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Considering SLI

loltim

loltim

loltim

Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Wellington, NZ
I've currently got a single Leadtek 7800GT, however the place where I wish to order from doesn't have the same version in stock.

My question is will an MSI 7800GT and my Leadtek 7800GT run OK in SLI? They're the same clock speeds etc. but the BIOS will be different obviously, not sure if this will cause any problems?
 
The first thing to ask is, what resolution are you using?

Other than that, if it's the same type (not necessarily the same make) of card it should work with current drivers I believe.

Jokester
 
1280 x 1024

I only really play CoD2, tbh the cards look identical if you ignore the coolers.
 
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X2 3800 @ 2.5GHz and 2GB Mushkin HP3200, I'd have to get a new motherboard as my current Abit AX8 uses a VIA K8T890 which is obviously not SLI capable.

Just wondering whether its worth it, it'd be £210 for GFX and probably £70-80 for motherboard.
 
Personally I would say it's not worth it at that resolution for £300. Probably better off putting that money towards a next-gen card for when ever they appear.

Jokester
 
Well tbh thats what I wanted to hear, money isn't the issue here but no-one likes paying out for next to zero performance increase.

It just annoys me that I get slowdown when I throw a smoke grenade in CoD2, it makes me not want to use them. It makes it extra annoying when my clan-mates (some using 6600GT's) say they get no slowdown, I think it could be just me being picky as I don't like anything below 40-50FPS.

I thought maybe dual GPU's would nail the smoke and keep my FPS constant:p
 
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2 7800GTs can outperform the X1900Xt in many cases, all depends on the games. Have a look at reviews to see what games work best. The games that work particualrly badly are probably because there hasn'tbeen a good profile made, not a hardware problem.

Depdns what you want really.
 
D.P. said:
2 7800GTs can outperform the X1900Xt in many cases, all depends on the games. Have a look at reviews to see what games work best. The games that work particualrly badly are probably because there hasn'tbeen a good profile made, not a hardware problem.

Depdns what you want really.
Click to expand...

SLi Doesn't work in all games, thats my major gripe with it! And if 2 7800GTs out perform a single x1900xt-x I will be heavily impressed!

I now play COD2 at 1920x1200, full detaily + eye candy, with my shiny new x1900xt-x and its amazing! TBH, I think SLi is over-rated and a bit of a waste of money. And yes, I used to have SLi (2x 6800GTs) and I just won't go back to SLi ever, every again...

Sorry for being slightly demonic but I just plane done like SLi. :(
 
i was going to get a 7800gt and a dfi sli board. I think i made the correct decision choosing the dfi ultra-d board and an X1800XT. I have used SLI before too (many years ago) with voodoo 2 and it wasnt as good as voodoo 3 16mb.
 
Well I wouldn't advise anyone to go SLI, especially with a DFI Lanparty Expert. I've had nothing but grief with it and I'm not the only one on www.dfi-street.com with the issue.

I wish I bought one big **** off card now and not 2 7800GT's :(
 
The only problem with me getting an X1800XT is my past experience with ATi cards, the 9800PRO was dire in OpenGL.

I would now consider an X1800XT if (in CoD2 especially) it boasted a performance increase over 7800GT's. I'm not at all biased towards either NV or ATi.

Anyone got any benchmarks/links?
 
The ATI have got better with OGL performance, but are still a fair bit behind Nvidia. However, recent drivers have improved OGL + AA performance so at these setting they are a lot better than they were. The X1800XT is faster than the 7800GT in COD2 AFAIK.

However,personally I really don't see the point in upgrading 2 weeks before Nvidia releae their next generation cards. Wait a bit and see what happens (price cuts, 2nd hand X1800s and X1900s, 7800GTs sold off on the cheap, ATI price cuts etc.etc.).
 
I personally have had no issues with SLI, I started with a WC 6800gt/SLI-D setup in March 05 and moved on to 7800GTX's last August. At first it took a bit of effort to get the most out of it but it's matured nicely and is easy now to setup and use. People with issues usually haven't read the manual, didn't thoroughly research or didn't bother testing their setup properly for stability when they built it, it takes time to set a system up properly and a lot of patience. If you're only running at 1280x1024 then the benefit you'll get is mainly in the ability to use more AA and AF and get a smoother framerate, not a good return for doubling your outlay. I'd wait until March and see what the 7900's are like, from there you can pick between the latest of ATI or Nvidia's single card solution's.

Hope this helps.
 
Dont forget that SLI does not give much more than a 50% FPS boost in most games (less in some and none in others). Bit of a pointless concept now methinks even Xfire does not give double yet your outlay is double + you need a very high end CPU to keep up. You also get into the requirement for a very strong + stable PSU otherwise you get power supply issues if your current PSU cannot handle it.

Quad SLI is most definately gonna be a mighty setup in the next month or so when it hits the market but not likely to give more than 100% boost for 4 x the cost and unless you have a 30" or higher TFT whats the point.

Probably better for you to get a X1800/1900 as that will give a good boost over what you have plus no need to upgrade other components just yet as you can make do. Best VFM with your current setup.
 
Without wishing to start another of these juvenile off topic retard fan boy flames, I (respectfully) totally disagree with your comment about SLI being pointless. In Tims case I don't think it's worth the outlay but for me it's been anything but pointless. I'll get my third SLI setup in March (or X-fire maybe) and won't go back to single card solutions until they can play the games I play at a constant 1600x1200 with the eye candy all on. performance is unacceptable to me using 1 card. Money is not the issue for me, if I wanted long term wise upgrade path's then I'd buy a D*ll. :D
 
SLI is mostly pointless in my opinion....... UNLESS you are using high res ( like 1600*1200) and only if you already have a decent psu, the right mobo and one sli'able card then its just about worth it.

I worked this out recently as I have a 7800GT which i thught about SLI'ing, and realised that with having to buy a new psu, mobo and another GT I would be getting worse performance and costing more than I would for the signle 1900XT that I bought (to go with my Dell 2005 FPW)

Saying that, I am thinking about bulding another for my HDTV, when I might think about getting a 7800 Gt after the new cards come out ( and hopefuly a good price drop - or a 2nd hand card)
 
Arcane said:
Without wishing to start another of these juvenile off topic retard fan boy flames, I (respectfully) totally disagree with your comment about SLI being pointless. In Tims case I don't think it's worth the outlay but for me it's been anything but pointless. I'll get my third SLI setup in March (or X-fire maybe) and won't go back to single card solutions until they can play the games I play at a constant 1600x1200 with the eye candy all on. performance is unacceptable to me using 1 card. Money is not the issue for me, if I wanted long term wise upgrade path's then I'd buy a D*ll. :D
Click to expand...

Name me two games that a single x1900xt-x can't handle at 1600x1200 please.
 
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Not gonna bother with SLI, just been playing around with my 7800GT and the software voltmod, got it upto 490MHz core. Can't grumble its free FPS:cool:
 
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