sli worth it?

[song414]

Hi all. First off I know it is a simple matter of what I use my computer for. Well let me start off by saying I am a poor high school student who has a job that pays minimum wage. I am doing the biggest upgrade I ever did. Now if I am going to invest in a sli motherboard then I better use it eventually. Anyways I am planning on buying a Dell 2405fpw or 2407fpw. Now I will use my computer for gaming/movies/internet/xbox360 hookup/ps3 hookup. Basically a multimedia center. Now I want to invest in a graphics card(or two) that can handle this monitor. I want to run all games on 1920x1200 with full settings (dont believe I should have AA at that resolution and maybe AF if it hinders performance. I don't want to spend more than 400$ maximum on video card(s). Now I plan on playing FEAR at that resolution as well as COD2. I will most likely buy a 7900 gt. Is that a good investment in the near future? I can save 40$ on a mobo by not getting sli. On top of that i dont have to invest on a 100-150$ PSU. Also what is the best budget mobo without sli? I was thinking the ASRock. It looks like a good investment. Should I go for that? How good is it for overclocking since I have a opty 165 and want to get 2.5-2.7ghz. Anyways I'm looking to save every penny I can.

 

[moonboy403]

if you want the highest possible power NOW
it's worth it

but it's not worth it if you buy one now and get another one later

 

[Cooler]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
if you want the highest possible power NOW
it's worth it

but it's not worth it if you buy one now and get another one later

agreed only if you want the very best and have cash to burn.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Cooler

Originally posted by: moonboy403
if you want the highest possible power NOW
it's worth it

but it's not worth it if you buy one now and get another one later

agreed only if you want the very best and have cash to burn.

Errrrr- no.

$270 7800GT at newegg

Spending $540 on your video cards doesn't put one in the "cash to burn" crowd IMO.

 

[BFG10K]

It is if there's a next generation G71 derivative that costs less and runs faster (which there probably will be).

 

[Cooler]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Cooler

Originally posted by: moonboy403
if you want the highest possible power NOW
it's worth it

but it's not worth it if you buy one now and get another one later

agreed only if you want the very best and have cash to burn.

Errrrr- no.

$270 7800GT at newegg

Spending $540 on your video cards doesn't put one in the "cash to burn" crowd IMO.

540 to some people is alot rollo for just a video card.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: Cooler

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: Cooler

Originally posted by: moonboy403
if you want the highest possible power NOW
it's worth it

but it's not worth it if you buy one now and get another one later

agreed only if you want the very best and have cash to burn.

Errrrr- no.

$270 7800GT at newegg

Spending $540 on your video cards doesn't put one in the "cash to burn" crowd IMO.

540 to some people is alot rollo for just a video card.

na, 540 is nothing. What about dual GTX 512's. Now that is a Money to burn card. 2 of those GT's that you can get for 540 will easily equal if not beat the performance of any top end single card (at the moment).

If you are going to be running sh!t at uber high resolutions than SLI might be a good investment. It all depends on the size of your wallet. Dual 7800GT's would be the best investment of money into SLI IMO.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Cooler

Spending $540 on your video cards doesn't put one in the "cash to burn" crowd IMO.

540 to some people is alot rollo for just a video card.
[/quote]

I agree $540 is a lot of money, but it's what a high end video solution costs these days. I wish they were $300 like in the good old days myself.

 

[song414]

I Dont have 540$ to burn on top of that spending 100-150$ on a psu. So what would be the best single mobo board? Is ASRock good? Is it a good o/cer?

 

[tuteja1986]

to tell you the truth not. its really over rated.

 

[Eureka]

The ASUS A8N-E is a very good single-card motherboard.

Norm

 

[Fadey]

I use that and its fine , ok overclocker , never had any problems with it

 

[M0RPH]

Do you think paying 100% more for 50-60% more performance is a good deal? The dual video card thing is a clever idea by graphics companies to get more of your money. Why stop at selling you one card when they can sell you two? And I must admit they've done a brilliant marketing job of convincing people that they need dual video cards. The very fact that someone like you, who doesn't have lots of money to blow, still almost feels obliged to buy an SLI motherboard, is a testament to their brilliant marketing. Well, don't fall for it. Don't pay for SLI, you don't need it.

 

[CP5670]

Hi all. First off I know it is a simple matter of what I use my computer for. Well let me start off by saying I am a poor high school student who has a job that pays minimum wage. I am doing the biggest upgrade I ever did. Now if I am going to invest in a sli motherboard then I better use it eventually. Anyways I am planning on buying a Dell 2405fpw or 2407fpw. Now I will use my computer for gaming/movies/internet/xbox360 hookup/ps3 hookup. Basically a multimedia center. Now I want to invest in a graphics card(or two) that can handle this monitor. I want to run all games on 1920x1200 with full settings (dont believe I should have AA at that resolution and maybe AF if it hinders performance. I don't want to spend more than 400$ maximum on video card(s). Now I plan on playing FEAR at that resolution as well as COD2. I will most likely buy a 7900 gt. Is that a good investment in the near future? I can save 40$ on a mobo by not getting sli. On top of that i dont have to invest on a 100-150$ PSU. Also what is the best budget mobo without sli? I was thinking the ASRock. It looks like a good investment. Should I go for that? How good is it for overclocking since I have a opty 165 and want to get 2.5-2.7ghz. Anyways I'm looking to save every penny I can.

At the 2405/2407's native resolution, SLI is pretty much a must in a few of the latest games in my opinion. As mentioned earlier, two 7800GTs are relatively inexpensive and give better performance than any single card right now. Although at this point I would wait and see how the X1900 and G71 pan out.

 

[fstime]

You spend double the money with SLI obviously since you need to buy 2x cards but you rarely get a 100% increase in performance.

More like 50%.

It's up to you.

 

[GOREGRINDER]

if your planning on playin games in 1900x1200,.. nobody can argue the benifits of SLi.now if you said your planning on playing games in 1024x768 then yeah a single card is fine if your short on cash,... quake4 and fear at 1280 or above set to alternate frame rendering with a lil AA is another world from a single GTX

3 words for SLi with a fast cpu in games,... "liquid smooth frames"

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do you think paying 100% more for 50-60% more performance is a good deal?

Originally posted by: BouZouki
You spend double the money with SLI obviously since you need to buy 2x cards but you rarely get a 100% increase in performance. More like 50%.

Doom3 at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 51.6fps
SLI GTs-- 95
Percent increase-- 84%

Far Cry at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 45.6fps
SLI GTs-- 73.8
Percent increase-- 62%

(same page)HL2 at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 57.9fps
SLI GTs-- 85.5
Percent increase-- 48%

Quake 4 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 29.9fps
SLI GTs-- 56.9
Percent increase-- 90%

COD2 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 18.6fps
SLI GTs-- 26.8
Percent increase-- 44%

FEAR 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 20fps
SLI GTs-- 33
Percent increase-- 65%

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF
single 7800GT-- 28.5fps
SLI GTs-- 53.6
Percent increase-- 88%

That's 7 of the most popular recently-released games, averaging about 70% increase in performance with SLI. No it's not 100%, and if you feel you should get 100% increase for a 100% purchase price, then, by all means, dual-card solutions are not for you.

Since you're wanting to play at 19x12 on COD2 and FEAR, you'll likely have to go without AA/AF like you thought. Without those features, the fastest single cards out today (256GTX and X1800XT) should keep the framerates a little above to 30. Anything less powerful will have some slowdowns at 19x12.

ATI is releasing new cards in mere days. I would wait and see how they pan out (and if they help lower the costs of the x1800xt and 256GTX). I suspect you'll need to be buying one of those at a minimum (around $400 right now). So, here's what you do. See how benchmarks and price play out come next week. Compare the SLI 7800GTs at $550 to the performance and price of the new ATI cards and whatever the 256GTX and x1800xt cost. See which fits your needs and budget better. But, I'm leaning toward you not going SLI and buying a single card solution. It'll save you money on both your mobo and PSU, and you'll still be able to play at 19x12, just with no AA/AF. Just be prepared to spend about $400 on the card.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Do you think paying 100% more for 50-60% more performance is a good deal? The dual video card thing is a clever idea by graphics companies to get more of your money. Why stop at selling you one card when they can sell you two? And I must admit they've done a brilliant marketing job of convincing people that they need dual video cards. The very fact that someone like you, who doesn't have lots of money to blow, still almost feels obliged to buy an SLI motherboard, is a testament to their brilliant marketing. Well, don't fall for it. Don't pay for SLI, you don't need it.

Yes. Paying 100% more for 50-60% more performance is a "good deal".

Presuming you have an A64 3000+ or better (and you wouldn't be considering SLI if you didn't) there is no other upgrade that can give you even close to 50-60% more performance.

So by definition, SLI is a "good deal". It's basically the "only deal"- you either choose to have that level of performance, or you don't.

What interesting to me is that when people post they've spent $850-$1000 on the lastest high end cpu, that gets maybe 10% more performance than a $300 A64 3800+ all these SLI hatas are strangely silent. It's a much worse deal, but no one says anything.

Funny how that works. :roll:

BTW- Morph please tell us about the $400 single cards that will run FEAR and COD2 at 19X12? I'm suree we ALL want one, don't hold out on us! :laugh: