To Sli or Not to Sli

[lem06]

OK i Building my new pc but i haven't got my Video card or cards yet. No question its going to be Nvidia so don't bother trying to change my mind.

not posting any spec's i see people frown on that here. (they think ur bragging so any way)

The card i'm looking is the:
BFG BFGR88640GTSOCE GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB GDDR3 PCI-E Video Card.

now my question is... would i gain anything more or less if i Sli the same card with 320MB?

next question is... i know the 8800 GTS 640MB would play UT3 just fine but would Sli'ing it be over kill ?


or should i go with just 1 card the:
BFG BFGE88768UOCE GeForce 8800 Ultra 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card


Any help would be greatly appreciated being that i plan on ordering something tonight or tomorrow sometime.

Thanks

[Brutal]

Sli allot better, two cards can run smoother than 1 card on its own........ the nvidia 8800 should go down soon, nvidia is going 2 release a new video card soon.... i say sli with 640mb and 1 card with 768mb can run almost same but the sli can last you more time

[DireWolf]

SLI is good but it does come with its fair share of driver problems. Personally i think one great card is better than 2 average card.

[flak.pt]

If you can afford an 8800, dont hesitate. Later you can always buy another one.

[engy]

If you can afford an 8800, dont hesitate. Later you can always buy another one.

Exactly...buy a 8800GTX or ULTRA and when u have money buy anoather one..probably i'll do this

[oldkawman1]

SLI gets you at most 50% more than the single card. So, using the 1 card is very much more cost effective, $$ per power. You double the cost and only get 50% more video rate. You will also be drawing alot more power in SLI, maybe 100 watts more. Requiring a bigger power supply and making alot more heat to remove. You need a big case with big air flow. If money is no object, go for it. Just know what your getting into, do some research, and then make a plan..

[Frogger]

you should post your system specs as for me that would drive graphic card selection..no point doing sli or an 8800 if you have a celeron...


never been a fan of sli myself..

[isp_of_doom]

How important is SLI for dual monitors? (when running games on 1 of those monitors)

[Chromatik]

SLI gets you at most 50% more than the single card. So, using the 1 card is very much more cost effective, $$ per power. You double the cost and only get 50% more video rate. You will also be drawing alot more power in SLI, maybe 100 watts more. Requiring a bigger power supply and making alot more heat to remove. You need a big case with big air flow. If money is no object, go for it. Just know what your getting into, do some research, and then make a plan..

never been a fan of sli myself..

Agreed, to much of an investment for a short term solution. I've found it's best to upgrade every 1 or 2 years on average to stay comfortable. When a new card comes out every year and you have to replace you video setup *twice* it just seems wasteful. I could justify it more if you actually got a 200%+ increase in performace but you don't.

That said, if you have the cash to blow go for it. If you have to think about it too long though it probably means you will regret it

I personally have an SLi motherboard but only for breathing room for my card. I am currently running a single BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2 and it owns (except in UT2004 )

[lem06]

you should post your system specs as for me that would drive graphic card selection..no point doing sli or an 8800 if you have a celeron...


never been a fan of sli myself..

ok
AMD 6400+ black edition wit Zalman CNPS9700 nt CPU cooler was gonna do the water cooling thing but a little scared u know the water and electricity thing (lol not a good match).

Asus CrossHair MB, i plan on playing wit the overclocking features

2 Corsair Dominator Series TWIN2X2048-8500C5D 2GB Kit DDR2-1066 PC2-8500 Memory, cause i plan on running Vista (Thats another story)

and the other particulars all housed in a Zalman GT1000

[isp_of_doom]

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2 and it owns (except in UT2004 )

that card should run UT2004 max'd out? why doesn't it?

[lem06]

Agreed, to much of an investment for a short term solution. I've found it's best to upgrade every 1 or 2 years on average to stay comfortable. When a new card comes out every year and you have to replace you video setup *twice* it just seems wasteful. I could justify it more if you actually got a 200%+ increase in performace but you don't.

That said, if you have the cash to blow go for it. If you have to think about it too long though it probably means you will regret it

I personally have an SLi motherboard but only for breathing room for my card. I am currently running a single BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2 and it owns (except in UT2004 )

Actually this is my thinking too but i don't know much about the sli and something in the back of my head keep telling me that the 2 cards working together has to increase the over all proformance. but at what cost, being that they throw another card at you seem like every 6 months.

[GrimReaper]

SLI or Crossfire would work fine ( Both the Same )

SLI (Scan Line Interleave) was originally from a company called 3DFX. They made the first SLI cards IE: VOODOO VIDEO CARDS!! I ran 2 Voodoo 3500 Sli Cards

[Ziobono]

I know that for SLIing you must have two equal cards, but is true that the 2 cards have the same clock, but different ram.....pay attention

[isp_of_doom]

Aah the good old voodoo days. things were simpler then *looks to sky*
...
...
...
*ahem*

stick with one card