to sli or not to sli,,,that is the question

S

SITTINGDUCK

Guest
thinking about a new computer, dont want to make it so expensive its out of reach, but even more, dont want to get something thats going to obsolete too soon.

with that in mind, am considering an sli mb. The ones i have looked at run the first card at 16x, and the second card at 8x. Is this normal for sli, or should i be looking at something better?

and, while on the sli subject,,,as i understand it, one card does the top, other does the bottom. Are 2 medium price range video cards going to give me the same performance as one high range video card.

realise sli is probably not a big requirement for off3, its just a waste of money to get something "for the moment" and isnt going to take you into the next generation of games (off7)
 
SITTINGDUCK said:
thinking about a new computer, dont want to make it so expensive its out of reach, but even more, dont want to get something thats going to obsolete too soon.

with that in mind, am considering an sli mb. The ones i have looked at run the first card at 16x, and the second card at 8x. Is this normal for sli, or should i be looking at something better?

and, while on the sli subject,,,as i understand it, one card does the top, other does the bottom. Are 2 medium price range video cards going to give me the same performance as one high range video card.

realise sli is probably not a big requirement for off3, its just a waste of money to get something "for the moment" and isnt going to take you into the next generation of games (off7)
Click to expand...

This is my personal opinion, based upon direct personal experience with SLi (both the cards and mobos) and the experiences of a number of other people I know.

Avoid it like the plague.

It has numerous technical issues, both the implementation of the SLi hardware, software and the mobos on which it all runs (NForce chipsets), and it is of dubious value in many, if not most, games.

So far as OFF is concerned, I believe it's not recommended in any particular way. And after I solved my CPU bottleneck I've found my single 8800GTX can handle anything the sim throws at it graphically (at very high rez, max FSAA and AF, with sliders at 54451).
 
If you were to buy a 200 series Nvidia card or an ATI equivalent (Nvidia best for OFF) you shouldn't need to worry with SLI. In SLI the memory of only one card is used, IOW, if you install 2 8800GTX cards, each with 768Mb, you're still only going to have 768Mb of usable memory, whereas with a 200 series card, say, a GTX 260 1Mb which has dual GPUs, you've basically got an SLI setup in a single card. If you can afford a 200 series card, that would be your best bet IMHO. I've got an Abit IN9 32X MAX 680i SLI that has 3 PCIe x16 slots, two that run at 16x in SLI and one that runs at 8x for a Physics card.
The ultimate decision is yours, but that is what I would do.

CJ
 
I'm thinking I should put my other GTX in, but I understand it won't be used for physics calculations unless the game is specifically coded for it?
 
It would definitely add to your graphics power, but not memory. I run a single 8800GTX also and will run it until such a time I can afford either another (which would be cheaper) or a 200 series card. I have no complaints whatsoever with the card I have now and would highly recommend it to anyone. The price of the 8800GTXs has dropped dramatically so it is an affordable transition card between the older cards and the newer ones. They're about 2 years old now but nonetheless a badass graphics solution.

CJ

BTW Siggi, are you running Vista? If I'm not mistaken the PhysX runs with Directx 10, only available in Vista.
 
SLI brings no additional benefit to OFF IMO - been there done that as usual YMMV - both Polovski and I wasted money, a year or so back, on this.

Plus its a Pain. Rather just buy a better GPU

WM
 
Cameljockey said:
It would definitely add to your graphics power, but not memory. I run a single 8800GTX also and will run it until such a time I can afford either another (which would be cheaper) or a 200 series card. I have no complaints whatsoever with the card I have now and would highly recommend it to anyone. The price of the 8800GTXs has dropped dramatically so it is an affordable transition card between the older cards and the newer ones. They're about 2 years old now but nonetheless a badass graphics solution.

CJ

BTW Siggi, are you running Vista? If I'm not mistaken the PhysX runs with Directx 10, only available in Vista.
Click to expand...

I'm running XP-Pro. PhysX does run in both XP and Vista (just been researching it), but apparantly under Vista you need a second monitor hooked up for some convoluted reason. NVidia are trying to sort that apparently and may have already done it.

Having the second card in a slot, but NOT SLi'ed, gives no graphical boost, it will offer improvements only in games that are PhysX coded.
 
Let me ask you this. My board is set up with two 16x slots for graphics cards and 1 8x slot for a physics card. If the second card is for Physics, like you say, what is the need for a Physics card in the SLI setup?

CJ

I just re-read your post, the part about two cards not in SLI perplexes me. Why bother having two cards installed not running in SLI?
 
Cameljockey said:
Let me ask you this. My board is set up with two 16x slots for graphics cards and 1 8x slot for a physics card. If the second card is for Physics, like you say, what is the need for a Physics card in the SLI setup?

CJ
Click to expand...

If you have two cards, SLi'ed or not, the PhysX will run; from one (non SLi) or both (SLi). There is no need for a third card, and it wouldn't work like that anyway (unless/until NVidia release software to make that possible too).
 
Cameljockey said:
Let me ask you this. My board is set up with two 16x slots for graphics cards and 1 8x slot for a physics card. If the second card is for Physics, like you say, what is the need for a Physics card in the SLI setup?

CJ

I just re-read your post, the part about two cards not in SLI perplexes me. Why bother having two cards installed not running in SLI?
Click to expand...

Specifically to have one for PhysX. The GPU on the spare card handles PhysX calculations significantly faster than even a high-end CPU can.

GPU-PhysX = far higher frames than CPU-PhysX. :)
 
This thread title caught my eye when I logged on today. Evga (U.S.)has the 55nm GTX 260-216 SC (super clock) edition card on sale with coupon for $218 right now. That's $100 cheaper than what I paid for my 260-216 SC card just 6 months ago - and at this price was really considering picking up another card to run SLI.

I've read the pros and cons of SLI and the reasons to support both camps of thought. Logic tells me to forget it (my Dell LCD monitor native resolution is 1600x1200) but....man....$218 for this card is really tempting...

arrrrrgggghhh....what to do ....what to do....
 
Over50 said:
tempting...

arrrrrgggghhh....what to do ....what to do....
Click to expand...

Ask yourself if any of the games you play need more FPS, and if they do whether or not SLi will provide it. Without driving you batty. :)
 
Siggi said:
Ask yourself if any of the games you play need more FPS, and if they do whether or not SLi will provide it. Without driving you batty. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know... The 896 MB GTX 260-216 SC card I have is actually more card than my E8400 at it's stock 3 GHz speed can handle (over a 1600 score/point difference using 3DMark06 between the stock speed and OC'd to 3.6 GHz). As for the games I play all run anywhere from +40/50 fps avg highs to over 100 fps except Crysis - which is the norm - that tends to choke now and then.

Oh well...I'll just have to concentrate on ignoring that voice in my ear urging me to "heck of price deal....buy the 2nd card...buy the 2nd card..."
 
sli

ok,,,,,,thanks for the reply

so,,,,maybe get the sli board, but, sink my money into the best dual gpu card i can get,,,,

if, at some point games progress, i can always add a card

and,,i will google it, but,,,what in gods names is a physics card...
 
I have Nvidia 8800GT SLI'd and I have no compliants with it at all. However, I basically did this setup because it was my understanding that games such as CoD series, Crysis, aand other very graphic and physic intensive games probaly would benefit from it. Can't give much more insight then this though..

Royce
 
I love these threads about SLI. It has to be the most misunderstood implementation of hardware since the atomic bomb. Here's my $.02:

- SLI doesn't help much in OFF (but doesn't seem to hurt, IMHO).
- SLI *DEFINITELY* does work, and it's not at all a pain - unless you consider clicking the button that says "Enable SLI" a pain. That's all I've ever really had to do, and it makes a substantial difference (except in OFF).
- The "physics" thing: This has been available for some time now. The drivers, when enabled for SLI, let you pick whether to enable or disable physics. As I understand it, enabling physics means one of the two GPUs is tasked with doing the physics work (not both).
- Some chipsets do not support running *both* PCIe slots at 16x. My opinion is you shouldn't bother with a board that won't run both at full 16x.

SLI is a mistake if you buy all new hardware, at the same time, to set it up. By that, I mean that you're better off performance wise to buy 1 high-end card than to buy two lesser cards just to set them up for SLI. (The obvious exception is those well-off enough to buy *two* high end cards, at the same time). It's pretty much long been established that you don't get 200% increase by adding a second card in SLI.

Where SLI pays off, is - assuming you already bought a SLI-capable motherboard and 1 card, then you can add another identical card later (at the point when the second card is still cheaper than the high-end card). Doing so might also forestall having to replace an entire motherboard and all that goes with (assuming your 'upgrade path' was otherwise exhausted, but the CPU still holds it's own).

Our friend Over50 writes above that he may well be the textbook case of where SLI pays off: He can increase the performance of his machine withing having to go 'full-top-end', and without having to change his entire rig out. (Note that YMMV; the performance you see is determined by lots of factors - this is one of the reasons OFF doesn't seem to benefit from SLI).

SLI is NOT the total crap almost everyone seems determined to call it. It is also NOT the end-all answer that everyone *else* seems to want to call it.

(please note the foregoing is entirely my opinion)
 
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