Is SLI worth it?

[devo420]

Hello, this is my first post here at Vista Forums. Before I begin let me post my specs.

OS: Vista Home Premium x64
CPU: Intel Quad Core 2.66GHz
RAM: 4GB Dual Channel
GPU: eVGA 280gtx
MoBo: eVGA 750i
PS: 750watt
HD: Western Digital Raptor 140gb 10k RPM

I was wondering if you guys think it would be wise to run an additional 280gtx? It seems like it wouldn't be with how fast new graphics cards are being churned out. Thanks in advance.

-devo420

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Hello devo420,
You will probably get a lot of answers to this question, probably all different.
I would have to say, with DX 11 around the corner i would wait and see.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[archie123]

if your prepared to put up with the odd issue in certain games and you have the power then yes id say its worth it for anything up to 50% extra fps , you need top be gaming at super high rwesolutions for it to be worth it though , if your at 1680x1050 you wont notice , if your getting 100fps now an extra 50 isnt going to help , you wont notice


ive never gone sli but ive built 2 sli rigs and have a friend with an sli rig and i was impressed

its always better though with just one card , its much less hassle

its always difficult when upgrading cos the "next best thing" is always round the corner its up to you at the end of the day ............. your cash

 

[AstaLaVista]

Depending on the games you play I would say. If your games are FPSs for the most part, I think that SLI is Highly over rated (unless, of course you got the money to burn) since the majority will be unpotimized console ports (read: don't support SLI), they will be coded in such a way that they are easy on the rigs (CoD 4, 5 & Fear 2 come to mind) or made in such a way that they will bring down high-end rigs (Crysis... only game that has done so)

Also, make sure your PSU is capable of handling the Amps needed by those 2 monsters of a card you want to run in SLI.

Your board must be capable of handling SLI... 2 PCI2 slots capable of 16x and not just 8x times 2. Check the specs for your board

 

[devo420]

Ok, thanks a lot for your input guys. Based on your responses I have the gut feeling not to go SLI. Besides, my hard drive is running out of space so another WD Raptor is needed, which are somewhat costly in itself. Thanks again.

-devo420

 

[AstaLaVista]

Seeing as how this has been solved already, I am not going to feel so bad about threadjacking this but I gotta ask.

What is the need of having a super duper fast HDD if you are only going to need it for space? I mean, exactly how much of a difference would you feel if you were to buy a good 1 TB 7200 rpm with 16 or 32 MB cache for about the same price or even less?

 

[devo420]

Isn't it better to use the same model hard drive when adding multiple hard drives to a computer?

-devo420

 

[smarteyeball]

Isn't it better to use the same model hard drive when adding multiple hard drives to a computer?

-devo420

If you are going to RAID, yes. If it's not for RAID then it doesn't matter.

 

[devo420]

I use high RPM hard drives because I am a speed whore. It's a major component of a computer and I want to be able to read and write data as fast as possible. I enjoy the fast installations and movement of files.

But then there's always the impending solid state drives to worry about...

-devo420

 

[hclarkjr]

i took the plunge last july and bought a 3870x2 and do not regret it at all. for me to have a video card over a year is no small feat either

 

[Impulse Fire911]

Well the main problem with SLI is that not all games can support it. whats good about upcoming games like crysis 2 is that it will take full control of SLI. so f you get SLI now you will be prepared for the future games to come. just not being able to play on more than a single monitor Also a gtx 280 is a powerful card id say to get SLI with 2 gtx 280's you wont need to upgrade it withing the next 2 years.

 

[devo420]

But the thing that matters most to me about graphics cards is the GPU, I know that 2 gb of video ram will be able to handle basically every game for the next few years but I obviously want the best visual experience possible.

 

[archie123]

But the thing that matters most to me about graphics cards is the GPU, I know that 2 gb of video ram will be able to handle basically every game for the next few years but I obviously want the best visual experience possible.

you wont have 2gb of video ram sli doesnt work like that , you'll still only have 1gb , both gpus need the SAME data in thier respective rams therefore you still only have 1gb total

 

[devo420]

So the same data is sent to both cards? The workload isn't shared collectively between both cards? Sorry, I have not read in depth about running SLI.

 

[archie123]

So the same data is sent to both cards? The workload isn't shared collectively between both cards? Sorry, I have not read in depth about running SLI.

i dont always trust wikepedia but this seems sound have a look , it'll explain it better than i ever could

Scalable Link Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia