To SLI or Not to SLI, that is the upgrade question

[Genison]

Like many of you, I'm trying to figure out my new system. While I'm still trying to figure between a G0 Q6600 or the E6850, the other question is whether to be in the league for SLI. If I want to avoid waiting until the X38, unless it comes out in early August, I have to settle for 680i which is old news and supposedly not great with CPU overclocking. But before I get to any of those questions, I have to decide on whether SLI is worth it.

I've looked at every benchmark out there from HardOCP to Tom's video charts. For about the same price you can get an Ultra 8800 GTX or two 8800 GTS boards in SLI. The SLI's will always win, but is it necessary for me right now? I can get an Ultra now and another later for cheaper (which may mean upgrading to X38 in the future or "sufferring" with a 680i board).

This is what's constant:

I want a 22" widescreen LCD to play at 1680x1050 in all games
I have an Antec TruePower Trio 550W Power supply

And here are the questions:

1. Would SLI be overkill for the next 12 months at that resolution when I can always upgrade to another 8800 GTX cheaper when needed?

2. How much of a concern is the added heat of an SLI rig?

3. Using http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp (Lite Version) to calculate wattage, it looks like I'd be cutting it pretty close on a 550W with two GTS boards even though the PS is SLI certified. What do you guys think?


Any pointers would be appreciative. I know these questions get asked a lot...thanks for looking!

 

[nitromullet]

Couple of things to consider:

1) SLI is never a good upgrade path. SLI is really only good if you buy both at roughly the same time and at relatively close to the product's introduction. Dual card setups are for those that have the cash and want the fastest setup money can buy, not for the upgrader. The reason for this is because the new generation of cards usually beats the last generation's equivalent dual card setup, and a single card is generally cheaper.
2) I would be pretty skeptical about running dual GTXes on that PSU - does it even have the four 6-pin PCIe power connectors?
3) right now, GTX SLI is way overkill for 1680x1050. I run a single GTX at 1920x1200, and haven't felt the need to upgrade yet. Of course, that will change.
4) Buying a $600ish card this late in the product cycle isn't really a good idea. The 8-series cards have been out not for 9 months, and NV is supposedly planning on releasing the next gen in Nov. This isn't a fact by any means, but it is consistent with NV's launch schedule and there is no reason to indicate that it won't happen. I haven't heard anything about a "780i" chipset, but I'd be surprised if NV let Intel have all the PCIe 2.0 thunder, so that might be something to consider...

Taking all that into consideration, I would recommend a P35 motherboard (Gigabyte has some nice ones for $120-150) and either an 8800GTS 640MB or 2900XT 512MB. These cards should be more than enough for 1680x1050, your PSU should be able to handle it, and the motherboard is cheap enough that that it wouldn't be terribly painful to replace it should you decide that you want X38. I also wouldn't suggest picking up X38 right when it comes out anyway. Give Intel some time to refine the chipset, motherboard makers to work out the BIOS kinks, and most of all for the price to drop - I have a feeling that X38 motherboards are going to outrageously expensive.

of course... all this is just my opinion at the moment, so take it with a grain of salt

 

[LittleNemoNES]

nitro about said it all
If I were you:

e6600
P35 DDR2 mobo
2GB DDR800
8800GTS/X
seasonic, silverstone, or OCZ PSU
Nice chilly case.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: gersson
nitro about said it all
If I were you:

e6600
P35 DDR2 mobo
2GB DDR800
8800GTS/X
seasonic, silverstone, or OCZ PSU
Nice chilly case.

Good call. I'm actually considering replacing my mobo with the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R, which would pretty much give me the rig you suggested.

 

[Genison]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Taking all that into consideration, I would recommend a P35 motherboard (Gigabyte has some nice ones for $120-150) and either an 8800GTS 640MB or 2900XT 512MB. These cards should be more than enough for 1680x1050, your PSU should be able to handle it, and the motherboard is cheap enough that that it wouldn't be terribly painful to replace it should you decide that you want X38. I also wouldn't suggest picking up X38 right when it comes out anyway. Give Intel some time to refine the chipset, motherboard makers to work out the BIOS kinks, and most of all for the price to drop - I have a feeling that X38 motherboards are going to outrageously expensive.

of course... all this is just my opinion at the moment, so take it with a grain of salt

You both kind of lead to where I was thinking as well. Although an Ultra might be overkill, I'm probably still going to shoot for at least the GTX. The jump from 96 to 128 streams is just too significant to pass up. I want some growing room even it may not be the most cost effective. I'm certain my Power supply can handle one GTX.

The Gigabyte Motherboard is getting quite a bit of popularity, I've noticed. Now I just need a good case and put this matter to rest on whether I'm waiting for quad core

 

[LittleNemoNES]

you can always get a dual core now and a quad next year

 

[Genison]

Originally posted by: gersson
you can always get a dual core now and a quad next year

Yes, that's true. *sigh* Just hate to be in that position where I get all my goodies and somewhere down the line...say Crysis...I'm wishing I had a quad.

 

[Acanthus]

Sorry about the thread hijack, but whats so great about P35 again?

 

[Redox]

I recently upgraded to an 8800 GTX Ultra after first going with 2x8800 GTS 640's in SLI (returned them and got the Ultra instead).

Yes I know it is technically slower than the 2x8800 GTS SLI but the difference varies widely by games and it's still REALLY fast in any case at 1920x1200. What is nice is not having to mess around with SLI profiles anymore. An additional benefit is that some minor graphical glitches related to SLI are now history (e.g. some occasional texture flickering on Company of Heroes).

I also have the choice of SLI'ing the Ultra down the road or going with the G92 when it comes out.

The Ultra was also cheaper than the two GTS's. The vanilla GTX is probably better bang for the buck but it is nice to have a significant factory overclock built in. I've also played around briefly with OC'ing the Ultra and it seems to have lots of headroom (had it up to 648 core with no issues so I'll keep this in reserve if needed)

Your power supply for the single GTX or Ultra will be fine (I have an Enermax Liberty 620W) and could possibly suffice for the GTS's in SLI.

Hope this helps you decide ...

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Sorry about the thread hijack, but whats so great about P35 again?

I believe it will support Penryn when that comes around, and a superior/faster memory controller than say the 965/975 chipsets. Other than that, I really don't think there is much else over current high end chipsets.

 

[Skott]

Its been pretty well covered here but I'd just like to reiterate that SLI performance is really only realized at resolutions above 1600x1200 so unless you plan on having a 1900+ res monitor you wont really get you money's worth from SLI or CF setups. Now if you plan on getting a 24" or bigger LCD and want to play games at max settings then SLI & CF isnt a bad option although a pricey one.

 

[Genison]

Originally posted by: Redox
I recently upgraded to an 8800 GTX Ultra after first going with 2x8800 GTS 640's in SLI (returned them and got the Ultra instead).

Yes I know it is technically slower than the 2x8800 GTS SLI but the difference varies widely by games and it's still REALLY fast in any case at 1920x1200. What is nice is not having to mess around with SLI profiles anymore. An additional benefit is that some minor graphical glitches related to SLI are now history (e.g. some occasional texture flickering on Company of Heroes).

I also have the choice of SLI'ing the Ultra down the road or going with the G92 when it comes out.

The Ultra was also cheaper than the two GTS's. The vanilla GTX is probably better bang for the buck but it is nice to have a significant factory overclock built in. I've also played around briefly with OC'ing the Ultra and it seems to have lots of headroom (had it up to 648 core with no issues so I'll keep this in reserve if needed)

Your power supply for the single GTX or Ultra will be fine (I have an Enermax Liberty 620W) and could possibly suffice for the GTS's in SLI.

Hope this helps you decide ...

Yes, actually that does help. You are the first one I've heard report that SLI still has "glitches." When I play games, I want it to be as glitch free as possible. The stutters in most games annoy the crap out of me. So, I do feel better about that and I'm going for a single GTX. Everyone seems to say P35 Motherboards offer better CPU overclocking than the 680i's. So that means I can shoot for that instead of waiting for X38 and chancing the first releases.

I keep going back and forth on the Q6600 or the new E6850 when it comes. The benchmarks today show that a 500 Mhz differnence in speed only accounts for at most maybe 10-15 fps faster in the processor running higher speeds. Yet, the benchmarks are old. Who cares what the fps is if it's in the 100s? I need to know when it gets into the noticeable areas how much of a difference that speed will make. All in all, it appears that running at 3.4 Ghz on a G0 Q6600 should be easy.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Sorry about the thread hijack, but whats so great about P35 again?

I believe it will support Penryn when that comes around, and a superior/faster memory controller than say the 965/975 chipsets. Other than that, I really don't think there is much else over current high end chipsets.

Well, that kind of is the point, it's not really a high end chipset. Sure, there are some really expensive (overpriced) boards, but there are also a decent number of ~$150 P35 motherboards that pretty much perform like enthusiast boards without all the gimmickry. Best chipset out right now IMO for a single card setup.

edit: found this on the forums... this might be of interest if you're planning on getting a GTX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127281

 

[Genison]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

edit: found this on the forums... this might be of interest if you're planning on getting a GTX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127281

Sweet!

 

[Redox]

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Genison

Originally posted by: Redox
I recently upgraded to an 8800 GTX Ultra after first going with 2x8800 GTS 640's in SLI (returned them and got the Ultra instead).

Yes I know it is technically slower than the 2x8800 GTS SLI but the difference varies widely by games and it's still REALLY fast in any case at 1920x1200. What is nice is not having to mess around with SLI profiles anymore. An additional benefit is that some minor graphical glitches related to SLI are now history (e.g. some occasional texture flickering on Company of Heroes).

I also have the choice of SLI'ing the Ultra down the road or going with the G92 when it comes out.

The Ultra was also cheaper than the two GTS's. The vanilla GTX is probably better bang for the buck but it is nice to have a significant factory overclock built in. I've also played around briefly with OC'ing the Ultra and it seems to have lots of headroom (had it up to 648 core with no issues so I'll keep this in reserve if needed)

Your power supply for the single GTX or Ultra will be fine (I have an Enermax Liberty 620W) and could possibly suffice for the GTS's in SLI.

Hope this helps you decide ...

Yes, actually that does help. You are the first one I've heard report that SLI still has "glitches." When I play games, I want it to be as glitch free as possible. The stutters in most games annoy the crap out of me. So, I do feel better about that and I'm going for a single GTX. Everyone seems to say P35 Motherboards offer better CPU overclocking than the 680i's. So that means I can shoot for that instead of waiting for X38 and chancing the first releases.

I keep going back and forth on the Q6600 or the new E6850 when it comes. The benchmarks today show that a 500 Mhz differnence in speed only accounts for at most maybe 10-15 fps faster in the processor running higher speeds. Yet, the benchmarks are old. Who cares what the fps is if it's in the 100s? I need to know when it gets into the noticeable areas how much of a difference that speed will make. All in all, it appears that running at 3.4 Ghz on a G0 Q6600 should be easy.

the p35 ds3r has a strong reputation, but you might spend the extra $60 for the abit ip35 pro if you're considering a quad now or as a potential future upgrade. It also has an extra pci-e slot (at x4 of course). Has anyone done any comparison benchmarks of a p35 with 2 cards at 16x/4x and compared it with a gpu factory board?

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
....Has anyone done any comparison benchmarks of a p35 with 2 cards at 16x/4x and compared it with a gpu factory board?

anandtech did a comparison between P35 and 975X with 2900XT Crossfire.