Merits of SLI or Why SLI?

[Pablo 54]

Over the past few months, I have been reading a large quantity (a plethora, if you will ~ thank you Cheech and Chong) of negative postings concerning SLI both here and other forums- technical issues, lack of any real world advantage, etc. Is there a convincing argument that is pro SLI? In essence, what would make me want to go out and buy a second video card? :help:

[david.hill64]

If you have a huge monitor and like running games at high detail settings, you may find some advantage. The newer cards and drivers seem to be a big improvement on the older ones.

I have SLI on three systems without serious issues, but whether or not there is any advantage over using one top of the range GPU coupled with a good Intel chipset is an interesting debate!

My experience is with two Asus 8800GTS 320 GPU on a socket 939 Asus board, two factory overclocked XFX8800GTS 640 GPU on a socket AM2 Asus board, and two XFX 9600GT on an XFX680SLI LT board. I had previously used two XFX8600GT cards on the 680LT (not a wonderful setup), then two factory overclocked XFX8600GTS cards (a bit better but loads of TDR errors) before moving to the 9600's. I'll be changing the socket 939 system this summer and will probably try to SLI two (or three?) of the new GT280 cards on a 780 board. Why? Not sure really, probably just because I can!

[Chakka]

Over the past few months, I have been reading a large quantity (a plethora, if you will ~ thank you Cheech and Chong) of negative postings concerning SLI both here and other forums- technical issues, lack of any real world advantage, etc. Is there a convincing argument that is pro SLI? In essence, what would make me want to go out and buy a second video card? :help:

My view is cost/benefit. Im running 2 9600gt cards and can run them at a 3dmark06 score of 17824. The sparkle 9800gtx reviewed by bjorn (see video card reviews) show that the 3dmark06 score was 15217. I paid $240 total for both my cards, the 9800gtx was over $300 when I purchased my 2 vid cards.

My way of looking at it is to take 2 cheaper cards and make them perform better than 1 more expensive card...I should be able to run any game, except crysis, on the highest game settings allowable with 2 9600gt cards (I wouldnt be able to do that with 1 9600gt card) - and probably most games over the next year too.

Its also the way I look at overclocking - take a cheaper cpu, overclock it to make it run as a more expensive cpu - getting more bang for you money - and at the same time maximizing your rig for your needs - ie - turning on all the eye candy in games at the cheapest cost was my goal in my recent upgrade.

[Goliath182]

I'll be changing the socket 939 system this summer and will probably try to SLI two (or three?) of the new GT280 cards on a 780 board. Why? Not sure really, probably just because I can!

There is no socket 939 780 board. :(

[Pablo 54]

Chakka & david.hill65,
Sounds like I almost need to do a cost/benefit analysis. I would like to go SLI but, from what I have read concerning running two cards, the 700i series is bit more stable than the 680i that I have. The bottleneck on my system is the 6550. I have had it OC’ed as high as 2.9 but the heat was intolerable. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is such a pain to attach; I don’t really want to upgrade the chip. So, it sounds like this 680i becomes a server and I start from scratch – again.
Thanks.
Paul

[Goliath182]

Chakka & david.hill65,
Sounds like I almost need to do a cost/benefit analysis. I would like to go SLI but, from what I have read concerning running two cards, the 700i series is bit more stable than the 680i that I have. The bottleneck on my system is the 6550. I have had it OC’ed as high as 2.9 but the heat was intolerable. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is such a pain to attach; I don’t really want to upgrade the chip. So, it sounds like this 680i becomes a server and I start from scratch – again.
Thanks.
Paul

I dont think theres much of a bottleneck in your system at 2.66 gigs. If you feel that way just get a faster clocked Core 2.

[david.hill64]

There is no socket 939 780 board. :(

I know that: it will be a complete new system with one of the new Intel quads.

[Goliath182]

I know that: it will be a complete new system with one of the new Intel quads.

Sorry i read that wrong. It sounded like you where changing to a 939 system.

[david.hill64]

Sorry i read that wrong. It sounded like you where changing to a 939 system.

Hey - no problem! It's always nice to see that somebody reads your posts.

[david.hill64]

Chakka & david.hill65,
Sounds like I almost need to do a cost/benefit analysis. I would like to go SLI but, from what I have read concerning running two cards, the 700i series is bit more stable than the 680i that I have. The bottleneck on my system is the 6550. I have had it OC’ed as high as 2.9 but the heat was intolerable. The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is such a pain to attach; I don’t really want to upgrade the chip. So, it sounds like this 680i becomes a server and I start from scratch – again.
Thanks.
Paul

Paul: but it is so much fun building a new system! That's probably the real reason I will change my son's socket 939 system. The problem is to guess when the technology has advanced enough to the right state where the cost/benefit works well. Have fun! David.

[Goliath182]

I would say when AM3 comes out would be a perfect time to upgrade. It may carry a little bit of a high price but the hardware will serve you for years.

You should start posting in other sections of the forums. Always nice to hear other people opinions and intellectual knowledge. ;-)

[tyle6]

2X the cards 2X the fun!! nuff said.

[swmeek]

As I've been told (repeatedly) by a hi-tech friend of mine doing SLI on anything under a 24" monitor is just a waste of money.

[Pablo 54]

Swmeek: I have been told something similar but the resolution you were running played a significant role as well.
David.hill64: I agree, it is very enjoyable building a computer. Having it work the first time you start it - particularly when your wife is looking over your shoulder ready to say “I told you so” is priceless. :lol:
The only downside to mine is the CPU cooler. I love it and it works great but putting it in is royal pain. In all honesty, that is why I am hesitating upgrading the main chip.
Goliath182: What is the foreseeable price range for the AM3?

[Goliath182]

The price range of the AM3 has not been announced but expect them to be around the same price as the Nehalem. They will be 45nm. They are supposed to come late 2008 early 2009 It will have 4x 512 kb L2 cache, and up to 6 mb of L3 cache. The core speeds will range from 2.4 to 2.8 ghz, and expect them to go up some as time passes.

[PP Mguire]

I didnt exactly read (more so skimmed) the other posts but i read yours. Here are my thoughts, complaints, and compliments.

Im running the rig in my sig. SLI with 1440x900 19" LCD. Ive also ran SLI 8800GTX's before on this same monitor. (Long story, was LAN party and PSU test with seperate rigs).

Anyways i will be the first to tell you its a love hate relationship. It sucks for me because my processor bottlenecks my performance. On the other hand it could be just my chipset bottlenecking me for a "plethora" of things. For one im not running 16x 16x but i dont think thats a problem. For 2 i think it bottlenecks my SATA speed, as well as my VGA speeds. It also keeps me down (i think) on my OC of this CPU. I believe maybe if i didnt have SLI, or such high video card clocks i could get higher (Or as Goliath suggest water cooling).

Anyways when i got this X2 up to 2.8ghz i easily broke 9k in 3dmark06 with whats considerd now as kinda a puny system. Its not a high score but deff is better than the 6k i used to get. I can also tell the difference in games as well. For instance i can play Crysis DX9 at max res and quality with little to no lag and other games i can even run full AA maxed with max res. If you have a smaller monitor like me i think it just makes it so you can either have high AA on or your dip in FPS isnt so great (Meaning you wont really see lag but not exactly high FPS either). ITs better that way anyways.

My biggest complaint is heat, power consumption, support, and drivers. But to reverse that i get noticeably better performance, it looks cool, and im able to max everything out as well as have a bigger e-penis. There are cons yes, but once you get it tweaked and get over the cost of it it works out for the better in the long run. Also since one of my cards went down i really miss having my SLI becasue i cant play a few games the way i could of with SLI. Hope i helped and wasnt to confusing.

The price range of the AM3 has not been announced but expect them to be around the same price as the Nehalem. They will be 45nm. They are supposed to come late 2008 early 2009 It will have 4x 512 kb L2 cache, and up to 6 mb of L3 cache. The core speeds will range from 2.4 to 2.8 ghz, and expect them to go up some as time passes.To this, i honestly think they will be reworked current Phenoms made to run DDR3. Im having serious doubts AMD can pull out of the hole they dug this time unless they cut loose ATI.

[Goliath182]

AMD may also jump to K12 with the new AM3's. *crosses fingers* but i wouldn't count on it. I think with the 4*** series ATI can finally dig them selfs out of the hole, but thats speculation, it all depends on what they do from here. They have the potential to beat Nvidia in the lower end market which is were the majority of the money is.

[Pablo 54]

PP Mguire,

Makes good sense and I followed everything you wrote.
I have seen power consumption and heat popup several times in regards to the 8800 GTX’s. With summer coming, I would hate to give myself a double whammy on power usage and heat buildup. My OC’ing generated a lot of heat so I ended up going back to factory settings on the memory and GPU and lessoned the OC on the 6550.

My main use for the computer has been video production and storage so I am not really a proficient gamer. By that I mean I am not very good at maxing out settings and getting the most from my machine (plus I suck). Do you know if Bjorn has ever posted max settings on various games using certain equipment similar to the Overclocking section? Something as simple as: I have X equipment and ran Y game at Z settings.
Went off topic on the last part. Sorry
Thanks,

Paul

[Goliath182]

Do you know if Bjorn has ever posted max settings on various games using certain equipment similar to the Overclocking section? Something as simple as: I have X equipment and ran Y game at Z settings.

Ive never seen one but thats a good idea. Perhaps something to run by Scott as a new section in the forum.

[PP Mguire]

I only had the 8800GTXs for one night but they certainly cooked my corner ill tell you. Mainly everything i was saying was based on having 2 highly OCed 7950GTs in SLI. If your not really a gamer i would say SLI is kinda a waste for you.

[Goliath182]

Or if you want a bigger e-penis. But then you would get Skulltrail, twin QX9775's and twin 9800 GX2's.

[PP Mguire]

SLI for a board that cant SLI huh?

[Goliath182]

Lmao where have you been PP? Yes it SLI's it has twin N100 chips in it. It also does Crossfire-X

[Pablo 54]

“Not a big gamer” is my way of saying that I get crushed online most of the time. The last real online game I was good at was Diablo until it was hacked to pieces.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems, with the exception of a few CAD programs and higher end video/audio editing programs, games are the only applications that really test your system.

I have forgotten where I was going with this but I do enjoy games for the graphics and the plot line - I am just not very good at them.

[Goliath182]

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems, with the exception of a few CAD programs and higher end video/audio editing programs, games are the only applications that really test your system./quote]

Yes other than that nothing really stresses your system.

[QUOTE]I was good at was Diablo until it was hacked to pieces.

Maybe sometime in this mellenium Blizzard will finally release a game that doesnt have to do with Warcraft. Diablo 3 would be one of the tops on my list. ;-)

[PP Mguire]

Umm Starcraft 2 is supposed to come this year.

Well i say you have the bottom line of SLI from some peers. Its your call now. 2 8800s would be awesome tbh.

[Goliath182]

Yea and Starcraft Ghost was supposed to come out for what years lol. Then it got canceled :( looked like a good game to.

[PP Mguire]

I kinda had a hunch that would get canned for Starcraft 2. To many people want Starcraft 2 and if they dont make this game alot of people will ditch Blizzard.

[Goliath182]

Well not really because most of them are addicted to WoW, but if they ever did make a new game people would be mad and wouldnt buy it. I dont like how they remade Raynor, he looks dumb now, and he sounds different.

[BigVEvil]

I'm running 2 8500gt 512mhz ddr2 vid cards in my system and playing COD4 on high settings with 70 to 91 FPS