SLI - is it worth it?

[woca]

I was planning on getting the evga nforce 680i SLI mobo for SLI, even though there seems to be a lot of problems with the 680i chipset

now, with the problems and the realization that this is my first build im contemplating purchasing another board but one question that really important is

is SLI worth it?

I was planning on buying one GeForce 8800 GTX and getting another later on in the year around when Crysis comes out.

other specs are
C2D e6700
2GBs crucial Ballistix DDR2 800

i dont plan overclocking until later on in the year as well

 

[brakezone]

Under windows SLI can really improve performance (up to 2X). the 650i also has SLI but it doesn't have as much bandwidth as the 680i. Linux SLI support is new but is buggy. I am using 2 7600GS and it really does make it feel graphically powerful. I still think the drivers are buggy and using the application profiles doesn't seem to work properly. From my experience i think SLI can be good for a future upgrade OR if you wanted to buy 2 of the best cards at once; however, even though it gives me good performance for the cost, I would have been better off getting a 7900GS, in my situation, because of the buggyness of the SLI drivers. Theres so many application profiles, its confusing on what order the settings are applied.

 

[Goshawk]

It depends on how you look at it... But for me looking into it... your talking 1400$ ( give or take a little ) I personally don't think SLI is worth that amount of money, especially when you consider the overhead involved with powering a system like that, and cooling it too.

I'd be more apt to go with a P5B-Deluxe and a single 8800GTX and see where that goes later on with gaming. Crysis isn't even close to being released yet... they're just teasing us with gameplay videos and screen shots to keep us hungry while we wait for it ( as far as i'm concerned, it's vaporware until it's on the shelf in a big shiny box )

It's up to you though cash is hard to come by these days


~ Gos

 

[UglyChild]

Yeah, by the time Crysis comes out, there will be new mobos and new VGA's to buy.

 

[Slammin]

Right now, unless you are running on a 32" LCD, a single 8800GTX is all you need.

Is Sli worth it? See above

In the long run, these two cards have lasted me longer than any other video upgrade, but since purchasing these, several single-card solutions came out that surpass the performance I get, though it did take awhile.

On the other hand, if I had originally bought a single 7800GTX and a year later, a single card solution came out that was faster than Sli 7800GTX, my original plan of adding a second 7800GTX goes out the window at that point.

It's all moot though because had I bought a single 7800GTX at the start, I would not be able to drive this 24" LCD, so really, it depends a lot on your other components (display, CPU) too.

 

[Section8]

SLI with 2 8800's is only needed when you are running at least a 24 inch or higher LCD at max settings. Being able to play any game out at full settings and 1920 X 1200 or 2560x1600 with the 30 inch is GODLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make sure you have a beefy CPU as well or your wasting your money as the CPU will bottleneck you.

 

[meionm]

SLI with 2 8800's is only needed when you are running at least a 24 inch or higher LCD at max settings. Being able to play any game out at full settings and 1920 X 1200 or 2560x1600 with the 30 inch is GODLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make sure you have a beefy CPU as well or your wasting your money as the CPU will bottleneck you.

Not true. At lower resolutions that might the case but as resolutions increase it becomes more GPU intensive. That is true for both sli and single card solutions.

Another thing is if somebody can afford 30 inch monitor they probably can afford video cards to match it.

 

[grayg]

Do you have the E6700 already? If you don't just get an E6600 instead.
The E6700 is a bit of a rip off, in my country (England) for £138 more than the E6600 you can get 270mhz extra no thanks...

£138 = USD $273.79

I think it's either:
E6300 if you want to go the full length overclock
E6400 if you want the easy overclock (higher multi so lower FSB required from mobo)
E6600 if not overclocking or if you want true easy mode oc + 2mb extra cache
After that I see it as if you are going for something better, you should then go the full length for with the EE or quad. 270mhz OC on C2D is incredibly easy to achieve.

Also as others have said SLi 8800GTX is only really needed if you are running a really huge monitor. If your playing at like 1600x1200 then I would expect one 8800GTX to murder games.

 

[attack]

is SLI worth it....the only time it's been worth it in teh past has been if you want the absolute best, RIGHT NOW.
Many people have thought...oh well I'll get card xxx and add another later on, well when later on comes, card yyy is out and it performs just as good as 2 xxx's in SLI AND is either same or cheaper.
6800's in SLI, get beat by the 7800GTX/7900GT, 7600's get beet by 7800GTX/7900GT's, 7900/7950's in SLI get beet by single 8800's...it's just been the onging case. SLI also doesn't work with all games, draws more power, reduces OCability, and adds heat.

SLI isn't a terrible thing...I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying it's not something to use as an upgrade path. It's smarter to stick with single cards unless you want bleeding edge (i.e. 2 88000GTS/GTX's now...and when newer cards come out, sell em and get 2 of the next latest and greatest).

 

[ddawson]

I'm running everything your thinking about. On my 24" in 2142 with a 4800+ OC’ed to 2.7and 7800GTX in SLI 2142 would reallllllly slow down when the artillery hit.

Now it’s butter smooth in anything that happens with the 8800GTS in SLI. I would have gone GTX but my case made the longer GTX cards a tight fit, plus I can’t find a PS that would fit in the case.

I haven’t had 1 problem with the new setup. I’m using the P23 Bios and all the latest drivers and I played 2142 for 6 hours straight. Guildwars is the only other game installed at this point and it runs with no issues as well.

The only small thing is 1 8800 sits right below my blow hole so I swapped the fan to draw air in. That GPU runs 20C cooler then the GPU below it. The EVGA 680I has some design changes that need to be made. Other then that it’s been really good so far.

 

[blitzkrieg1110]

This is just my opinion, but with the advances in graphics performance for each sequential graphics card release....I don't think SLi is worth it. I would personally rather sell my current graphics card and buy the best new one (that will most likely come close if not outperform the SLi with my current card) rather than buy another of my current cards. Look at the 8800gtx for example. Yes, it's expensive, but its also DirectX10 compatible and will outperform 2 7900gtx's (nvidias top performer just a few months ago) in SLi. I just see no need to go SLi....

 

[brakezone]

IF you can afford 2 8800's you might as well just get 1 and when you've determiend that you actually need more power get 2.

 

[Section8]

It's like this.... If you have the money it is worth it. I have the money to spend on new technology since new technology is my life in many ways. I work in Digital Animation, Game Design, Web Development and just about anything computer related. If you have the money it is worth it. I personally would never go back to a single card ever again after seeing all my games at there max glory without suffering choppy frame rates.

 

[jivetrky]

Best question, IMO, is what display do you have?

If you have a 1280x1024 display, SLI might not really be necessary for you. It certainly won't hurt anything, but you might have a second card just sitting there doing nothing


But if you have a decent resolution display (maybe 1600x1200, 1680x1050, or larger) It'll probably help, certainly in newer games and in graphically intensive games.

If it was me and I could totally afford it, I'd go SLI. But for me that would be with a 24" widescreen with a 1920x1200 resolution.

If your a car guy: What good is a 500HP engine if you can't get it to the wheels?

 

[Section8]

Best question, IMO, is what display do you have?

If you have a 1280x1024 display, SLI might not really be necessary for you. It certainly won't hurt anything, but you might have a second card just sitting there doing nothing


But if you have a decent resolution display (maybe 1600x1200, 1680x1050, or larger) It'll probably help, certainly in newer games and in graphically intensive games.

If it was me and I could totally afford it, I'd go SLI. But for me that would be with a 24" widescreen with a 1920x1200 resolution.

If your a car guy: What good is a 500HP engine if you can't get it to the wheels?

This is a good point and very true.

 

[ddawson]

If your a car guy: What good is a 500HP engine if you can't get it to the wheels?

My other hobby. 495 RWHP in a 2004 GTO and your right no traction at all, but passing cars on the freeway is a blast.

 

[jivetrky]

My other hobby. 495 RWHP in a 2004 GTO and your right no traction at all, but passing cars on the freeway is a blast.

Ahh, I'm talking about a powerful car with 500HP or more, not a whimpy 495HP just kidding! Man 495HP, I can't even imagine. Most I've ever personally felt was ~300HP in a turbo civic. Can't even imagine ~500

 

[squashfx]

i have 1 8800 gtx and on bf2 my fps is like 150 - 200 and 2142 my fps is like 100 - 160 ... in my opinion you dont need to run sli, just 1 of these cards is plenty powerful....

 

[Immortal_Hero]

I would wait for the 8600's and do SLi with those.

 

[jivetrky]

i have 1 8800 gtx and on bf2 my fps is like 150 - 200 and 2142 my fps is like 100 - 160 ... in my opinion you dont need to run sli, just 1 of these cards is plenty powerful....

But there are other games that are harder on the cards.