SLI vs. Crossfire

[zedman3d]

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops - $280
Newegg.com - EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards - $235
Newegg.com - XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - $160
Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Desktop Memory - $115
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! - $180
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners - $25
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives - $70

That comes to $1070. Now, if you can wait for a good i7 deal, like the one that was from MicroCenter for $199 that will be in the $900's an then grab Windows 7.

With those parts you can SLI in the future, but for that budget you arnt going anywhere.

 

[baron5]

For that budget its not worth going for a sli or crossfire rig i'd say, you be betetr of getting one powerful single GPU and maybe upgrading two dual GPU later on. It wont get too much cheaper then zedmans build without sacrificing performance parts.

 

[zedman3d]

For that budget its not worth going for a sli or crossfire rig i'd say, you be betetr of getting one powerful single GPU and maybe upgrading two dual GPU later on. It wont get too much cheaper then zedmans build without sacrificing performance parts.

Exactly, you can drop to cas 8 ram, but it only saves you like $15. Again with the motherboard and such. Thats really the minimum.

 

[Apokalipse]

I disagree with all of the above. AMD isn't taking away any edge. Actually AMD is probably close to falling over the edge.

I don't think PhysX or CUDA can ever actually become a standard if they stay a proprietry format only usable on Nvidia cards.

As it stands, games which use PhysX only have it as an optional extra. i.e. you can run the game perfectly fine without it.
Because if game developers implemented PhysX as mandatory in their games, that would cut off a large portion of their market (people who don't use a G92/G94 or G200 Nvidia card).

PhysX and CUDA may have more market share now, but only because they're more developed so far against standards like OpenCL.

Though I think that GPU acceleration is far more likely to take off if Microsoft implements it via DirectX (in fact, it's likely DirectX 12 would include GPU acceleration).

The industry largely already uses DirectX, because it's cheaper to implement and involves less man-hours in development. Businesses like that.
So if Microsoft implements DirectX-based GPU acceleration, businesses are far more likely to adopt it as an actual standard.

I'd personally prefer an open standard such as OpenCL to become a standard. But in terms of market adoption of standards, Microsoft would be in by far the best position to grab the GPU acceleration market.

If Nvidia wants CUDA and PhysX to become industry standards, the reality is they'd have to open them up and allow competitors to use them.

 

[808Alaska]

ok well, if you guys think that a single GPU would be better for me now, what GPU would you guys suggest?

 

[Yami]

ok well, if you guys think that a single GPU would be better for me now, what GPU would you guys suggest?

Depending on your budget, anything between a GTX260 and GTX285 (260, 275, 280, 285), or either HD4870 or HD4890. Any of them would be a good idea.