Pci E Vs Sli

[domitilo]

Hi I just would like to know what is better, to buy a 300 dollars pci e card, or to buy two 150.00 dollars video card and put them in sli mode. Also it is possible to put two different cards in sli? or they have to be exactly the same. Thanks for your time.

 

[Rys]

Common wisdom says buy the more expensive discrete board, then ponder using it in SLI later . You avoid the caveats of SLI for as long as you want to, and performance will probably be better anyway, depending on SKUs.

 

[domitilo]

mm

Ok I have the sli board, but i want to know if is better to place just one decent pci express around 300, or 2 sli around 150.

 

[Rys]

SLI is PCI Express. My advice still stands, get the $300 board, rather than 2 $150 in SLI (usually).

 

[trinibwoy]

domitilo, fyi - when Rys says board he's talking about your graphics card not your motherboard. Seems there was some confusion about that above.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Get the one good card over two middling ones in SLi would be my best advice. One good card will give you better gaming.

 

[domitilo]

mixing possibkle?

What about the mixing of sli cards it is possible? to buy one card for 150 dolars now and then buy a 300 dolars models and use them at the same time? Thanks once again

 

[Skrying]

What about the mixing of sli cards it is possible? to buy one card for 150 dolars now and then buy a 300 dolars models and use them at the same time? Thanks once again

Nope.

 

[pharma]

What about the mixing of sli cards it is possible? to buy one card for 150 dolars now and then buy a 300 dolars models and use them at the same time? Thanks once again

Only if the GPU' s match between the different models, doesn't matter if clocks/memory is different. This link might help you along regarding questions like these.

 

[Pete]

It's more likely that $300 card you buy now will cost $150 in a year or so, and then you can buy another to run in SLI mode. This is what Rys meant when he said "ponder using [the $300 card] in SLI later."

 

[domitilo]

in a year

Ok but in a year will be the same exact card right?

 

[Mummy]

SLI and clones are teh suck, they will work only with few games, hopefully someday ppl will learn (i have two friends with two computer shops, and the confusion about SLI widespread).

 

[trinibwoy]

Actually SLI and Crossfire work with the majority of the most demanding games out right now (the ones that need the extra horsepower).

 

[Geo]

Ok but in a year will be the same exact card right?

Depends on what you mean by that. I think neither forces you to have the same AIB card (NV did at one time, but I believe they've since lifted that). So "same exact card" is not true. You certainly will not be able to mix generations (G70 + G80), nor today I think you can't mix mid-range with high-end (7600 + 7800) --there's been some off and on discussion of that possibly changing to a degree, so you could for instance leverage an IGP that also has a discrete add-in; to my knowledge it hasn't happened yet tho.

Which reminds me. . . what is the situation with SLI'ing a 7800 with a 7900? Is NV allowing that? Anyone try it?

 

[domitilo]

Not all the games??

So, not all the games work with sli? So what will u do in that case just take a card out and play??

 

[Geo]

So, not all the games work with sli? So what will u do in that case just take a card out and play??

No, you don't need to take a card out. You can turn SLI mode off and run the app on one card without physically removing the second card.

 

[pharma]

Which reminds me. . . what is the situation with SLI'ing a 7800 with a 7900? Is NV allowing that? Anyone try it?

Not sure if that will work since one is NV70 and the other NV71. A month ago I tried to SLI a 7900 GTX with a 7950 but the SLI connectors are located in different locations (the 7900 Heat Pipe is located where the 7950 connector is). Both cards were detected as running in SLI even without the connector and got the higher AA modes but I noticed no performance difference. It'd be interesting to see what would happen if they came out with a longer, flexible connector cable. I might try again with the recent newer drivers but am pretty sure I'd need the connector for optimal performance.

 

[zsouthboy]

Which reminds me. . . what is the situation with SLI'ing a 7800 with a 7900? Is NV allowing that? Anyone try it?

I'd love to know if they allowed that. I have a 7800gt sitting in the box, I used it for a month, then the 7900gt came out, and I grabbed one of those. Because it makes my e-penis bigger.

I haven't tried it, plus, I don't have the "SLI" connector.. didn't come with either of the cards.

 

[Tahir2]

From my experience if you want to SLI you need to do it at the time of purchase of the original card. Later on models go EOL or the particular manufacturer changes the specification ever so slightly borking the SLI ability of your purchase.

Best bet is to buy one more expensive card IMHO.

 

[KimB]

Yup, with today's performance scaling, it's almost always a sure bet that the single card will perform better. But before making the final purchase, it's always a good idea to double-check with reviews.

Note that SLI works pretty well in the majority of performance-intensive games today. For games in which it doesn't work, it just means you won't see any benefit from running in SLI mode. You don't actually have to do anything about it, you just won't see any difference between enabling or disabling SLI.

The only drawback to running in SLI mode is that you can only get output from a single display.

When building an SLI system, it is also important to consider whether or not your current hardware is up to the task. The power supply and motherboard are critical when upgrading to SLI, and if you would need a new one (though that is unlikely with $150 boards, as those are usually pretty low in power consumption), then be sure to factor that into the cost of the upgrade.