SLI- Hype or Hyper?

[Harudath]

is SLi/Crossfire ACTUALLY worth it? I really doubt that you get 2x the performance as some people say, I've heard that you actually only get 15-20% extra performance. Discuss.

[lemonlime]

You are correct, you'll never get 2x the performance. Even nvidia makes that clear. If I remember correctly, they always boasted up to 80% performance improvement.

It really depends on a lot of factors. Some games will see no improvement whatsoever, others may be so CPU limited that extra GPU horsepower provides little improvement. SLI can provide a lot of benefit if you are pushing very high resolutions and in some situations you really will see 50+ percent improvements. I've never run SLI so I can not speak from experience. I'm sure there are other individuals around the forum who can provide some real world experiences.

[primesuspect]

I was just looking at Crysis benchmarks not 5 minutes ago - a single 8800gtx edged out two of them with DX9 @ medium settings.

Of course you're not going to play Crysis @ DX10/High because.... well, because nobody can yet (unless you want 19-22fps) and then even so, SLI 8800GTXs was only 5-6 FPS higher than single card.

Not worth the money. Double the cost for 20-50% performance boost = :thumbsdow

[mas0n]

Unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket the cost for the PSU, cooling, additional card, etc is just not really worth it, especially when we all know tomorrow's card will be better than two of today's. Also, if you go high end SLi/CF you MUST feed those beasts with an OC'd quad.

Hopefully that changes as the whole process becomes more refined and the level of support increases, but today this is where we're at.

[Gate28]

I was just looking at Crysis benchmarks not 5 minutes ago - a single 8800gtx edged out two of them with DX9 @ medium settings.



:topic: speaking of benchmarks, have you seen the requirements of assassins creed for PC? unbeleivebaly steep...

[primesuspect]

No I haven't... Links?

[Gate28]

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50880

tell me if that works, i cant test it, im at school =(

[primesuspect]

worked. They're not THAT bad. A $400 PC could play it, albeit not as well as a 360 or PS3.

2gb of ram is so cheap nowadays, there's no reason not to have it. geforce 6-series cards are supported, so....

[Leonardo]

up to 80% performance improvementPerhaps under ideal conditions with very, very few games. A typical performance improvement is more like just 10-15%.

BTW, you should check out the reviews on the new ATI 3870X2, dual GPU video card. It's being called the fastest video card.

[Harudath]

I've settled on http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3514993&CatId=1826. Compared to other nVidia cards the price/performance ratio on this is insane :D

EDIT: I've been looking for Assassin's Creed for the PC, looks awesome- friend has it for the 360

[mas0n]

I've settled on http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3514993&CatId=1826. Compared to other nVidia cards the price/performance ratio on this is insane :D

Personally I'd recommend getting the GT over the GTS as the performance increase is minimal and you could save $60 or so. I played around with a GTS vs. my GT towards the bottom of this thread here (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66862) and found that just a 20MHz bump to the GT put the two dead even.

[Harudath]

Cooling is a factor for me, I don't have any effective graphics cooling, so for the $60, or £30, a speed boost that will help with overclocking, a heatsink and fan as well as being affordable (British conversions, for the same price over in England you get ALOT less). Once Overclocked it is faster than the GTX (at times) as well as being easier to keep cold. I don't, in any way doubt your knowlege and experience in this area, but for someone that has nothing but PC parts to pay for, no bills or anything. But, if you overclock the GT by 50 that brings the clock speed to the same as the GTS, but then you can Overclock the GTS to 720 and beyond more easily than the GT, no? (Again, not criticising/questioning your information, I'm just curious ^^)

[Harudath]

Taking a look at UK websites, the CHEAPEST 8800GTS is $60 more than the GTS I want to get. As well as being better, the value for money as far as I am concerned is supreme- The markets for these things in America is alot better, but for $349, I can get a card and overclock it to perform as well as a GTX, which on the websites I've seen are going for almost $550, so as far as I'm aware that's a good'n :P

[Thrax]

The benefit of SLI: Good luck running 2560 without it.

[Harudath]

2560...? I'm not planning to go that big for a loong while :P

[Thrax]

I'm just saying, people misappropriate the benefit of SLI or Crossfire. It has nothing to do with doubling your frame rates or giving you eleventy billion FPS (Although that is a side effect in some games). SLI and CF make the fill rate of the cards absolutely astronomical, and the sheer vertex-processing potential of an SLI or CF array is stunning. SLI and CF exists to provide a high-quality experience with the bells and whistles -- AA and CF -- at resolutions single-card solutions would cry about.

[Harudath]

Aah, I see- So it's not a direct performance boost as in double FPS, but it allows the game to run more smoothly-ish-mical?

[Thrax]

Yes. More features, smoother, higher resolutions. Powerful video cards these days shouldn't be thought of in terms of FPS any more. It's all about "What are the max settings I can smoothly run this game at?" Some cards deliver more than others when you look at it this way, and that is far more important to me than 500 FPS that looks like garbage.

[Leonardo]

people misappropriate the benefit of SLI or CrossfireThanks for those last two posts, Thrax. How is it you can effectively explain in one short paragraph what takes several confusing pages from highly regarded tech sites? rock on

[Harudath]

He has the gift... Thanks everyone, I'm learning so damn much from you guys :P

[Harudath]

I had to do a quick Change... Just ordered my 8800GTS, but the one from tigerdirect was going to cost $80 for shipping... So I went with http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138551. Same card but with a different game and free shipping xD

[Leonardo]

tigerdirect was going to cost $80 for shipping... SOuch! By comparison, Alaska is downright economical. Were you ordering from the US? Won't their be a U.K. duty imposed as well?

[Harudath]

Ouch! By comparison, Alaska is downright economical. Were you ordering from the US? Won't their be a U.K. duty imposed as well?


I need to correct myself: America is cheaper if you live there :P I ended up using a UK supplier for £20 more, but with free shipping :P I literally have 80 cents left as all my money added up now :P I used www.ebuyer.com. It should arrive on monday and I'll do a Benchmark test and let you guys know how it went- ended up paying £184 for it, which is about $360.