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2 7900GS 512MB cards in SLi, vs 1 8800GTS 640MB.

frasermcfarlane

frasermcfarlane

frasermcfarlane

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Edinburgh
Although I've ALMOST had this question answered, I'm still not sure. I'm building a new system from scratch and I'm definitely going down the Sli route. I'm either going to buy two OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) cards right away, OR I'm going to buy one ASUS NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E. Which configuration will run faster?

Incidentally, if I buy one 8800 card, then in the future I'll buy another to complete the SLi setup. I'm on a bit of a budget and can't afford two 8800 cards in one go. However, the two 7900 setup is about £170 cheaper over a single 8800.

To reiterate, will two 7900GS cards run faster than one 8800GTS?

Thanks,
Fraser.
 
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes.

By the number of Yes's.

8800 GTS cuts through everything, just get the 8800 GTS 320MB card and you won't regret it.

Why SLi btw, its just another headache?
 
Combat squirrel said:
If building new DEF go for the 8800, however if you already have 2x7900GTX like me then deciding weather or not to buy a 8800 is difficult :(
Click to expand...

The IQ difference over old NVidia cards is amazing, and sell your GTXs (at least one of them) before the 8800 GTS 320MB spoils the party for you. Even if you only got £75 for them each, it would still be a DX10 upgrade, faster graphics and quieter PC for 50 notes
 
Wow, some very fast replies, I like that, thanks.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I'm going Sli. This is the first time I'll have built a PC, and spent this much money on one. I suppose I want to future proof it. I want a high spec machine that'll play the best games at high res, and I want it to last many years. I don't want to spend a lot more money on it. I haven't bought any components yet, but I have them all selected, it's just a matter of which configuration is better.

I know a gentleman posted a reply above referring to the 340MB 8800, saying it cuts through everything. Is he recommending that even the 340MB 8800 (over the 640MB) is faster than two 7900s? I think I'm changing my mind about my whole rig. Maybe if I don't go SLi, I could save money and put it towards better components. However, SLi really attracts me! I don't know why.
 
melbourne720 said:
The IQ difference over old NVidia cards is amazing, and sell your GTXs (at least one of them) before the 8800 GTS 320MB spoils the party for you. Even if you only got £75 for them each, it would still be a DX10 upgrade, faster graphics and quieter PC for 50 notes
Click to expand...

Well yeh, suppose, but I dont see a 8800GTS 320mb/640mb being *loads* faster than 2x7900GTX cards in sli, a GTX yes would be a nice bump up I suppose, looking for bencies now
 
frasermcfarlane said:
Wow, some very fast replies, I like that, thanks.
Click to expand...

Friday afternoon LOL, a lot of work is getting done ;)

frasermcfarlane said:
To be honest, I'm not sure why I'm going Sli. This is the first time I'll have built a PC, and spent this much money on one. I suppose I want to future proof it. I want a high spec machine that'll play the best games at high res, and I want it to last many years. I don't want to spend a lot more money on it. I haven't bought any components yet, but I have them all selected, it's just a matter of which configuration is better.
Click to expand...

All good reasons not to go SLi, TBH.



frasermcfarlane said:
I know a gentleman posted a reply above referring to the 340MB 8800, saying it cuts through everything. Is he recommending that even the 340MB 8800 (over the 640MB) is faster than two 7900s? I think I'm changing my mind about my whole rig. Maybe if I don't go SLi, I could save money and put it towards better components. However, SLi really attracts me! I don't know why.
Click to expand...

Gibbo, and he certainly is saying that. An 8800 GTS 320MB is

(a) a lot faster than 2 7900 GSs
(b) has DX10
(c) is cheaper when you get the 320MB version

I know the idea of SLi is strangely interesting, but the reality is you'll be scratching your head wondering why some games are as slow as with one card and some aren't.

I wouldn't advise anything above a 7600 GT or a cheap connect 3d 256MB x1950 Pro at a pinch over the new 8800 series at the moment, and then only because they will be coming down in price.
 
BFG 320mb GTS is available here now, looks like Gibbo has broke the NDA, thats what you want, as said above it will just whazz all over the 2x 7900's, and its only £200!!!, welcome to the forums btw. :D
 
So it seems that at the moment, SLi isn't really much to bother with. At what point will Sli overtake single graphics cards, in terms of being a universal standard?

I actually have to leave the house at the moment, but I'll check back in later today to see how this thread has developed. I think in just a matter of minutes I've been convinced to not go down the Sli route. That actually makes things simpler to understand, and hopefully cheaper, getting a lot more bang for my buck as well. I appreciate everyone's contributions to my problem, and I'm glad to say that things have been made clear for me.

Thanks to everyone,
Fraser McFarlane.
 
Will ati R600 have 320 mb ones aswell? Or what could be the price for cheepest one? I cant wait anymore ,waiting 5 months and mine X850XTPE is slowing my sistem down ,dunno what to do now :/ ! dont wanna spend more that 300 quid realy for vid card,that was about same price 2 and a half years ago when i bought Ati X850XT PE,sounds funny if u think about it !:D
 
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Two GeForce 7950 GX2 cards vs. a GeForce 8800 series card

Here's another question...

Would two GeForce 7950 GX2 cards be faster than the lowest spec GeForce 8800 series card? The 7950 is a 1GB card, so run two of them in SLi and you have 2GB of graphics memory. Which single 8800 series card would give similar performance?
 
While we're on the subject of 8800s versus the rest of the universe, does anyone know of any reviews which pit the 8800GTS against the 7800GTX, which is what I currently have?

Trying to workout just how much of a speed improvement I'd get, and from that decide whether to go for it or wait for G81/R600.
 
I seems that you would get a significant increase in gaming performance, how much depends on your resolution and the game. Use Melbournes link to Toms hardware above, choose a relevant game, res and settings and see how they compare. Will give you a rough idea.
 
Hmm, whilst some games show a doubling of speed, others show less of an improvement. Also, that's comparing the 8800GTS 640MB to a 7800GTX at 430/1200 whereas mine runs at 475/1250 stock so the differences will be even smaller than those figures show.

I think that, despite the undoubted speed of the 8800 and DX10 compatibility, the old 7800GTX is still a fast card. Whilst the £100-odd it would cost to upgrade to an 8800GTS 320MB is undoubtedly good value for the speed improvement I'd get, I'm not sure it's worth the outlay and I think I may well be better off waiting for a bit and seeing what the R600 and G81 have to offer, especially as I have no plans to upgrade to Vista just yet so the DX10 compatibility an 8800 upgrade would bring would be wasted.
 
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