2x 6600GTs or 1x eVGA 6800GT [Archive]

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Swatdog

03-09-05, 05:07 AM

I'm going to be upgrading my computer soon to PCI-E but I'm not sure which cards I should get. My original thought was getting a 6800GT until I can afford to get another, or go with 2x 6600GTs (for the price of one 6800GT) and utilize my SLI setup...

The reason for upgrading is so I can upgrade more easier later. :)

Zebbo

03-09-05, 06:16 AM

Simple answer, go for the 6800GT. Much easier to upgrade later (and I think that's what you want?)

And why not the 2x6600GT SLI'd?
Well, think, how many games has been published with proper SLI-support? Compare 2x6600GT vs. Single 6800GT with 3DMark03. Of course the SLI setup takes the better score, but try compare setup with playing NFSU2. Suddenly the 6800GT would be faster.

As I'm on samekind of situation by myself, I already have single 6600GT and how easy that would be to upgrade my system with "better" gaming performance. Just buy another 6600GT, but then I should not use the word performance anymore. And in some games, 2x6600GT actually performs worse than Single 6600GT.

As I said earlier, go for the 6800GT. SLI is not for these days, it's future.

Swatdog

03-09-05, 09:59 AM

Thanks for your input, and yes you are correct in that most games don't know what to do with 2 GPUs. The main reason for wanting to upgrade, was the ability to upgrade more later and also I'm receiving a huge chunk of change and this may be the only time I could pretty much have 2 computers, because once I buy the new mobo/cpu/ram i'll be selling my current ones. And I cant sell it before hand because I need a computer... :P

consumer9000

03-09-05, 10:29 AM

Now if you had a sexy case window and wanted to show off, the 2 6600GT's would be great for garnering "oohs and aahs". Asides from that, your money is better spent on a 6800GT/Ultra. Besides, if and when in the next 6 months you need more power, toss in another 6800GT, shake, and you've got yourself a renewed powerhouse! :clap:

Swatdog

03-09-05, 11:14 AM

Yeah that was the plan, but I just wanted to know which one I should get NOW. Thanks for your suggestion guys, I think I have made up my mind (and I think you know which) :thup: .

eVGA 6800GT PCI-Express! hehe

I'm also planning on flashing its BIOS to an Ultra and add the Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 to it as well. Should come out nicely.

Zebbo

03-09-05, 01:56 PM

That was right decision :thup:

brakezone

03-09-05, 03:32 PM

6800GT seems like the best all around buy! for a good price you get a card that has 16 ppu's and 6 vpu's plus a 256-bit memory bus that runs at 1ghz speeds! Do a little math einstien and figure out thats 32 gb of memory bandwidth per second. So what you have is a tank of a GPU that has TONS of data to work with. The 6600's have approximately 1/2 the memory bandwidth of the 6800GT and 1/2 the PPU's. The 6600GT gpu may be clocked slightly higher but you get the picture... it is basically 1/2 the card that the 6800GT is. The 6800GT's superscalar archetecture may not always double FPS because twice the geometrical and texturing and shading power doesn't always equate to shooting a frame to the monitor twice as fast, but I believe that the 6800GT will keep chugging quickly where the 6600Gt's will start to get choppy, sometime in the future.

Theoretically, the only reason two 6600GT's in SLI mode can beat a 6800GT is because the two 6600GT gpu's run at higher clock speeds than the single 6800 gpu; however, its processing power does not beat the 6800GT by much and in sli mode they still have lower actual memory bandwidth from the 6800GT alone. On average the 6800GT will be better.

Swatdog

03-09-05, 03:38 PM

Yeah, I agree. I knew the differences between the 6800GT and the 6600GTs, but I was just wondering if I should buy lower end cards (2x 6600GTs) until the next generation of video cards come out, so I can sell the 6600GTs and buy new better ones. But it really doesnt matter because I can do the same with the 6800GT also.

Thanks, and btw you posted twice. :D

Skeetman

03-10-05, 03:06 AM

Hey Swatdog,
I'm sure you have read my opinion about my system with dual 6600s, but you made the right decision.:)

When I built my system at the beginning of January, there were no 6800 GT/U PCI-e cards available anywhere. I went with what was available at the time, and I'm happy with it. But if I was building now I would go with the 6800 GTs.

Skeetman

Lostinthewoods

03-11-05, 06:59 AM

I'd go with the evga. I just orderd mine. Newegg has a killer deal on them right now.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-215&depa=1

Skeetman

03-11-05, 06:49 PM

I'd go with the evga. I just orderd mine. Newegg has a killer deal on them right now.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-215&depa=1

Hell yeah, $374 is a great deal. Best I've seen yet.

Skeetman

fldrice

03-11-05, 06:53 PM

1 6800gt

Swatdog

03-11-05, 11:40 PM

I'd go with the evga. I just orderd mine. Newegg has a killer deal on them right now.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-215&depa=1

Yeah that is a good price, but the taxes are the killer. I can get the same card for $385 shipped from Monarch. For me to order it from Newegg, it's about $401.

TimoneX

03-11-05, 11:49 PM

The 1x6800GT is the better choice for hardcore gaming unless you're heavily into video as well. I went for the 2x6600GTs and am very happy with it, but I'm not a big time gamer either and the cards were only $130x2. It seems like the newer drivers(71.84+) have made SLI a good deal more compatible. I have some screenies of SLI enabled and running load balancing in ATITool. :D

Swatdog

03-12-05, 12:02 AM

TimoneX

03-12-05, 12:05 AM

Yes to test overclocks & my custom cooling solution. The top card gets HOT as you can imagine having another vid card handing it hot air to breathe.

I posted up some pix of ATItool utilizing both cards as well as my cooling and temps here:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=3527943#post3527943