Single vs SLI ?

O

OPUS1

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 25, 2003
Messages
1,766
Ok
My eyes hurt from readin
And I'm still Thick as a brick!:eek:
.
would it be better to buy 1 Vc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...DirectX_11_video_cards-_-14-103-084-_-Product
.
or
.
2 cards equaling the same price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...DirectX_11_video_cards-_-14-125-301-_-Product
.
Based on :
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI MB?
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz
.
for cad/photoshop/rendering
and of course gaming
and for the love of Pete..why 3 cards?
.
Or am I so off base I don't know what to ask:confused:
.
Thanks
 
you mean crossfire. no one on this forum seems to be using two 5770's right now so it would be hard to say which setup works better, but the fact that the current whql ati drivers don't support the 57xx series cards ould give me pause about purchasing them right now.
 
I guess what I was asking was
Is 1 "highend" card
better then
2 "regular" cards
Those were just examples
 
OPUS1 said:
I guess what I was asking was
Is 1 "highend" card
better then
2 "regular" cards
Those were just examples
Click to expand...

Better in terms of what?

You will obviously run into more usability issues with 2 cards.

2 cards (for the same money) sometimes performs faster. Sometimes it doesn't.
 
I see no reason why a 5870 wouldn't blow 2 5770's out of the water. 5770x2 = 1600 SP's, just like the 5870, but it only has 128bit memory interface + it's not even close to 100% scaling over xfire.

Very rarely are prices at a point where buying 2 lower gpu's is great than one single. It does happen but not often.
 
one gpu is pretty much the consensus on these forums. multi gpu's being something of a last resort if you feel you need more processing muscle.
 
bigdogchris said:
I see no reason why a 5870 wouldn't blow 2 5770's out of the water.

Very rarely are prices at a point where buying 2 lower gpu's is great than one single. It does happen but not often.
Click to expand...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3658&p=1

It's faster in a couple of benchmarks. It doesn't get 'blown out of the water' by a 5870, but it certainly wouldn't be a justified purchase over the 5870 in my opinion.

That's just performance. There's other issues associated with running 2 cards vs. 1 card.
 
Ok
By better
I meant all around performance.
I'm getting this feeling that sli is really just a "WOW" factor thing
or am I missing something all together?
Oh please give me back my VooDoo card.
 
SLI nor crossfire give you true 2x scaling. It is always best to go single GPU then add on if you feel like you need it. Which you wont, unless you're a benchmarking whore.
 
OPUS1 said:
Ok
By better
I meant all around performance.
I'm getting this feeling that sli is really just a "WOW" factor thing
or am I missing something all together?
Oh please give me back my VooDoo card.
Click to expand...
I think the only current example of this is the GTX295 to GTX275.

GTX295 = 2x GTX275's, but sharing a heatsink.

2x GTX275's costs less than a GTX295, so generally you get more for your money... Especially if you're going to overclock but not add additional cooling.
 
per bigdogchris' post, there a few occasions when two lower end gpus can team up to better in both benchmark and live gaming performance a single high end gpu. although for some users who've peaked the performance of the single high end gpu, adding a second is the only option to achieve the performance they seek. as an avid multi gpu user i'm satisfied with these setups most of the time, but i can afford to be wrong when they suck.
 
ok
so yes in general terms: 2 or more can yield better results then 1--with caveots
But I don't need to run it on a 6 foot screen and I'm not sure that the price per performance increase is justified (my humble opinion)
so
then can someone explain to me why I would get a 3-way sli/crossfire certified MB(ie:EVGA E758-A1) if I only want 1 graphics card?
 
if someone wants to build their system with an i7 cpu and upgrade to the gulftown next year, their only option is the x58 chipset, and most x58 boards come with three pci-e slots. there are cheaper solutions than the evga board certainly. but none offer a lifetime warranty. even within evga's product line, one can buy their least expensive x58 le board.
 
Very high res is for the 3sli.

It is always best get the best single card you can afford. Then sli/Xfire when the price drops.
 
if the 5870x2 came out today, i'd buy two. if the drivers allowed six way crossfire, i'd buy three.
 
rennyf77 said:
if someone wants to build their system with an i7 cpu and upgrade to the gulftown next year, their only option is the x58 chipset, and most x58 boards come with three pci-e slots. there are cheaper solutions than the evga board certainly. but none offer a lifetime warranty. even within evga's product line, one can buy their least expensive x58 le board.
Click to expand...

OK
Why not have a single VC/MB solution?
so what did the video/motherboard makers think?
every body and their sister were gonna rob from Mom to buy 3 video cards?
Dumbars if you ask me!
 
stevedave said:
Very high res is for the 3sli.

It is always best get the best single card you can afford. Then sli/Xfire when the price drops.
Click to expand...

I agree. When you do this when the new cycle of graphics cards comes it your 2xwhatever usually greatly outperforms the new card.
 
OPUS1 said:
OK
Why not have a single VC/MB solution?
so what did the video/motherboard makers think?
every body and their sister were gonna rob from Mom to buy 3 video cards?
Dumbars if you ask me!
Click to expand...

Not all motherboards have 3 way sli/crossfire. If you don't want it, don't buy one that has that feature.
 
OPUS1 said:
OK
Why not have a single VC/MB solution?
so what did the video/motherboard makers think?
every body and their sister were gonna rob from Mom to buy 3 video cards?
Dumbars if you ask me!
Click to expand...

the x58 platform isn't intended to be a mainstream product. the socket 1156 platform provides performance close to that of the i7 x58 combo at much more reasonable prices. p55 boards can be very affordable, costing under $100 usd for a mobo with one pci-e slot. you're just not going to be able to upgrade to the 6 core cpu.
 
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