Hammer down the GFX card facts

[jake_]

Re: Hammer down the GFX card facts

Yeah I just want to scream when I see those ads. Hopefully most people aren't that computer-stupid to buy SLI 8500s.

And of course, Nvidia's advertising them on its site:

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_buyprebuilt_us2.html

Ew, SLI 8400s.

Wow, I can build a PC that costs $21,000 O_o

[TheSpark29]

Re: Hammer down the GFX card facts

So if you play on a 1080p hd screen which is better in your opinion, 88gtx or 88gt sli?

Because thats basically it right there, he uses 34" 1080p and I use a 50" 1080p screen and never had a problem with my card not to mention I use to use a 21" widescreen @ 2500x1650 res.

Can we agree on prices?

Which is cheaper:

2 88 gts in sli and factor in the necessarys:
bigger psu (what size prolly?)
nvidia mobo
new cooling system for each card (this site claims it can slash heat in half on air alone but we also need to consider avg temp of the room)

monthly bills

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=702&p=12

single 88gtx
big psu (600-700)
ne decent mobo (not limited to nvidia)


I also like to throw in PCIE slots available. At most I've seen is 3 on a mobo, something like 2 true 16x pcie slots and the third is just pcie. I myself use a creative sound blaster card that needs a slot for itself and that leaves me with 1 slot left. Now I'm not too sure with whats the deal on physx cards and what not but to me SLI limits you're choices for future upgrades.

Ok, I'll answer your questions and then give my opinion of SLI.

On a 1080p screen and with today's current prices, 8800GT SLI would be better. I can't find a GTX at newegg, but I assume the price would be $300. Each 8800GT would cost $175, making $350 total. Now this $350 is gonna be about 1.3-1.5 times faster than the $300 8800GTX.

The power requirements for the 8800GT SLI and 8800GTX are the same imo. You need a quality 500W PSU minimum for both. So a new PSU isn't necessary. Yes a Nvidia mobo is necessary, but I assume you already have it. (more on this later) You can change the cooling, but I don't see this as being necessary. If you do, I'd get an Arctic Cooling S1 with a 120mm fan. But some clearance issues pop up here as each GPU+S1+Fan= 3 slots. It could work but it'd be cramped.

Power consumption? **** it. The GTX uses too much and so does GT SLI. If you're building a high end system, power usage isn't important. Just like buying a Lamborghini and worrying about gas mileage.

And yes SLI does limit future expansion. But that's just a downside that can't be overcome.





Now I think SLI is an awesome idea. (*everyone gasps*) BUT only under two conditions:
1) "It's now or never"
2) Only high end cards and resoutions.

SLI only makes sense right when you build your system. If you don't get SLI right then, you never will. The "buy one now, one later" theroy is bs. The problem is that when "later" comes, a single, faster card is always more cost effective than getting a card for SLI. Consider the following situation. Last year, you built a system with a SLI mobo and a 8800GTS 640MB. Now, today, you want to upgrade. You could get another 640MB for $160 (new) or for the same price you could get a new 8800GT, which will be 1.3+ times faster. (I assume 640MB SLI is equal to 8800GT in performance) The 8800GT makes tons more sense. (less heat, less power, more expansion) SLI only works when build the original system. It's not an upgrade path.

SLI only makes sense on the high end. By this I mean 8800GT or more and resolutions of 1080p or more. (24in monitors or greater) And the more resolution, the more sense SLI makes. A single card can only do so much when gaming at 2560x1600. Assuming the game scales well, (30-50% improvement) a second card can really help out here. And nobody say SLI isn't cost effective. Of course its not. But if you need it, you're not building a cost effective system. Power vs money spent is an exponential relationship.
Meaning that at a certain point, you don't get perfect 1:1 money in vs performance out. The best "bang for your buck" rig tries to get that 1:1 ratio. High end systems, which include SLI, don't have this. Bottom line is that it's not cost effective. I'd also like to say that two lower end cards in SLI will never be faster than a single card of equal value. (However this has exceptions. Most notably, flagship products are excluded.) This is because SLI isn't 100% efficient. Adding a second card should double performance because you've doubled the input power. But at best, SLI is only about 50% efficient.

Pros of SLI:

• Offers highest performance possible
• Big e-penis

Cons of SLI:

• Not cost effective
• Not 100% efficient