[MrFrench]

Just wondering if you can give me some advice on SLI graphics cards. I am looking to buy a couple that arn't too expensive, but are of decent performence.

Ta

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The cheapest way to do it is using two 6800 or 7800GS cards, however SLI isnt a good option unless you have a very high reloution monitor or you are getting the cards and motherboard very very cheaply, otherwise you are better short and long term with single card solutions, for most SLI is an expensive novelty. To use SLI you also need an SLI mobo and a sufficeintly powerful PSU 500 to 600W from a reliable company.

[warriorscot]

The cheapest way to do it is using two 6800 or 7800GS cards, however SLI isnt a good option unless you have a very high reloution monitor or you are getting the cards and motherboard very very cheaply, otherwise you are better short and long term with single card solutions, for most SLI is an expensive novelty. To use SLI you also need an SLI mobo and a sufficeintly powerful PSU 500 to 600W from a reliable company.

[monkeymedia]

I am looking into building an sli rig at the moment and have done a lot of research on the net, i am coming to the same conclusion as warriorscot.

An important point that i have found is that when you compare a high end card on its own with 2 lower end cards in sli but spend the same amount of money then sometimes you can get higher performance from the single high end card

[p-zero]

I beg to differ. Im running an SLI setup total cost for 2 evga cards - $200 + 12 (give or take a few bux) for shipping. A 7800gtx cost min about $400. And now since dx10 is coming out a lot of the pcie cards are dropping in price. The 6800's I have, have actually dropped even more in price after rebate (from newegg) theyre about $80 each. You can get the 6800GS's for about 120 each. But then again whats the point of getting the 7800? I can run EVERY game at max resolution and settings. So there you are incorrect about the price being the same. It seems that 1 high end card costs twice as much as 2 medium grade cards.
-Pete.

Edited by p-zero, 03 April 2006 - 01:22 PM.

[monkeymedia]

From reading the article below you can see that 6600gt's in sli are outperformed by a single 7800gt.

http://www.tomshardw...dia/page43.html

The prices you mention seem good in comparison to those that i can get here in the uk, however the cheapest price i could find for either 2x6600gt or 1x7800gt is approx. 220GBP there is very little in it.

Sli or no Sli, either way you can get great graphics performance, it just depends how interested you are and how much you want to spend, i have to agree with p-zero on the cost of cards dropping though, there are a lot of good deals out there.

The decision is yours MrMerde - enjoy the upgrade!

[warriorscot]

They drop for a reason you dont want to upgrade to non DX9 when 10 comes out its a huge difference, and two 6600GTs are the same price as a 7900GT and you are better with a 7900, and p-zero ive read a few reviews and the GS setups are good but there are single card setups that are better for the same price there are lots of reviews some get beter some get worse its the way they go, but you also need a much more powerful PSU. But you can usually get the performance you need from a single card as well, if you look at the reviews you lose a fair bit of performance operating at lower resolutions.

Its only feasible if you get them very cheaply at the time of build if you are paying the going rate its rarely viable and its two cards to replace in the future thats two cards two throw away or sell its easier to do that with one card.

Theres pros and cons but its pretty much the consensus that for an average user with a normal resolution monitor its not advisable compared to other cards on the market.

But then again you dont need to buy a high end card, for most people the mid end cards play as well as they need as they rarely use over 1280x1024 and dont need every setting at max or cant have every setting at max. A single 6800GS is capable of running most games at high settings, or an x850 you can pick up at a good price now and you are still hard pressed to push that card to a point where it cant play a game.

[Sgt_pepper]

hello everyone, i know mr merde so will be donating an Asus EN6600gt plus a 550w PSU, plus if he gets a kit like this >> Here << all he then needs is another 6600gt, or he can use the one card with the abillity to upgrade in the future.

the best of both worlds id say.

Edited by Sgt_pepper, 05 April 2006 - 06:40 AM.

[admin]

When comparing SLI -vs- non-SLI don't forget to include the cost of the power supply. Quality SLI rated power supplies are not cheap.