SLI worth it?

[VoteQuimby]

Hi,
I have about $300 to burn and I?m considering SLI. I?m looking for your advice on whether I should or shouldn?t go for it. I?m currently running a Gateway FPD2185W 21" (1680x1050) with an EVGA 7800GT on EVGA?s SLI motherboard. Before my FPD2185W I ran games at 1024x768 and got great frames (100+fps w/ full HDR enabled & 4xAA 8xAF) specifically in DOD:Source. But now at 1680x1050 (w/o HDR & 2xAA & 4XAF) I get 60fps max and on average I?m around 40-50 fps. Would adding SLI bring my frames up a decent amount? I?m going to read some reviews today and see what I find, but if you can add some insight I?d appreciate it.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I had 2 7800 GTs in SLI and I have to say that I was dissapointed. The only games I saw some real gain in were COD2 and FEAR. However, to maintain very fluid gameplay (50+ fps) I was restricted to 1024x768 -- albeit with everything maxed out. Same with COD2 though even then I had to put the body count to medium. IMO, its not worth it. Buying a better card like an x1900xt or the upcoming 7900GTX is my recommendation.

BTW, in BF2 i experienced laggy gameplay. 1 7800 GT ran smoother than 2! I cant explain. (yes I tried many drivers, and used the proper procedures)

Just in case, here are my PC stats:
(i've sold my other 7800 GT, though)

AMD64 3500+ @ 2.7 Ghz w/ Big Typhoon Heatsink
eVGA GeForce 7800 GT CO (SLI) 475/1200
eVGA GeForce 7800 GT CO (SLI) 475/1200
DFI SLI Motherboard
2GB 2x1 GB OCZ EB Platinum 3.3.2.7
X-Fi Fatality
74GB WD Raptor
120 Seagate HDD 7200
BenQ LS DW-1655
Sony DW-D22A
Logitech G7 Mouse
Saitek Eclipse Keyboard
Antec 1 P-180 Case
Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones
3DMARK05: 12,037

 

[Dainas]

It was worth it for me, It was ALOT more economical to pay $400 for another 7800GTX than $600+ on well nothing at the time. The 7800GTX 512 wasnt even out when I got my leadtek last Nov (let alone any ATI card worth mentioning). Nothing fazes my rig and I have never experiance anything that can be considered laggy, FEAR is fine at 1600x1200 with 2xAA... althought I cannot speak for 7800GT users, I'm pretty sure going SLI is by far a much better choice economically than splurging on another card and trying to give your old one a new fate.

 

[RussianSensation]

Could sell 7800GT for $200.
$450 X1900XT Overclock that to XTX speeds. Reason: 1) PSU might not handle 2 cards 2) X1900XT will most likely pull away in more shader intensive games in the future (ie. FEAR) 3) X1900XT will increase performance across the board 4) ATI cards have better AF quality.

There are certainely pros for going with a 2nd 7800GT though:

As far as speed increase with 7800GT SLI is concerned, factory overclocked 7800GTs should still be faster than X1900XTX cards today in most games where SLI works well.

Review 1
Review 2

In this review it's 7800GTX 256mb cards but overclocked 7800GT cards should be close to this performance.
Review 3

 

[LittleNemoNES]

My knock is on SLI itself, I guess. Maybe you can run FEAR @ 1600x1200 with average 40 fps, but you'll OFTEN hit ~ 20 or less... HOw some people can put up with that is beyond me.

Guess that I'm expecting more from $700 worth of vid cards.

 

[Dainas]

Nope, cant say I hit 20fps too often, the trick is to keep the visual refinement at 2xAA/8xanis, all nvidia tricks on cept triliniar cheat, and soft shadows off. It looks alot better than ANYTHING at 1280x1024, let alone 1024x768.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

SLI worth it?

yes and no

at the high end, ie 7800's 7900's its worth it, if you have the cash, gives you performance that wont be out for a few months. though the x1900xtx is already snapping at the heels of 7800GT SLI. (tho 7800GT SLI users had that performance much earlier)

you'll never make the money you spent on it back, but to get a little taste of the speed to come in the future its good

 

[imported_rod]

Personally I would get another 7800GT, maybe even a cheap 2nd hand as the insane adopters get their X1900XT's and 7900's.

RoD

 

[LittleNemoNES]

but that's the thing -- 4xAA, 16xAF, and gamma correct AA are standard, AFAI'm concerned. tricks are that -- tricks. Don't like em, no sir.

 

[BassBomb]

financially not worth it...

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Yeah, also what BassBomb said

 

[VoteQuimby]

What is my best choice if I'm looking at longevity? This will be my last upgrade for a while.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: gersson
I had 2 7800 GTs in SLI and I have to say that I was dissapointed. The only games I saw some real gain in were COD2 and FEAR. However, to maintain very fluid gameplay (50+ fps) I was restricted to 1024x768 -- albeit with everything maxed out. Same with COD2 though even then I had to put the body count to medium. IMO, its not worth it. Buying a better card like an x1900xt or the upcoming 7900GTX is my recommendation.

BTW, in BF2 i experienced laggy gameplay. 1 7800 GT ran smoother than 2! I cant explain. (yes I tried many drivers, and used the proper procedures)

Just in case, here are my PC stats:
(i've sold my other 7800 GT, though)

AMD64 3500+ @ 2.7 Ghz w/ Big Typhoon Heatsink
eVGA GeForce 7800 GT CO (SLI) 475/1200
eVGA GeForce 7800 GT CO (SLI) 475/1200
DFI SLI Motherboard
2GB 2x1 GB OCZ EB Platinum 3.3.2.7
X-Fi Fatality
74GB WD Raptor
120 Seagate HDD 7200
BenQ LS DW-1655
Sony DW-D22A
Logitech G7 Mouse
Saitek Eclipse Keyboard
Antec 1 P-180 Case
Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones
3DMARK05: 12,037

You know that single 7900GTX wont top dual 7800GTs....

And... i played FEAR at higher settings than you on the rig in sig... turn off their abortion of soft shadows and the game runs great and looks pretty much the same.

I would say dual 7800GTs is the best option out there right now for you. However, the source engine likes all the cpu you can throw at it, so you wont be seeing 80% increases in that particular title.

However, in shader heavy games, FEAR, Oblivion, The plethora of games based off of Unreal Engine 3 on the way, among many others, SLI will be a large improvement.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: gersson
but that's the thing -- 4xAA, 16xAF, and gamma correct AA are standard, AFAI'm concerned. tricks are that -- tricks. Don't like em, no sir.

Well in that case you can just get 9800Pro and it'll play most games at 1024x768 without AA/AF easily. Without AA/AF, Xbox360 games look better than PC and it costs $300 for the full setup.

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: gersson
but that's the thing -- 4xAA, 16xAF, and gamma correct AA are standard, AFAI'm concerned. tricks are that -- tricks. Don't like em, no sir.

Well in that case you can just get 9800Pro and it'll play most games at 1024x768 without AA/AF easily. Without AA/AF, Xbox360 games look better than PC and it costs $300 for the full setup.

nownow:! people are going to crazy over this statement but i can say you are 100% right on the graohic level you get from XBOX 360 for $300-$399 : )

Most games do look awesome but most people don't have awesome tv to even see the awesome improvement :!

 

[themusgrat]

Looking to the future, get a high-end card now, not ultra-high, something in your 300 price range. Then in the future, when you start lagging, add another. Maybe by then, drivers will be better and will allow you to take more of an advantage from SLI.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: VoteQuimby
What is my best choice if I'm looking at longevity? This will be my last upgrade for a while.

...depends on how willing you are to sell your 7800GT and not ever capitalize on your SLI motherboard investment. Either selling your GT and picking up that $450 X1900XT or adding a second GT will get you a sweet gaming rig. Period. Chances are that no matter which way you go, by this time next year your rig will still be decent, but nothing special.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

If you're questioning it I'm going to say its not worth it. If you took the time to look at reivews you'd realize SLI (or Crossfire) is really only worth it if you've got a system that can handle it and take advantage of it. Obviously you're going to want a really fast CPU (at least 2GB of ram), and a monitor that can take advantage of the extra power 20" at least, if not larger (ie (1680x1050/1600x1200 or better). For SLI to make sense you really need to have more money than you know what to do with. I'd highly recommend staying away from it if you really have to consider squeezing SLI into a budget.

 

[VoteQuimby]

My system Specs:
CPU: AMD Operton 146 2000MHz @ 2800MHz
Motherboard: EVGA NF41 SLI
Memory: 2GB of OCZ PC3200 DDR
Video Card: EVGA 7800GT Nvidia GeForce
Hard Drive: Samsung SATAII 250.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS
Monitor: 21" Gateway FPD2185W
DVD R/W: NEC
Sound Card: SB Audigy 4

 

[CP5670]

I have two 7800GTs and have not been very satisfied with them. The performance is excellent in most cases, but the broken vsync in many games and to a lesser extent profile hassles is not what I wanted from a $600 setup. It can be an excellent purchase or a headache depending entirely on what games you play. In most older games I am just using a single card, as I am finding that the tearing is so bad (much worse than anything on a single card for some reason) that motion actually feels very choppy despite the framerate being fairly high. And I am having some issues with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory; for some reason the performance is well below what I would expect given the benchmarks out there and how my old 6800 GT did with it.

The SLI concept is great in theory, but I am finding that the current implemenation is more trouble than it's worth in many games I play. I want to switch to a single card but at the same time don't want to give up anything in speed, so I'm going to wait it out for a while.

That being said, two of these EVGA 7800GTs are still faster than any current single card, so if you can verify that all the games you play work well with it, go for it.

As for FEAR, I don't think anything short of two of the highest end cards will run it decently online except at very low settings. I play it at 1280x960 with no AA or soft shadows and the framerate still falls into the low 20s quite often in intense multiplayer games.

 

[VoteQuimby]

After looking at reviews I'm seeing similar results between the X1900 XTX & the SLI 7800GTs. I'm leaning towards keeping my 7800GT and waiting for the March 9th release of the 7900 series, and possibly using EVGA's step-up program to move to a 7900GT and go SLI from there. Or trade in my 7800GT and cash money with the step-up program and going for a single 7900GTX 512.

 

[DeathSlayer]

Only get SLI if you plan to play games at 1600x1200 or higher. Simple as that

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: VoteQuimby
Hi,
I have about $300 to burn and I?m considering SLI. I?m looking for your advice on whether I should or shouldn?t go for it. I?m currently running a Gateway FPD2185W 21" (1680x1050) with an EVGA 7800GT on EVGA?s SLI motherboard. Before my FPD2185W I ran games at 1024x768 and got great frames (100+fps w/ full HDR enabled & 4xAA 8xAF) specifically in DOD:Source. But now at 1680x1050 (w/o HDR & 2xAA & 4XAF) I get 60fps max and on average I?m around 40-50 fps. Would adding SLI bring my frames up a decent amount? I?m going to read some reviews today and see what I find, but if you can add some insight I?d appreciate it.

40-50 FPS is BAD and worth upgrading? Be honest here your a guy like me and LOVE getting new toys? If your FPS is what you say it is then you dont need to buy anything IMHO. If your getting 60 max maybe your running vsync and a 60 refresh rate?

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

I am in a similar quandry. I have a potential buyer for my BFG 7800GTX OC at $250.00 and I would get a X1900XTX (I would watercool it) to run on a X2 with a 2405 monitor. SLI would cost me another 520 for the BFG 7800GTX OC card (why it remains so high irritates me) or sell the one 7800GTX and get the X1900XTX for around 250 out of pocket. Which way to go? Incidentally, I have the DFI SLI NF4 board. Sigh. Is the 7800GTX OC SLI better than one x1900XTX for double the out of pocket?

 

[RussianSensation]

michaelpatrick33, for what games specifically are you not happy with 7800GTX OC performance? I certainly dont feel like upgrading from it to X1900XT is worthwhile given so few games that your performance will benefit in. Besides, your card is fast enough. I'd say keep it until G80 or R600.