so i think buy a gt now with mobo that supports the sli, then when the new game or program comes out and you are not getting a desired effect then dish out the lesser price for it, lets face it the 6800nu's bench is nice but unnessary right now, and few whiles down the road what are you going to do with your 100 somthin 6800nu's?