When is SLI overkill?

[Firebert05]

I have a 1280x1024 LCD and I like to play games at 60fps with most if not all the eye candy turned up. I'm building a conroe system with 2 gb of RAM and a 7900gt - the motherboard is my problem. Should I get an SLI board and buy another 7900 later on, or is that too much? When more powerful cards come out (like DX10) will I even need 2 of them?

Would you get an SLI board?

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Either go for a single 7900 now, or get 2 of them, dont think about getting another down the road since by then there will be faster and cheaper single cards... Alot of people might say 2 7900 SLI is overkill for 1280x1024, but judging by the latest games like FEAR, Oblivion, GRAW etc, I will only get worse in the next few months, so go for it

 

[akshayt]

You are making a very big wrong step. Get 1900XT/XTX and you don't need CF for all/most current times provided you don't use AA and AF in games like Oblivion and GRAW. To get 60avg fps in Oblivion in outdoors, you may need 1900XTX/XT or maybe even 1900XT CF.

 

[Firebert05]

Well, I don't really have the budget for 2 7900gt's right now - it's possible I could afford a x1900xt. I figured I would wait for the 7900's to drop in price a bit and pick up the 2nd. But by them a whole new generation of cards will be out, and I don't want to pick a motherboard specifically for Nvidia or ATI -theyre both good.

I'll go with a single card solution. Do you guys agree?

 

[akshayt]

I am 100% in favour of ATi especially 1900XT.
By the time next gen is out, sell the 1900XT if you want and buy a new card. Keep in mind that in this time interval with the 1900XT, shader intensive games might be released and 1900XT might really show its might there.

eg:tomshardware, AOE3 12X10 MAX with AA and AF
1900XTX : around 60fps
7900GTX : around 46fps

CHIP magazine India
1900XT : 75fps, 10X7 MAX AA AF
1800XT 512 : around 33fps, and 7800GTX also below 50, maybe 30s or at best mid 40s, not sure of memory

 

[LittleNemoNES]

A single x1900xt should give you no less than 50 fps with all games (except maybe oblivion @ max).

 

[TheRyuu]

SLI is overkill at anything equal to or less than 1280x1024. I had SLI with a res of 1280x1024 and yes it was overkill (2 7900GT's @ 700/1620). I liked the fact that I could play a lot of games MAX and some with 8xS AA.

Now with my new monitor (Viewsonic VX2025, 1680x1050) I'm actually using my SLI to a greater extent. SLI really show it's 80% performance increase (sometimes more) over a single card at the higher resolutions.

But for your needs, a Single X1900XT will do just fine.

 

[beggerking]

I believe the general rule is...
your videocard should not cost more than your monitor.

 

[josh6079]

I don't think I'll ever go back to dual-GPU solutions from any company until they can get the dual monitor thing worked out. I hated the troubles with SLI and it's vsync, I've heard that CF doesn't have vsync issues but that would mean another motherboard and CF edition card and then I would have to use the CCC which limits my :heart: for overclocking.

Single cards are the most versatile setups with the least amount of problems simply because there are less things that can go wrong. If you were going to just go the single route you could either wait or get something like one 7900GTX from EVGA and see if G80 hits before the 90 period ends. If it does than you can have a 7900GTX for the meantime and possibly a G80 for the future all for around $400-$600. That's a pretty good deal for two high ranked cards. DX10 cards are coming up faster and faster and who knows if you would want to get a little bit of the first gen wave they release.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: beggerking
I believe the general rule is...
your videocard should not cost more than your monitor.

I can see the sense in that logic. "Ichigo" praises that like no other, but it is still okay to game with monitors that are less than a video card. For instance, the VX2025WM is a pretty affordable monitor for most, and gives a very good contrast/performance ratio. I just recently moved away from it to the 20WMGX2 and while the NEC is better, I was still happy and amazed with my graphics when looking at them with the ViewSonic. Heck, even with the Dell 2007WFP I was pleased with the looks it gave. I do agree to a certain extent though. This NEC has made my games look better. X1K series IQ with NEC level presentings.......I'm in heaven.....

 

[Geomagick]

I run SLI'd 7800gtx cards on my system and its great for running games on my 20" widescreen monitor. However I would seriously recomend getting for best single card solution you can. At 1280x1024 there aren't many games that will seriously tax a 7900gt or X1900xt. The ATI would be my card of choice in this price bracket at the moment.

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: Firebert05
Well, I don't really have the budget for 2 7900gt's right now - it's possible I could afford a x1900xt. I figured I would wait for the 7900's to drop in price a bit and pick up the 2nd. But by them a whole new generation of cards will be out, and I don't want to pick a motherboard specifically for Nvidia or ATI -theyre both good.

I'll go with a single card solution. Do you guys agree?

Yes single all the way sil/cf upgrades later are not worth it

A X1900XT would be great if you could afford

Or a oced 7900GT is good value if your ok overclocking

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: Firebert05
Well, I don't really have the budget for 2 7900gt's right now - it's possible I could afford a x1900xt. I figured I would wait for the 7900's to drop in price a bit and pick up the 2nd. But by them a whole new generation of cards will be out, and I don't want to pick a motherboard specifically for Nvidia or ATI -theyre both good.

I'll go with a single card solution. Do you guys agree?

At 1280 x 1024 the 7900GT will be just fine. If you are not going above that res there would be no reason to SLI. The next Gen cards will be here in a month or two.

 

[tuteja1986]

wait a little while and buy a X1950XT

Ohh I have been using conore E6600 for a while now , i do not notice any performance increase from my old CPU opteron 175, when i am doing normal activity or playing games i can't sense the performance. I do notice its performance when i uncompress something or do some video encoding.

 

[DeathSlayer]

Only get SLI or CF if you plan to game with 1600x1200 or above.

 

[RichUK]

When is it over kill. Well if you're trying to hook it up to a mobile phone display, maybe.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: DeathSlayer
Only get SLI or CF if you plan to game with 1600x1200 or above.

QFT

 

[imported_Sincity]

Originally posted by: akshayt
I am 100% in favour of ATi especially 1900XT.
By the time next gen is out, sell the 1900XT if you want and buy a new card. Keep in mind that in this time interval with the 1900XT, shader intensive games might be released and 1900XT might really show its might there.

LOL! I wonder what gave that away???

 

[xtreme26]

Just stick with a single gpu set up, less problems.