Is it worth to have SLI

[Ghost Rider]

Hi guys,

I was thinking to get a second graphic card (XFX8800 GTS 512)in way to make a SLI setup, now the cost of a second card is almost USD$ 400 in my country. Is the improvement realy that big between a single card and a SLI setup that it worth to spend the extra USD400. I have a 22inch widescreen monitor and the games i play are mostly COD4 and Crysis.

Thanks in advance

[qazwsx]

Short awnser-No
long awnser-Yes, but only if your running a very high res like 1920x1200 or higher. Another time where it would be good is with 2 monitors. The 8800GTS is a very powerful card and is up there with the best with the single GPU.

My advice is to hang on with your 8800 and see the price of nvidia's new cards a couple of months away.

SLi is for bragging rights IMO, I cant justify having 2 $400 cards for an extra 10FPS on crysis ect.

[Capper]

Thats a good answer....I'd also say that SLI is a reasonable expense if you have a 24" or bigger monitor and are running higher resolutions, like 1920x1200.

24" and smaller, or lower resolutions and its a waste of money.

[Parker]

+1 for Capper and qazwsx's answers.

But, if your going for dual or more monitors, Crossfire is what you want.
SLI is not for dual monitor setups really.

[Ghost Rider]

Originally Posted by qazwsx

Short awnser-No
long awnser-Yes, but only if your running a very high res like 1920x1200 or higher. Another time where it would be good is with 2 monitors. The 8800GTS is a very powerful card and is up there with the best with the single GPU.

My advice is to hang on with your 8800 and see the price of nvidia's new cards a couple of months away.

SLi is for bragging rights IMO, I cant justify having 2 $400 cards for an extra 10FPS on crysis ect.

Originally Posted by Capper

Thats a good answer....I'd also say that SLI is a reasonable expense if you have a 24" or bigger monitor and are running higher resolutions, like 1920x1200.

24" and smaller, or lower resolutions and its a waste of money.

You´re right, for the resolution i am running it will be a waste of money, will stick to my single card setup. Thanks for clearing me things up!!

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Good answers.

It is worth it the day you install it on a larger screen memory rich system. Shortly thereafter it is not worth it since the new "power" video card is now available cheap and performs admirably. Then you must now either sell two cards at a huge loss or stick to what you have and hold on to them until they further devalue ... until the next card comes along that by itself is faster then the two you have together.

Best option ... buy a solid card just short of the top performer ... where the sales and new cards are pushing price down ... get a killer deal ... use it ... then sell it for 60-80% of what you paid the year before ... then get the next new card for about what you paid for the previous one. You will typically have the better performer than the ppl who are stuck with twice the older technology than you.

[Ghost Rider]

Originally Posted by Parker

+1 for Capper and qazwsx's answers.

But, if your going for dual or more monitors, Crossfire is what you want.
SLI is not for dual monitor setups really.

Yep, i though that a SLI setup would improve big time my game experience, but as Capper and qazwsx´s said with a 22 inch monitor it would be a waste a money.

Thank guys, you just save me 400 bugs

[Boy'nBlack]

Even with high resolution monitors becoming, slowly, popular...I don't feel it's worth it. There's always the next line of cards that will do what the prior couldn't. The old SLI in the voodoo days were worth it, because the 3D processors didn't compute really. Now we have GPU's that have perks with each release, and can actually handle more and more requirements.

Today we have single cards with perks the 8800 line don't have. On the nVidia side, there's higher clocks and the HD addition. On the ATI side, there's more future ready features (at a cost), lower heat and power, and still the HD side. Both more than capable of pushing 1680px with effects enabled. Investing in another card that doesn't have features has one effect, and one only: pump frames. What those frames contain are negated by sticking with the same card, twice.

This is a 22" display, and if WS it's 1440 which doesn't ask for SLI. Gains would be in 3Dmark and not necessarily something you notice. About as much viewable gain as DX10 is to DX9 has been so far anyway (nil?).