Dual 7600GT's on SLi

[DOGGiE52]

Hi there!

I was thinking of buying a second GIGABYTE GeForce 7600GT 256MB on my computer and plugging it together with the old one using SLi.
Now I have some questions:

• Does SLi make me get twice the performance?
• Will I lose anything (other than power) from using two cards?
• Is 7600GT a good SLi card?
• How much performance boost will I get?
• Are there any computer games that don't support dual cards (like Battlefield 2)?
• Does Vista support dual cards?
• Will I have some kind of control over both cards?
• Will I need any special drivers?

OK, so these are alot of questions, but if you could answer some of them I'd be very glad!

Thanks in advance,
Doggie52

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: Dual 7600GT's on SLi

Hi there!

I was thinking of buying a second GIGABYTE GeForce 7600GT 256MB on my computer and plugging it together with the old one using SLi.
Now I have some questions:

• Does SLi make me get twice the performance?
• Will I lose anything (other than power) from using two cards?
• Is 7600GT a good SLi card?
• How much performance boost will I get?
• Are there any computer games that don't support dual cards (like Battlefield 2)?
• Does Vista support dual cards?
• Will I have some kind of control over both cards?
• Will I need any special drivers?

OK, so these are alot of questions, but if you could answer some of them I'd be very glad!

Thanks in advance,
Doggie52

Ok, here we go:

• Nope.
• Money
• Not really, I'd just sell the original and spend that money on an even better card.
• It's usually around 30-40%.
• There shouldn't be, nvidia's drivers should have all the sli profiles you need.
• Not right now, because there are no vista drivers from nvidia.
• What kind of control are we talking about?

• Nope, regular nvidia drivers will do the trick.

Two 7600gt's are only equal to about a 7900gt, so I'd just sell the one you have and get a x1950pro or something equivalent, that way you get better performance and more bang for your buck.

[DOGGiE52]

Re: Dual 7600GT's on SLi

I've checked the charts at this spot, and it shows that you do in fact get more performance from two 7600GT's than one 7900GT.
Am I right, or have I just totally read that chart wrong?

[cloakster]

Re: Dual 7600GT's on SLi

But, it shows it only being a little more powerful, but not enough to make the upgrade worth it.

[BOBSONATOR025]

Re: Dual 7600GT's on SLi

save up and get a 8800GTS

[abtomat74]

Re: Dual 7600GT's on SLi

I've checked the charts at this spot, and it shows that you do in fact get more performance from two 7600GT's than one 7900GT.
Am I right, or have I just totally read that chart wrong?

A little more here, a good bit more there...but at what extra cost?

A bigger power supply than a single card method(more $)...the mobo's inital cost was significantly more(more $), more heat inside the case, waiting on drivers for best results...after all that is factored in, I can't imagine why anyone shy of a 24" monitor and the TOP LEVEL cards only would buy SLI or Crossfire.

Mid level cards aren't meant for SLI/Crossfire. They exist merely for people who couldn't afford(or didn't want to) the proper method(top end cards) and just want to have 2 cards...

It's called marketing.

SLI/Crossfire have one use for gamers: those wanting GREATER than 1600x1200 resolutions while using all the eye candy.

In most cases, a single top level card will give you 16x12 + eye candy without problems. When you want more resolution, then and only then is a second card necessary.

So why is a mid level card not meant for SLI/Cross? Because a mid level card normally won't do 16x12 by itself w/eye candy. So anyone attempting to do so should have simply purchased a better card in the first place, not go out and buy another one just like it.

When the time comes to build your NEXT comp...skip a dual slot mobo and use the money saved to buy a better card, unless you have lots of money, AND an enormous monitor that can actually display the resolutions SLI/Crossfire was meant to be used at.

1600x1200 and below - single top end GPU
1600x1200 and greater - dual top end GPU's
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Edited to add:

nVidia should be coming out with their mid level cards soon...since they already have the 8800's out now(top level).
I would bet anything that their single 8600gt(guessing the name) will be better than the choices now(2 7600gt's or 1 7900gt)...AND it will be ready for Crysis and DX10...whereas neither of the previously mentioned options will.