SLI vs Non

[Kabob]

I was wondering which of these two setups would be faster. Would 1 6800 Ultra be faster or would 2 6600 GT's in SLI be faster? Trying to figure out my next setup. How about 1 6800 GT vs. 2 6600 GT's in SLI??

 

[Rhagz]

Look and see!

 

[MDE]

How about one 6800 GT\Ultra now and add another when that is too slow?

 

[bunnyfubbles]

the 6600GTs should be slightly faster in the majority of cases, (it is in 2 out of the 3 tests), however it is true, getting 1 6800GT and then adding one in later gives you a nice upgrade option for the near future.

So in other words you are a person who doesn't plan to upgrade the whole system and wants a quick boost, otherwise if you are the kind of guy to cmpletely update everything every year or so, spending all the money on 2 6600GTs would make a faster rig (should be in most cases) than a GT or Ultra rig.

16 total pipes @ 500MHz > 16 total pipes @ 400MHz or less

 

[Pete]

Don't forget that a single Ultra gives you a full 256MB video memory, and that some newer Ultras ship with 450MHz cores (and thus will be faster than in that SLI preview). I'd go with a single Ultra/GT, but you probably should wait for real reviews with a wider range of benchmarks.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
the 6600GTs should be slightly faster in the majority of cases, (it is in 2 out of the 3 tests), however it is true, getting 1 6800GT and then adding one in later gives you a nice upgrade option for the near future.

So in other words you are a person who doesn't plan to upgrade the whole system and wants a quick boost, otherwise if you are the kind of guy to cmpletely update everything every year or so, spending all the money on 2 6600GTs would make a faster rig (should be in most cases) than a GT or Ultra rig.

16 total pipes @ 500MHz > 16 total pipes @ 400MHz or less

Don't forget that two cards will use more power and probably generate more heat and still cost about as much as a single GT\Ultra.

 

[drpootums]

if u had 2x256 mb cards, would u technically have 512 mb's of video memory?

Doom 3 ultra mode here we come...

 

[Pete]

AFAIK, it's still as if you had 256MB available for textures and buffers and arrays and such. So, no.

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: drpootums
if u had 2x256 mb cards, would u technically have 512 mb's of video memory?

Doom 3 ultra mode here we come...

With the right system, you can play D3 in ultra mode already...people have been doing so for quite a while...

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Pete
AFAIK, it's still as if you had 256MB available for textures and buffers and arrays and such. So, no.

But still Pete, isn't each one doing half of the screen, so they in essence work independently and only need to do half the work? So it's not as much of a limitation as if they had to do the whole screen? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Pete
AFAIK, it's still as if you had 256MB available for textures and buffers and arrays and such. So, no.

But still Pete, isn't each one doing half of the screen, so they in essence work independently and only need to do half the work? So it's not as much of a limitation as if they had to do the whole screen? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

You're right, but only of the textures, buffers, and arrays aren't duplicated at all in the top and bottom screens. Any duplicate data will be loaded into the memory of both cards. I think the main point is that the cards don't share the RAM.