SLI GTS or would just one GTX be best for me?

madara

Member
Mar 6, 2000
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Will be ordering parts to build a pc from newegg this wednesday. The last time I did was 2001 so I cant afford to build new one too often. Im abit torn if I should go with a 680i MB with two 8800 GTS cards or find a MB and just get single GTX card. My play style is mmorpgs, I barely touch FPS or very intensive games unless it has rpg elements like Elders or M&M but I would like to future proof this rig as best I can. So 90 percent of the time this year I imagine its going to be World of Warcraft (which I get 5-10fps with now lol). Does that game even make use of SLI? I fear wasting second $400 card especially when my cpu is budgeted at E6600 duo core 2.4

I dont have problem if SLI assets will not be used right away as long it is the forseeable future. My luck they find a new tech and we go back to single cards next year and I feel like I was taken as bad as 1066 RD RAM PCs last time.

Otherwise I planned on going with:

EVGA 680I SLI MB
2X EVGA 8800GTS SLI
GameXstream 700 PS
Lian Li Plus 2 case
Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4
CorSair XMS2 2GB DDR2 800
WD Raptor WD1500

Got 5ms Samsung LCD already from the Best Buy sale. First LCD ever and its 22 inches of bliss :) 1680x1055



 

Airs

Senior member
Jun 21, 2001
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My vote:

Single GTX
E6400
Corsair HX620 or Seasonic 700M
Cheaper RAM
74GB raptor + 320gb secondary seagate
 

willtriv

Member
Oct 21, 2005
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single gtx wins, sli isn't useful in wow and multi gpu always fades in and out. A faster single card is always in :)
 

alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: airs
My vote:

Single GTX
E6400
Corsair HX620 or Seasonic 700M
Cheaper RAM
74GB raptor + 320gb secondary seagate

i agree

if wow is basically the most graphically intensive game you'll be playing, why get an 8800 in the first place? go with a 7600GT or something for now and upgrade the video card in like a year when prices should be significantly cheaper and other cards will be out
 

madara

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Mar 6, 2000
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Thanks, I Just want the absolute best performance I can get out WoW. Very hard to explain trying compete PVP in that game when getting 5-10FPS. If single GTX will offer no real benefit over 7600GT I look into that. Need find decent MB that isnt 680i then now and can be abit future proof on upgrading cpus for next few years. Thanks for input, alot think about.
 

Airs

Senior member
Jun 21, 2001
314
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76
Gigabyte DS3 maybe?

X1950XT is pretty cheap right now i think...
 

CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
Oct 21, 2006
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My brother and I both play World of Warcraft.

His system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (stock speed)
ASUS P5B Deluxe / WIFI
2x1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800, 5-5-5-15
eVGA 7900GS
Seagate 7200.10 320GB

My system:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (overclocked to 3.4GHz)
eVGA 680i SLI
2x1GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 800, 4-4-4-12
eVGA 8800GTX
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB

There are no noticeable framerate differences between the computers. Sure, mine might hit 80-120FPS versus his 40-60, but unless the framerate monitor is running you can't tell the performance difference between both systems anyway. His computer also cost about a thousand less, if not more.
 

imported_RedStar

Senior member
Mar 6, 2005
526
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"There are no noticeable framerate differences between the computers. Sure, mine might hit 80-120FPS versus his 40-60..."

even in the cities??
 

InFeXiOn

Senior member
Sep 29, 2006
284
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No, anything above 30fps even in major cities has any difference in feeling. If all you're playing is WoW, go with a much cheaper system. I use a 7600 GS at 1366x768 (32'' LCD TV) and my framerate; even in major cities, never drops below 60 with everything on max. You don't need an 8800GTX yet, so wait until prices drop when competitors are out.
 

Sunrise089

Senior member
Aug 30, 2005
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OP - Your build is massive overkill for WOW. I know you want to "future-proof" but buying on the high-end is the surest way to waste $$$. What you want is this:

Your CPU
Your case
Your memory
A P965 chipset motherboard unless you're really attracted to that 680i for some reason.
and more importantly...
$180 X1950pro
Seagate 320gig HD
Quality 500watt PS (we'll splurge a bit here to be able to upgrade GPUs in the future).

This should save you $650. Take that money and buy a $325 video card this time next year and year after that. The X1950pro will play Wow just fine at your resolution, and each of those two future cards will be faster than a 8800GTS will be. Plus you get to sell your old cards for a bit of spending $$$.
 

madara

Member
Mar 6, 2000
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There much of difference from 965 Ps and Gs Motherboards? few out of stock on newegg and cant seem find what seperates them. Could any do quad core someday or they all limited to extreme duo as most upgraded cpu?
That WoW comparsion was great, thank you

 

alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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the following link doesn't have the WOW benchmarks for the cards but i've linked to the F.E.A.R. page for the benchmarks. at 1600x1200 resolution, the 7600GT is going strong at 39fps (FEAR is more demanding than WOW, btw)
Anandtech benchmark

i agree with airs, go with the gigabyte DS3