To go SLI, or Not to go SLI...

Looking at possibilities for a new PC. Should I go with Nvidia's SLI, or another graphics solution? I'm looking for more information and input. Numbers will be helpful, along with what you think might be the best cost/performance solution.

Thanks!!

 

Cost/performance are joined at the hip,all depends how much you wanna spend and how badly you need the performance and what game's you need it for?

 

Cost isn't as much an issue as performance, looking for anybody who has data on comparisons of performance between SLI systems and ATI-card based systems, if there is any out there. Benchmarks are good. What would you choose? SLI dual Nvidia cards or an ATI card? Is the performance increase in SLI worth overlooking the ATI performance edge out there so far? I'm just looking for info and input.

 

http://www.slizone.com/content/slizone/index.html

the page speaks for itself,its the fastest you can have.Check out the sli 3dmark2005 score leaderboard see if you can find any radeon system that can come close!

 

you also seem to be under the impression that ATi has a 'performance edge' over Nvidia, which is not true.

both Nvidia and ATi have great cards out right now, which are very competetive in their benchmarks.

Nvidia SLI blows away any other graphics solution--but not too many things supports the SLI function right now, so you might not see the big gain.

 

Ok...*cough*fanboy*cough*...

Actually the X800 XT Platinum outperforms the Nvidia cards in benchmarking software.

http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-04.html

Another question I could ask is, do you think it would be worth paying for 2 Nvidia cards in an SLI configuration or just going with the x800 XT Platinum?

 

You shouldn't give too much trust to standalone benchmarks as the drivers can easily be tweaked by Ati to perform well as nvidia did not so long ago,look at the real world game time demos that neither manufacturer has been able to see before.One other big thing is the Ati cards are more dependent on the cpu they need an a64 3800 or fx to make then competitive.The ati's also dont have pixel shader 3.0 used in farcry,doom 3 ect and will be used in all the latest games.

Why not meet half way,get an sli rig with one 6800gt or ultra,then when you want more power or more games support it buy another?

 

You're right, the X800XT PE slightly outperforms the 6800Ultra in benchmarks -- but in actualy gameplay, they are almost dead even, with the 6800U slightly outperforming the X800XT PE just as often as the X800XT PE outperforms the 6800U.

also, to be fair, the X800XT PE should be compared to the 6800Ultra OC, as the PE is also overclocked in comparison to the X800XT. In that case, they are even MORE competitive with eachother.

the only significant edge that ATi has right now is the X850XT, which is ridiculously expensive and rare at the moment.

I agree with Rikky that the best bet is to grab a 6800GT (perhaps a BFG 6800GT OC) in an SLI board and if you need more power later, grab another one to run SLI.

 

I still can't understand why people get so worked up about benchmarks. Who cares!

Is it for bragging rights?

In real use, I challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference from cards in the same category.

 

ditto.