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Economy of a SLI setup.
    #6072235 -

In my next major computer upgrade I'd like to go with a new motherboard and a SLI setup with video cards. I'm aware that it's a significant investment, but I'm curious about how economical it can be.

The way I see it, I might get more value out of using 2 behind-the-curve cards than I would out of getting a single card which is still advanced (because newer cards' prices are disproportionate to performance due to demand).

Can anyone comment on that notion?


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I find your lack of faith disturbing

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6072509 -

I'm also pricing new computer components, and it seems that there is limited benefit to having two decent but not great video cards in SLI compared to one pretty good one... for instance- there are significant overall performance benefits with one 7900gtx compared to two 7600s.

basically there are limited useful applications of the sli system, whereas having a nice 256/512mb 7900 will be all around awsome. plus, you don't have to get an SLI board, nor is your choice of vendors limited.

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6073374 -

I just wanted to say, my guts told me to get it..

I got nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX (1024x768x32bpp 60Hz) in Sli, and Never complained.. :p

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Mezcal]
    #6074376 -

I should probably do some research into how SLI works. I figured there would be a simple relationship that basically combined the power of the two cards.

The bottleneck in a vidcard is usually the memory, and newer cards may be more streamlined/efficient memory configurations, so perhaps two halves would not equal the whole... if you get my meaning.

Then again if I increased cooling ability for the memory chips, I might sqeeze more competitive performance out of the two cards via overclocking, but that could be done with the single chip, and likely for a better increase.


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I find your lack of faith disturbing

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6074520 -

SLI shares GPU speed, memory still remains seperate


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"What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: barfightlard]
    #6074919 -

barfightlard said:
SLI shares GPU speed, memory still remains seperate


really? Then what the hell is the point?

if a GPU bottlenecks in the memory, and you use SLI to increase processor speed, then you're essentially spending a lot of money to do absolutely nothing.

It's like a "4 wheel drive" car that doesn't have a driveshaft connected to the front wheels. :confused:


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I find your lack of faith disturbing

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6075040 -

With todays high end card and high end games your pretty much maxing yourself out. I only have a single 7800GT and I run BF2 all max and 4xAA + 8AF and run smooth. As of now SLI is pretty much for benchmark scores. Your better off buying a x1900 or 7900GT, ect....SLI may come into play more down the road.

Hardware has always been ahead of software..


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"What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: barfightlard]
    #6076534 -

Allright then, sounds like SLI at the moment might be a waste of money. I'll just replace my vidcard then; that way I don't need a new mobo. As it is I'm fine for memory and processor. 3.00gig processor and 1 gig ram is perfectly acceptable (especially since the memory is high-speed memory from Corsair).

My current GPU is the Radeon 9700 Pro... 128meg of memory and a 400MHz processor. That's noticeably behind the curve. I can't even get consistent framerates with HL2's new HDR technology when I turn down other settings, and I really love HDR.


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I find your lack of faith disturbing

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6076998 -

SLI is a waste. Just buy a really nice video card. I personally buy all my hardware used at a fraction of the price. As long as you don't mind being slightly behind the technology curve it really saves you some $$$$$.

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Re: Economy of a SLI setup. [Re: Konnrade]
    #6077079 -

cards like these will run everything fine

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19542&vpn=PV-T73K-YAL3&manufacture=XFX

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20526&vpn=100-435712&manufacture=Others

One of those card and your system will hold yo over nill you need to do a big upgrade.


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"What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks

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General Interest > Science and Technology
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