dual 7800gt's or ati x1800xt

[HAVOC]

My point is that many people in this forum say (SLI) isn't worth it.

I'm trying to outline that with certain cards at certain prices, you can get better performance with SLI, then single card solutions for less money.

My point is, SLI is good in some applications....

 

[Mr_Threepwood]

(2) 7800GT's in SLI score 10500 in 3Dmark05 = $600
(1) X1800XT 512MB scores 9500+ in 3Dmark05 = $575
(1) 7800GTX 512MB scores 8500+ in 3Dmark05 = $750

You tell me what is the better performance / price ratio?

Overclock those GT's with an ASUS A8N32 & 2 GIG of RAM & A 2.6GHz+ AMD CPU and you'll be well in the 11,000's with (2) 7800GT's at a mere $600....

That data isnt completely right because thats for 3dmark which doesnt necessarily mean they are better. Maybe an x1800xt beats a 512 mb 7800gtx in 3dmark, but in most game benchmarks I've seen the 7800gtx wins hands down.

As for the thread starter. I'd probably go with the SLI'd cards just because selling it will probably get someone less knowledgeable to buy it thinking that it has 2x the power of other machines. If you only have the PC for a few months then you dont really have to worry about performance for yourself in the long run I guess .

I'm just wondering, how much do you make off this usually per computer? How often do they sell?

 

[HAVOC]

3Dmark is a gamers benchmark. Gamers buy those cards that I listed.

READ WHAT I'M TRYING TO ILLUSTRATE

SLI is good in some applications. I wasn't comparing the X1800XT to the 7800GTX. I was comparing the two of those cards against the 7800GT SLI solution. So yes the data is correct. Look at other actual game benchmarks of those three solutions. You'll find the (2) 7800GT's perform better then the other 2.

Go with the 7800GT SLI, because you can sell them to someone who doesn't know any better? MR_Threepwood, DUDE are you freakin' blind? Do some research... The (2) 7800GT SLI perform better in all benchmarks then those other single card solutions.

 

[BennyV04988]

Hands down dual 7800GT's. SLI kicks ARSE in HIGH RES AA ANIS.
Here check this out...
DOOM 3
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/asus-7800gt_8.html
BF 2
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/asus-7800gt_6.html
UT 2004
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/asus-7800gt_15.html
AGE OF EMPIRES III
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/asus-7800gt_20.html

BO...YA...KKKAAASSHHAAA!!! Slaughtered...Owned. DECIMATED! lol.

And besides ATI never updates drivers so screw them anyway
I think I hate ATI...

 

[Lonewolf5460]

the GTX is not the best any more google the benchmarks on the x1900xt they were hard launched today

 

[Mr_Threepwood]

HAVOC2k5, I have been doing more research and it's still not very conclusive to me as to wether 2 gts or one 512 mb 7800 gtx would be better. So far it seems SLI cards work well in high resolutions, while performine equal to their single cards, or worse in low resolutions. Personally I think Id still rather have a 7800gtx 512 mb. No doubt the SLI cards will get a better 3dmark score, but 3dmark isnt the be all and end all test.

Also Im curious, how does overclocking work with SLId cards? Do you overclock both when you change the clock speeds?

 

[BennyV04988]

My brother flips out when i mention OC'n. He says the limit could be a single mhz over and i could blow my card. it seem like a huge potential performance booster. Im really curious about this too. This new ATI BS is sad. 48 pipe lines? sheeeesh. thats F'n nuts. nothing from ati impresses me anywho. Diehard NVidia here. ATI is terrible with driver updates.

 

[Mr_Threepwood]

Your brother has no idea what he's talking about then. If you overclock too far you usually just see artifacts in 3d games, it wont magicly "blow up". All the XT versions and ULTRA versions are are the normal cores, but ones that manage to clock very high.

 

[Apokalipse]

(2) 7800GT's in SLI score 10500 in 3Dmark05 = $600
(1) X1800XT 512MB scores 9500+ in 3Dmark05 = $575
(1) 7800GTX 512MB scores 8500+ in 3Dmark05 = $750

You tell me what is the better performance / price ratio?

Overclock those GT's with an ASUS A8N32 & 2 GIG of RAM & A 2.6GHz+ AMD CPU and you'll be well in the 11,000's with (2) 7800GT's at a mere $600....

you should compare with 3dmark03.
3dmark05 favours ATI cards.

in reality, the 256MB 7800 GTX is about equal to the X1800 XT
however the 512MB 7800 GTX is about 1/3 faster than both the X1800 XT and the 256MB 7800 GTX

but the SLI'd 7800 GT's will have a better performance, and a better price / performance.
but I just don't like SLI, it takes up more space than needed, and it's just stupid having 2 cards. why don't they just make faster cards?

 

[HAVOC]

OK.. Finally... Someone actually gets my point.

Sure, SLI takes up more PCB space, but so what? Most gamers don't use many PCI slots anyway. A sound card... May-be a wifi card. Other then that... you're not using PCI 56K modems or PVR's or SCSI / RAID Controller cards... So the space is available...

As far as making better 1 card solutions goes, "They are!" But, they are so freakin' expensive. $750 USD? $800 USD $1000 USD?
Benchmarks show that (2)7800GT's on a good motherboard out perform all of the latest X1800XT's & 7800 GTX's in all benchmarks.

Why spend $800 on a single card when you can buy (2) and SLI them for $200 less and get much better performance... specifically at higher resolutions...

Yes, overall on the grand scale of things... SLI is bogus... But, there are certain niches that it can benefit. And what i've described in several posts in this thread is were you benefit from SLI.

Now, if the X1900XTX or 7900XT's came out and cost $500 USD and out performed the SLI'd 7800GT's by a long shot, then my theory would go to heck... But, I don't see that happening...

The next GEN cards will be over $600 USD... As much as $900 USD. Keeping the 7800GT's a good choice...