SLI or Single Card?

[sashasmola]

I've seen alot of craze about SLI.

I dont see the pay off, when you waste up to $600+ on two video cards for a bit better preformance.

6 months later, a new model comes out and one of the new gen cards beat the preformance of your two.

Sure if you have the money to waste who cares right?

But if it is a problem, I dont think its worth it at all.

Buy yourself something that will last you a longer time, like a monitor insted of that second card.


What does everyone think about SLI ?

[John C]

I agree, I think in most cases you can find a single card that will perform as well as two cards in SLI at the same price point.

[Poci]

I disagree,if you got the money for it SLI is the way to go.Benchmarks prove almost doubling your performance with SLI.
Of course this all depends on the right combination of cards.But right now for example you can get 2x8800GTS 320mb versions and SLI them and they will have more horsepower then a single GTX but with slightly less video memory

[Yeah]

Unfortunately this is a debate with no winner. I agree with both sides of this coin because frankly, I am not one of the masses that can afford to go out and buy two High end video cards.

SLI was and is a great concept and it is for the people that can afford two video cards at once for ultimate gaming.

You can get 2 7900's for less than the price of 1 8800gtx And possibly out perform that one GTX.

However if you want the best of the best and you got that money burnin a hole in your pocket- you can send two 8800 GTX's to my address .....er I mean ... You should be able to have the ultimate gaming experience that you can afford.

[Poci]

Actually an 8800GTX will perform better then dual 7900s and the 8800 is a Direct X 10 card, 7900 is Direct X 9

Which is why I mention the 8800 GTS 320 mb version,comparing that to a GTX is closer to apples vs apples if you ask me since they are both same generation,and 2 GTS 320ers will cost the same as a single GTX and have more GPU horsepower but slightly less video memory which shouldnt be a problem.

[_dangtx_]

when u think for a generation sli is the king. if you take in account a card one year from now that will double the gtx(dont think so but anyway) then no,its not worth it.
the 320's in sli is the best u can do for now with your money. make sure yer psu makes it tough and if u have a dual core below 2.5 giger itll be a bottleneck as well.
dan

[Judas]

And because all of this type of bouncing back and forth between SLI and non, I'm still running on my X850XT-PE. I have no need for anything more powerful.

[chuck4456]

Benchmarking only lasts so long; then it's over and done with. You want eye candy always. One KA video card will provide you just as much satisfaction as duals. Your eyes will not be able to tell the difference.

[mr_raider]

SLI is only worth it at the TOP end of the range, i.e. 8800 series. Pairing up two mid-range cards is not worth it, since a single high end card will always outperform it.

[GlacierFreeze]

I disagree,if you got the money for it SLI is the way to go.Benchmarks prove almost doubling your performance with SLI.

What kind of benchmarks?

No body should pay attention to synthetic benchmarks. Real world game benchmarks are the only ones that should be paid attention to at all.