Two 7800 GTXs in SLI or a single $200 graphics card?

[Rhythmdvl]

I?m eagerly awaiting a new Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP (thanks xtknight!) and am wondering about my video card.

Will my single Evga 7800 GTX have an easy time driving, say, HL2 or Bioshock in the display?s native 1920 x 1200 resolution? It does fine now on a CRT at 1024 x 768 with all video settings maxed out.

I figure I have three options:
1) Find a used 7800 GTX on Ebay or the like, and run the system in SLI mode
2) Spend about $200 on a newer graphics card
3) Leave well enough alone, and spend cash on new toys

Will two 7800s outperform (or at least match) a single card in the +/- $200 price range? The board is an Asus M2N4-SLI, which runs SLI in 8x or a single card in the primary slot at 16x (I hope I got the terminology correct). If I?m better off with a newer card, I figure I?m looking at the 8000 series, but which one? Which suffix (GT, GTS, GTX...)?

Lastly, since it will be sitting inside a slightly modest machine (a few years old and primarily built for editorial work: M2N4-SLI, AMD 64x2 4800+, and 2GB RAM), will most bottlenecks be in the rest of the machine and not the graphics card? That is, will I get such a small improvement that I?d be better off dumping the cash into other electronic toys?

Thanks,

Rhythm

 

[thilanliyan]

Definitely the $200 video card. The ATI 4850 is a great buy and beats the slightly more expensive 9800GTX which is definitely faster than 2x7800.

 

[Calculator83]

7800 Barely drove 1680x1050. I'm in worse position than you are with my stupid 3007+x1900xtx. Definately looking at the 4870 now.

 

[Rhythmdvl]

Gotcha ? time to upgrade the card!

I?m leaning toward sticking with Nvidia to keep the SLI option open ? is the difference between ATIs and GeForces so extreme I?ll regret this? Granted, in the past few years I?ve not added the second card, but keeping the option open might be nice (weight against building a whole new rig in 2-3 years... oh, the choices!).

 

[nitromullet]

I?m leaning toward sticking with Nvidia to keep the SLI option open ? is the difference between ATIs and GeForces so extreme I?ll regret this? Granted, in the past few years I?ve not added the second card, but keeping the option open might be nice (weight against building a whole new rig in 2-3 years... oh, the choices!).

In 2-3 years the situation will be the same... If you buy a 9800GTX now, in 2-3 years there will be much faster options available than adding another 9800GTX. Plus, in 2-3 years your motherboard/cpu will become a serious bottleneck.

A Radeon HD 4850 is the best $200 you can spend on a video card right now.

 

[MyLeftNut]

Or if you want bang for buck with the option of SLI, there's 8800gt's going for about $110 after a small rebate. At around $100, an 8800gt still has best bang for buck.

 

[themisfit610]

Video cards are so dumb...

I bought a GTS320 back in september (roughly) for about $250 IIRC, and was promptly given an 8800gt by eVGA for step-up. It's still an amazing card. Now they're $110, and people are SLIing them left and right..

I built two high end systems 3 years ago with a 3500+, and 7800GTX SLI. Now a single 280gtx would wipe the floor with them.

SO dumb

~MiSfit

 

[BassBomb]

SLI is useless

 

[taltamir]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2198741&enterthread=y

Go there... get a 130$ 8800GT.
A little slower then the 4850, a lot cheaper.

 

[DaveSimmons]

See the 4850 review on the main AT site and look at the 9800GTX benchmarks, the 9800GTX will be $200 everywhere shortly.

The GTX+ next month might be an even better choice if the die shrink drops power use (& heat & noise) much while giving the slight performance bump.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
See the 4850 review on the main AT site and look at the 9800GTX benchmarks, the 9800GTX will be $200 everywhere shortly.

The GTX+ next month might be an even better choice if the die shrink drops power use (& heat & noise) much while giving the slight performance bump.

Not really since a GTX+ is only a clock speed increase. The 4850 stomps the 9800GTX even more when AA is enabled- you can get an MSI 4850 for $175 MIR, best deal around for a long time.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
See the 4850 review on the main AT site and look at the 9800GTX benchmarks, the 9800GTX will be $200 everywhere shortly.

The GTX+ next month might be an even better choice if the die shrink drops power use (& heat & noise) much while giving the slight performance bump.

Not really since a GTX+ is only a clock speed increase. The 4850 stomps the 9800GTX even more when AA is enabled- you can get an MSI 4850 for $175 MIR, best deal around for a long time.

and a die shrink too supposedly.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
See the 4850 review on the main AT site and look at the 9800GTX benchmarks, the 9800GTX will be $200 everywhere shortly.

The GTX+ next month might be an even better choice if the die shrink drops power use (& heat & noise) much while giving the slight performance bump.

Not really since a GTX+ is only a clock speed increase. The 4850 stomps the 9800GTX even more when AA is enabled- you can get an MSI 4850 for $175 MIR, best deal around for a long time.

and a die shrink too supposedly.

Yeah but that is not going to bring any performance difference, the die shrink is in order to be able to provide high clocks and even then that is not enough.

 

[Wreckage]

For $260 you can get 8800GTs in SLI and they are proving to be better than the more expensive (and overly hot) 4850's in Crossfire.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=14

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
For $260 you can get 8800GTs in SLI and they are proving to be better than the more expensive (and overly hot) 4850's in Crossfire.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=14

Lol Hilarious. You conveniently missed the fact that 4850 offer much better AA performance and on the following page better results than 8800GT SLI and are $175 MIR at newegg. The fact you are considering SLI indicates you would want to run at high rez or with lots of AA in which case the 4850 is the clear choice. I know this will never sink in as you will argue Nvidia to the death but the choice is clear- the 4850 is king for midrange. Anyways, note the OP is not interested in SLI $200+, we are talking single GPU- the 4850 is still the best choice.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Wreckage
For $260 you can get 8800GTs in SLI and they are proving to be better than the more expensive (and overly hot) 4850's in Crossfire.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=14

Hilarious. You conveniently missed the fact that 4850 offer much better AA performance and on the following page better results than 8800GT SLI and are $175 MIR at newegg. The fact you are considering SLI indicates you would want to run at high rez or with lots of AA in which case the 4850 is the clear choice. I know this will never sink in as you will argue Nvidia to the death but the choice is clear- the 4850 is king for midrange.

It loses in several games with AA and costs less. You really did not read the review and can't do math. Spin it how you like, but at least look at the benchmarks. Crysis, Quake Wars, The Witcher. Heck in the last game CF does not work at all.

How is $175 better than $130? It's not.

From the article...

CrossFire tends to not scale as consistently as SLI

 

[DaveSimmons]

I recommended the 9800GTX / GTX+ because of this:

I?m leaning toward sticking with Nvidia to keep the SLI option open

The 9800GTX and 4850 are close to each other in power use, performance and price, and neither is a bad choice if you have a brand preference.

As I mentioned above the GTX+ die shrink may lower power use (= lower heat & noise) even with the slight clock increase. Will it? No one knows yet.

The 8800GT in SLI is a decent option too, though less future-proof since you'd need to sell both cards and start over to upgrade.

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Wreckage
For $260 you can get 8800GTs in SLI and they are proving to be better than the more expensive (and overly hot) 4850's in Crossfire.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=14

Hilarious. You conveniently missed the fact that 4850 offer much better AA performance and on the following page better results than 8800GT SLI and are $175 MIR at newegg. The fact you are considering SLI indicates you would want to run at high rez or with lots of AA in which case the 4850 is the clear choice. I know this will never sink in as you will argue Nvidia to the death but the choice is clear- the 4850 is king for midrange.

It loses in several games with AA and costs less. You really did not read the review and can't do math. Spin it how you like, but at least look at the benchmarks. Crysis, Quake Wars, The Witcher. Heck in the last game CF does not work at all.

How is $175 better than $130? It's not.

From the article...

CrossFire tends to not scale as consistently as SLI

Your nvidia fanboy comments are so sickening, give it up, that's so 90's. Ati drivers are much more polished than nVidia's one. Crossfire has catched up with SLI and is outpacing it with every driver release, of course the HD 4850 is brand new so it will take some time to catch up with it's drivers. If a single HD 4850 outperforms a single 8800GT, how the hell a HD 4850 in Crossfire cannot outperform 8800GT in SLI, that's clearly a driver issue. The HD 4850 is as fast or faster than a 9800GTX which is good for under 199 bucks, Sure that the 8800GT in SLI would be faster against a single HD 4850, but the HD 4850 in Crossfire is faster, your consistent nVidia fanboy comments across the forums makes you look so bad, brand loyalty doesn't work, reality does.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: evolucion8

Your nvidia fanboy comments are so sickening, give it up, that's so 90's. Ati drivers are much more polished than nVidia's one. Crossfire has catched up with SLI and is outpacing it with every driver release, of course the HD 4850 is brand new so it will take some time to catch up with it's drivers. If a single HD 4850 outperforms a single 8800GT, how the hell a HD 4850 in Crossfire cannot outperform 8800GT in SLI, that's clearly a driver issue. The HD 4850 is as fast or faster than a 9800GTX which is good for under 199 bucks, Sure that the 8800GT in SLI would be faster against a single HD 4850, but the HD 4850 in Crossfire is faster, your consistent nVidia fanboy comments across the forums makes you look so bad, brand loyalty doesn't work, reality does.

Did you even look at the benchmarks, because your rant clearly would seem to say you did not.

Read the link and then comment, instead of hurling unfounded personal attacks. :thumbsdown:

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: evolucion8

Your nvidia fanboy comments are so sickening, give it up, that's so 90's. Ati drivers are much more polished than nVidia's one. Crossfire has catched up with SLI and is outpacing it with every driver release, of course the HD 4850 is brand new so it will take some time to catch up with it's drivers. If a single HD 4850 outperforms a single 8800GT, how the hell a HD 4850 in Crossfire cannot outperform 8800GT in SLI, that's clearly a driver issue. The HD 4850 is as fast or faster than a 9800GTX which is good for under 199 bucks, Sure that the 8800GT in SLI would be faster against a single HD 4850, but the HD 4850 in Crossfire is faster, your consistent nVidia fanboy comments across the forums makes you look so bad, brand loyalty doesn't work, reality does.

Did you even look at the benchmarks, because your rant clearly would seem to say you did not.

Read the link and then comment, instead of hurling unfounded personal attacks. :thumbsdown:

I did ¬¬

Nice artcle Anandtech!!!!

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: evolucion8

I did ¬¬

Nice artcle Anandtech!!!!

And you must have mentally blocked out the games where the 8800GT SLI was faster than the 4850 Crossfire. Otherwise I'm not sure what you were arguing about.

 

[Rhythmdvl]

Wow... just wow. I had no idea there was such a rivalry-like schism between the two!

I think I had a fairly big misconception about SLI ? and assume the same is basically true for Crossfire. When I was first putting this system together in ?05, I wasn?t going SLI so I didn?t get into too many details?the 7800GTX was topping a lot of lists/recommendations, so I went with that. Now that the new monitor is on the way, I?m revisiting and learning (thanks!).

So let me get this straight: Linking two cards (in either case) isn?t the equivalent of roughly doubling initial capacity. That is, two 256MB cards won?t be the same as a single 512MB card minus a bit of overhead, and two GPUs won?t necessarily double their ability (again, minus a bit of overhead). Not that there wouldn?t be some improvement (two 7800s would substantially(?) outperform one), but a second 7800 won?t come close to an 8800. It might be the way to go if I only had fifty bucks to spend, but prices are so low that I should be able to easily leapfrog well over that setup without breaking the bank.

I?m assuming the above is true for similar reasons to why a second core isn?t really like doubling your computer. While some processes run better, most need to have been written for multiple cores or else they can?t take advantage of the extra processing power (I?m on a 32 bit XP system-I don?t know if a 64 bit OS changes things). Does that analogy even weakly hold up? Am I right in my understanding of SLI/Crossfire improvements?

How does it work within the same basic class? That is, forget about comparing two 7800s to one 8800?what if someone (unfortunately, not me) had around four hundred dollars to spend? Given what?s available now, would linking two $200 cards achieve markedly better performance than one $400 card? If not, who the hell is buying SLI/Crossfire? Does it only make sense if you can put in two of the upper tier cards?

My head hurts. Damn marketing departments!

If you?ll bear with me, I hope to make sure I?m not overlooking something major?the rest of the hardware, since that?s not changing at the moment. I don?t believe my mobo (Asus M2N4) has a PCI-e 2.0 slot, but I gather they?re backwards compatible. But that aside, is there any chance that given the rest of the rig (AMD 64x2 4800/2GB RAM), I could end up spending dough on capacity that so far outpaces my system that I?m wasting money?

Thanks!

 

[Rhythmdvl]

Ok, now I?m nervous?I RTFM and looked on the Asus Web site, and there?s no mention of a PCI-e version. I assume this means it?s 1.0. Will that be a problem with newer cards?

 

[evolucion8]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: evolucion8

I did ¬¬

Nice artcle Anandtech!!!!

And you must have mentally blocked out the games where the 8800GT SLI was faster than the 4850 Crossfire. Otherwise I'm not sure what you were arguing about.

this isn't the first time that your nvidia fanboyism covers the truth, look at this.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=14 <<In Crysis, the 8800GT is faster until 1920x1200 which the FPS difference is only 1fps, but bear in mind that Crossfire has issues with that game, also with Quake Wars which the performance difference is not that great. In Call of Duty 4 the HD 4850 simply owns the 8800GT acrossf all tests.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=15 <<There, in the first two test resolutionsin Assassin Creed, the 8800GT SLI is faster, at 2560x1600 the HD 4850 Crossfire is faster. In Oblivion the HD 4850 is faster in all tests against the 8800GT in SLI. The Witcher has driver issues with the HD 4850 were the 8800GT doesn't. In Bioshock the same issues exists with that card, heck, even a HD 3870 in Crossfire is faster than 8800GT in SLI (Bioshock loves the RV670 architecture for some strange reason)

So in overall, 8800GT SLI won 14 tests and the HD 4850 Crossfire won 7 tests due to it's driver issues of Crossfire scaling, not because isn't powerful enough.

try to unblock your green mind and see why if a single HD 4850 is clearly faster than a 8800GT, is as fast or faster than a 9800GTX!!! why the HD 4850 Crossfire cannot outperform the 8800GT SLI? See what I mean, you just cannot accept it because you are a fanboy. Probably I'm just arguing against a 15 year old boy and so I'm wasting my time.

 

[themisfit610]

LOL you guys fail - take the bickering elsewhere. This is a thread about SLI 7800GTX or a new $200 GPU. Clearly a $200 GPU is the way to go. End of discussion...

~MiSfit