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x2 Average in SLI or x1 Good?

Corvan

Corvan

Corvan

Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2009
Posts
5
Location
Bonn, Germany
Hey guys, seeking your wisdom regarding an upgrade I'm looking to make.

I'm a gamer trying to keep a relatively high quality system by upgrading a major component every year. My beloved and trusty old X800 is finally up for retirement but I've been out of the hardware game for a while so I'd like your advice on where to go next. The biggest factor here will be, surprise surprise, cost. Second biggest MAY be, surprise surprise, NVIDIA or ATI. The MAY will depend on your advice, so without any further ado...

My system:
19" LCD running 1280x1024
Q6600 (still at 2.4)
XFX SLI tweaked MB (I'll lookup the exact details if requested) with 800MHz FSB.
x2 OCZ Platinum Rev.II PC6400 1 Gig cards (gonna get another 2 since they cost nothing these days).
x2 7,400 HDD's - not in RAID, different sizes.

My budget:
~100 (possibly negotiable once I tell my wife what I'm up to - and mention the word birthday - but not counting on it at this stage.)

My question:
Should I get x2 ~50 cards and run them in SLI or would it be faster to get a single ~100 card instead?

Please include hardware suggestions in your answer - if you have any & could be bothered.

Cheers!
 
LOL, thanks for the quick response. If it's not a n00b question - any particular reason(s)?

It'd be a low end 4850, but I assume you guys wouldn't recommend the lower end versions if they weren't kickass too. :)

Another question would be - is 100 a reasonable amount to spend? i.e. is that a good bang for my buck amount or would it be worth my while to spend a bit more?
 
Definitely one card - I'm an sli convert completely but two rubbish cards sli'd are never gonna perform better than one good card - while sli runs great for me you increase problems with heat and drivers, so don't bother now, get a single card solution and may be add another card to your setup in due course.

As an aside, get that Q6600 overclocked, there is no reason not to and with a better card, you will see the difference.
 
Skidder said:
Definitely one card - I'm an sli convert completely but two rubbish cards sli'd are never gonna perform better than one good card - while sli runs great for me you increase problems with heat and drivers, so don't bother now, get a single card solution and may be add another card to your setup in due course.

As an aside, get that Q6600 overclocked, there is no reason not to and with a better card, you will see the difference.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much guys & Skidder on both points. My next hour or so will be specific card selection then it's CC time.
Regarding OCing my 6600, I am always scared of OCing cause I've never done it and am not fully sure I'm capable of doing it properly. Guess I'll have to read more first.
(I've also got to sort out a cooling issue before I even think about OCing it, noticed only this week that the fan on my CPU radiator doesn't respond to the increasing load temps of my chip so it gets quite hot. Maybe it's not plugged into the correct port... Hmmm...)

I can't believe I've gotten so many responses in such a short amount of time. You guys rock! Just wish I knew enough to return the favour!
 
Remember that unless the game you're playing was specifically written to use SLI, you'll be using ONE useless card. Always go for the single card, particularly if you play any slightly older, or unusual games.
 
Corvan said:
Snip!

XFX SLI tweaked MB (I'll lookup the exact details if requested) with 800MHz FSB.

Snip!


Cheers!
Click to expand...

If the FSB is 800 then are you sure your Q6600 is at stock and not lower?
Standard FSB for the Q6600 is 1066.

If this is the case then you're already straining the mobo in the same way an overclock would just to run at stock clocks.
 
Geckovich said:
Standard FSB for the Q6600 is 1066.
Click to expand...

Wow. You're totally, totally right. I'm sitting there going - but I got a very early 6600 and maybe it's 800. Nope.

Guess first thing I'll be doing when I get home is seeing whether my MB is 800 or 1066. Best case scenario is that my CPU FSB & MB bus are just faster than my RAM. Worst case scenario is that my CPU FSB is faster than my MB Bus & RAM. Either way I'm a jackass, but I sure hope it's just my RAM...

P.S Yep, new bigger monitor would be sweet, but I can't justify it. Don't have the space and haven't lost a single pixel on my good old 19" so I just can't do it yet. Not to mention the fact that monitor I'd like to buy would be bigger than our current TV, hehe.
 
Well! Motherboard docu checking has left me clear as mud. Almost.

It says both that it supports RAM up to 800, but that it guarantees FSB speeds of up to 1333. I'd been under the impression that one was essentially the same, but it's much simpler to assume I was just wrong.
So I think I'm in the clear after all with my 1066 CPU & 800 RAM :)

P.S. The MB is a XFX nForce 680i LT SLI. ;)
 
Corvan said:
Wow. You're totally, totally right. I'm sitting there going - but I got a very early 6600 and maybe it's 800. Nope.

Guess first thing I'll be doing when I get home is seeing whether my MB is 800 or 1066. Best case scenario is that my CPU FSB & MB bus are just faster than my RAM. Worst case scenario is that my CPU FSB is faster than my MB Bus & RAM. Either way I'm a jackass, but I sure hope it's just my RAM...
Click to expand...

Corvan said:
It says both that it supports RAM up to 800, but that it guarantees FSB speeds of up to 1333. I'd been under the impression that one was essentially the same, but it's much simpler to assume I was just wrong.
So I think I'm in the clear after all with my 1066 CPU & 800 RAM :)

P.S. The MB is a XFX nForce 680i LT SLI. ;)
Click to expand...

Just to be clear:

Your CPU 2400 mhz on a x9 multiplier - therefore divide 2400 by 9 = 266 this is your fsb speed but your mainboard quad pumps this so thats where your 1066 comes from (266x4=1066)

The DDR2 (double date rate) memory will run at double your original FSB figure so 533 (266x2), this is of course providing your cpu is @ stock and your memory is linked to the FSB.

So basically if you wanted to overclock your Q6600 to 3Ghz which is easily done on those chips, you would set your fsb to 333 (333x9=3000 more or less). Providing your memory is linked to your fsb this would now take your memory to 667 (333x2).

You could in theory take your Q6600 up to 3.6Ghz (3600/9=400x2=800)without overclocking your cheap as chips 800mhz ddr2 memory at all, that's providing you have a good enough chip to do it of course ;)

obviously voltages will need to be changed for overclocking but that's for another post

This is a very simplified version of how skt775 boards work, as I've had a few bevvies now and its late :p
 
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