SLi or not???

[Koncept_1]

Hi Chaps,

I'm planning my new build. I can either go single GPU or go for SLI. I'm going to use 8800GT cards. My monitor currently has resolution of 1280 x 1024 maximum.

Is it worth going for a SLI setup as it will cost roughly the same as the single GPU but without the second card? I'm thinking about adding another card in the future when I can afford it. I'm thinking about this for future proof reasons and that i won't be able to afford to do another big upgrade for a year or two.

I've looked at the frame rates from some of the bench marking posted on here and there is a increase in some games with SLI setup. I'm also thinking that as new games come out which are going to use more GPU then maybe 2 cards would be better.

Any advice would be appreciated as i really want to put my order in and get the pc as soon as possible but i'm really stuck on this one.

 

[Will_3rd]

For your res I wouldn't think so.

 

[steve258]

Nope no need for sli at all at that res unless you're obsessed with frame rates. Money better spent on a 8800GT and a 22" screen, perfect match.

 

[willhub]

Deffenitly not, its justa big waste.

 

[Rroff]

Aside from crysis (1280x1024 with 8800GT SLI would give you a real playable FPS with ultra high settings - none of this 25fps rubbish) all other games currently out at 1280x are easily going to give you 60+fps - even with fairly high levels of FSAA.

 

[willhub]

Aside from crysis (1280x1024 with 8800GT SLI would give you a real playable FPS with ultra high settings - none of this 25fps rubbish) all other games currently out at 1280x are easily going to give you 60+fps - even with fairly high levels of FSAA.

Not worth GT SLi for one game, besides 25fps is playable in Crysis unlike other games, its not about how low the fps really, if its at 25fps it dont mean you should instantly have a fit and go like OGZWTFBBQJESUS 25FPS!?!?!?, if its smooth its fine.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Deffenitly not, its justa big waste.

Wouldnt bother to SLI 8800GT's for that low a res.

 

[willhub]

Wouldnt bother to SLI 8800GT's for that low a res.

Yea even 1680x1050 I would be thinking is it really worth it aswell tbh.

 

[Rroff]

Not worth GT SLi for one game, besides 25fps is playable in Crysis unlike other games, its not about how low the fps really, if its at 25fps it dont mean you should instantly have a fit and go like OGZWTFBBQJESUS 25FPS!?!?!?, if its smooth its fine.

25fps is 25fps - some people are fooled into thinking its smooth in crysis by the horrid mouse lag if you find 25fps in crysis playable then all well and good - personally it feels clumsy and unresponsive.

 

[Margaret]

25fps is 25fps - some people are fooled into thinking its smooth in crysis by the horrid mouse lag if you find 25fps in crysis playable then all well and good - personally it feels clumsy and unresponsive.

25 isn't that smooth, but 30 feels very smooth indeed, unlike UT3 and CoD4 they feel horrible at such a low frame rate.

Anyway Crysis is easily doable at 1280x1024 with the Very High CCC config, I can get 30+ frames most the time using it at 1680x1050 on my GTX, the GT isn't gonna be far behind and you're a few resolutions down.

 

[easyrider]

Hi Chaps,

I'm planning my new build. I can either go single GPU or go for SLI. I'm going to use 8800GT cards. My monitor currently has resolution of 1280 x 1024 maximum.

Waste of time and money for this res.

 

[young]

waste of money for that res

+1 lol

 

[Aod]

25fps is 25fps - some people are fooled into thinking its smooth in crysis by the horrid mouse lag if you find 25fps in crysis playable then all well and good - personally it feels clumsy and unresponsive.

yeah, sure. how much did your bionic upgrades cost? i'm quite interested in getting some myself, so i can notice things that last less than 1/100 of a second.

 

[Rroff]

yeah, sure. how much did your bionic upgrades cost? i'm quite interested in getting some myself, so i can notice things that last less than 1/100 of a second.

I see your not a gamer its also not a good idea to use sarcasm when you don't have a clue what your talking about.

 

[jigger]

25fps is 25fps - some people are fooled into thinking its smooth in crysis by the horrid mouse lag if you find 25fps in crysis playable then all well and good - personally it feels clumsy and unresponsive.

Totaly agree, 25fps isnt even scraping the barrel. 30 min is just about ok for my liking but if im upgrading im looking for 40+ minimum or i keep my money in my pocket.

 

[Rroff]

Actually just wrote a program to test this... on a crt running at 100Hz (which gives your 1/100th of a second) I had the word "test" flash up just once every 1000ms - at a random interval and only displayed for 1 frame - so that gives 10ms its being displayed +/- a small amount for the screen to fade, etc. (why I did it on a crt not TFT which would have added 5+ms) and yes I could notice the word flash up.

I believe in studies it was shown fighter pilots would notice something that only happened for 1/500th of a second but I doubt I could get that good myself.

EDIT: It was 1/220th of a second:

"The USAF, in testing their pilots for visual response time, used a simple test to see if the pilots could distinguish small changes in light. In their experiment a picture of an aircraft was flashed on a screen in a dark room at 1/220th of a second. Pilots were consistently able to "see" the afterimage as well as identify the aircraft. This simple and specific situation not only proves the ability to percieve 1 image within 1/220 of a second, but the ability to interpret higher FPS."