In all reality SLI is like 2 horses pulling the buggy. Just because there are two they wont run any faster that its possible for any single horse. However they will each work half as hard freeing up the capacity for what they can pull. Essentially two horse can pull a heavier load faster than a single horse could.
Same thing applies to Crossfire but the horses are wearing garish outfits and blinders and are running through deep mud and tall grass - courtesy of craptastic drivers ATI sports for their crossfire solutions.
so yea that last few posts pretty much sums it up. you are paying a premium for smoother grafix performance; is it worth the cost.... yes if you are willing and able to spend it lol... dollar for dollar it is a small gain though
Yep, I'm due for a MB/Processor/Memory upgrade within the next couple months. I like EVGA alot.....I go back and forth between the 780i and a 680i. I'm hoping within the near future some of the intel processors will go down in price some more. If not I'll probably pick up a 6600 and overclock it with water cooling. I currently have an EVGA 8800 GTS 640 meg SC video card and just can't bring myself to add to that.....meh.....we will see.
Two 8800 GT's SLI is overkill for any game out right now. One would have definately been enough. You realize that people will still be able to run the game on just one 6 or 7 series card, so two 8 series cards isn't gonna give you dazzling results as opposed to one.
You will have improved framerates and maybe less frame drops during graphics intense moments. If that. That's about it.
Did you waste your money? I dunno. Is an extra 10 frames per second worth another $200 to you?
Are you kidding me dude? Two 8800 GT's SLI is overkill for any game out right now. One would have definately been enough. You realize that people will still be able to run the game on just one 6 or 7 series card, so two 8 series cards isn't gonna give you dazzling results as opposed to one. You will have improved framerates and maybe less frame drops during graphics intense moments. If that. That's about it. Did you waste your money? I dunno. Is an extra 10 frames per second worth another $200 to you?
Lol.....actually it's for 3d studio max. A good gaming rig is a bonus with the 3dstudio max rig.
EDIT: After rereading I see you said GT's and not GTS's. Wasn't directed at me. Sorry.....
Are you kidding me dude? Two 8800 GT's SLI is overkill for any game out right now. One would have definately been enough. You realize that people will still be able to run the game on just one 6 or 7 series card, so two 8 series cards isn't gonna give you dazzling results as opposed to one. You will have improved framerates and maybe less frame drops during graphics intense moments. If that. That's about it. Did you waste your money? I dunno. Is an extra 10 frames per second worth another $200 to you?
It's worth 200 bucks to me. I guess it all depends on how easily you are parted from 200 bucks. I personally think the implication that doubling your graphics processing power and RAM only result in a difference of a few frames per second. I have two machines that are identical in every way except one is running SLI and the other is not... I see a huge difference in every game I have played. I like to be able to crank the graphics all the way up, and still get a decent FPS. The machine with two cards gets about 50 - 80% more FPS than the other... Even the 3DMark score is over 50% higher.
Are you kidding me dude? Two 8800 GT's SLI is overkill for any game out right now. One would have definately been enough. You realize that people will still be able to run the game on just one 6 or 7 series card, so two 8 series cards isn't gonna give you dazzling results as opposed to one. You will have improved framerates and maybe less frame drops during graphics intense moments. If that. That's about it. Did you waste your money? I dunno. Is an extra 10 frames per second worth another $200 to you?
It's worth 200 bucks to me. I guess it all depends on how easily you are parted from 200 bucks. I personally think the implication that doubling your graphics processing power and RAM only result in a difference of a few frames per second. I have two machines that are identical in every way except one is running SLI and the other is not... I see a huge difference in every game I have played. I like to be able to crank the graphics all the way up, and still get a decent FPS. The machine with two cards gets about 50 - 80% more FPS than the other... Even the 3DMark score is over 50% higher.
I'm not dissing the fact that he bought two cards. But if the intent was only for AOC, then I think it's overkill. I too shelled out too much and bought an 8800 GTX. It sucks because it's twice as powerful as any game that is available. It's good because it will probably last me a long time as more system heavy games come out.
If I could go back, I might have just saved my money and bought one GT and maybe SLI'd them months down the road when they are 1/3 the price.
I just haven't had the same experience I guess. Even running dual 8800s, I still don't get perfect performance at max settings in the two games I am playing, EQ2 and Vanguard... The difference between one and two cards still seems significant to me on those games. I'm not sure it's correct to say that one 8800GT is all you need to run the next batch of games coming out.... well maybe WAR, but it looks like it would run on hardware a few years old.
Comments
In all reality SLI is like 2 horses pulling the buggy. Just because there are two they wont run any faster that its possible for any single horse. However they will each work half as hard freeing up the capacity for what they can pull. Essentially two horse can pull a heavier load faster than a single horse could.
Same thing applies to Crossfire but the horses are wearing garish outfits and blinders and are running through deep mud and tall grass - courtesy of craptastic drivers ATI sports for their crossfire solutions.
And as far as the FPS goes - here is a good read: www.daniele.ch/school/30vs60/30vs60_2.html
FUNCOM - putting the FUN in disFUNctional !
so yea that last few posts pretty much sums it up. you are paying a premium for smoother grafix performance; is it worth the cost.... yes if you are willing and able to spend it lol... dollar for dollar it is a small gain though
Didn't read through all the posts........but I saw this the other day. Why stop at 2 video cards when going SLI ....... 3 video cards in SLI.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3523225&CatId=13
Pfffft...........
~Hairysun~
http://www.straightdope.com/
All of the high-end gaming PC makers are using 3-way SLI, the systems usually retail for >$5000 and they run like they cost that much.
BTW thats my next mobo you linked - coupled with 3 x 9800GT's
FUNCOM - putting the FUN in disFUNctional !
Yep, I'm due for a MB/Processor/Memory upgrade within the next couple months. I like EVGA alot.....I go back and forth between the 780i and a 680i. I'm hoping within the near future some of the intel processors will go down in price some more. If not I'll probably pick up a 6600 and overclock it with water cooling. I currently have an EVGA 8800 GTS 640 meg SC video card and just can't bring myself to add to that.....meh.....we will see.
~Hairysun~
http://www.straightdope.com/
Are you kidding me dude?
Two 8800 GT's SLI is overkill for any game out right now. One would have definately been enough. You realize that people will still be able to run the game on just one 6 or 7 series card, so two 8 series cards isn't gonna give you dazzling results as opposed to one.
You will have improved framerates and maybe less frame drops during graphics intense moments. If that. That's about it.
Did you waste your money? I dunno. Is an extra 10 frames per second worth another $200 to you?
Lol.....actually it's for 3d studio max. A good gaming rig is a bonus with the 3dstudio max rig.
EDIT: After rereading I see you said GT's and not GTS's. Wasn't directed at me. Sorry.....
~Hairysun~
http://www.straightdope.com/
It's worth 200 bucks to me. I guess it all depends on how easily you are parted from 200 bucks. I personally think the implication that doubling your graphics processing power and RAM only result in a difference of a few frames per second. I have two machines that are identical in every way except one is running SLI and the other is not... I see a huge difference in every game I have played. I like to be able to crank the graphics all the way up, and still get a decent FPS. The machine with two cards gets about 50 - 80% more FPS than the other... Even the 3DMark score is over 50% higher.
-----Zero Punctuation Eve Online Review-----
It's worth 200 bucks to me. I guess it all depends on how easily you are parted from 200 bucks. I personally think the implication that doubling your graphics processing power and RAM only result in a difference of a few frames per second. I have two machines that are identical in every way except one is running SLI and the other is not... I see a huge difference in every game I have played. I like to be able to crank the graphics all the way up, and still get a decent FPS. The machine with two cards gets about 50 - 80% more FPS than the other... Even the 3DMark score is over 50% higher.
I'm not dissing the fact that he bought two cards. But if the intent was only for AOC, then I think it's overkill. I too shelled out too much and bought an 8800 GTX. It sucks because it's twice as powerful as any game that is available. It's good because it will probably last me a long time as more system heavy games come out.
If I could go back, I might have just saved my money and bought one GT and maybe SLI'd them months down the road when they are 1/3 the price.
I just haven't had the same experience I guess. Even running dual 8800s, I still don't get perfect performance at max settings in the two games I am playing, EQ2 and Vanguard... The difference between one and two cards still seems significant to me on those games. I'm not sure it's correct to say that one 8800GT is all you need to run the next batch of games coming out.... well maybe WAR, but it looks like it would run on hardware a few years old.
-----Zero Punctuation Eve Online Review-----