SLI - is it worth it?

[Section8]

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

Yep and at what resolution? If your running 4X AA and 16X AF at 1920 X 1200 your not getting 150+ FPS.

 

[jivetrky]

Yep and at what resolution? If your running 4X AA and 16X AF at 1920 X 1200 your not getting 150+ FPS.

Well if I was able to build a big system right now, i would definitely weigh the fact that is takes SLI 8800GTX's to play Oblivion at 1920x1200 and retain the high graphics settings I would want in the game.

And I'm sure future games like Crysis, UT2k7, Alan Wake, etc will definitely require some more HP.

 

[squashfx]

Yep and at what resolution? If your running 4X AA and 16X AF at 1920 X 1200 your not getting 150+ FPS.

i have everything on ultra high.. aa is set to 8x b.c thats the highest it goes..i heard a rumor that you have to run sli to get 16x.. as far as my resolution goes i am on a 19 inch so max i can go is 1280 x 1024 and i am getting 150 - 200 infact sometimes over 200 like when im in a jet or somthing... 1 card is very powerful.. until better games come i dont think you will need 2

 

[greenmaji]

And I'm sure future games like Crysis, UT2k7, Alan Wake, etc will definitely require some more HP.

And there will be single GFX's that can kick SLI 8800's in the ground by then.

24-30" LCD = SLI yes

lower res.. single card, sell it and trade up when you need more GFX HP.

 

[Drew@PSU]

Time to throw in my two cents:
SLI is a nice if you want either
A) Blow everything out of the water performance now
OR
B) An upgrade later ( IMO )

I didn't get two 7800GTs right away, I got the second one after the price had dropped almost 60%. I could have gotten a 7900GTX, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of selling my old card and getting a new one ( yeah I know, wussy of me ). Plus SLI is just downright cool, like bling for your computer, IMO.

There are trade offs though, some games don't really take advantage of SLI, you can only run one monitor, and I for one am bottlenecked by my CPU.

But I would definitely do it again

SLI FTW!

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Do you have lots of disposable income? Then yes, sli is worth it.

Are you an eye candy freak who plays on a 30in dell at 2560x1900 (or whatever redicilous resolution it is)? Then yes, sli is worth it

If you dont play at a high resolution, then no, sli isnt worth it. Lower resolution gaming relys heavily on the CPU as well as the GPU, and your money is better spent in a CPU upgrade

Do you want to not have to upgrade for a very very long time? (2 years), then yes, sli is worth it

Are you getting some crazy kickass deal? Thn yes, its worth it. I traded my two 7800gt's for my two 7900gtx's i was lucky

 

[TimoneX]

There are other special situations where SLI does make sense. For instance I'm an occasional gamer, but an avid movie buff and I use the same computer for all these things (see sig) as well as work. I always have at least two of my three 21" CRTs on and often have an HDTV projector on as well. In this situation having two video cards is a must and if you're going to have two video cards then why not have them working in tandem when the urge to frag hits you? As a result I favor twin middle performing GPUs. I had 2x6600GTs then 2x7600GS's and now 2x7600GT's. The cards do everything I want from a video system and the lower end cards I use don't require a gigawatt of juice.