SLI - Pros/Cons, Should you or shouldn't you?

[706]

I'm getting a new computer but I can't decide between one with two PCIex16 slots or just the one. I don't have the money to get 2 cards to SLI at the moment (i'm going for a 512mb 8800GT), but in the future I might.

This is to be a gaming machine and I've heard of people having problems with SLI and games. Though I wonder if SLI is going to become more common in the future with all gaming machines using it, or if there will still be plenty of cards that are powerful enough just by themselves. So do you think SLI is worth it?

 

[veg1992]

Honestly SLI isn't that worth it

Sure you get a decent performance boost, but then you have to use a nVidia SLI Chipset which are a hassle to use, and they aren't as good as other motherboards like P35's in overclocking, plus its harder to sell stuff in SLI when the stuff is outdated, especially within the next couple of weeks when the GTX 260 and 280 along with the HD 4000 series are coming out

 

[Sora]

This is an age old question. Honestly i am going to tell you no but my PC is now a SLI ready and eventually will SLI two 8800GT's. It really depends on your budget becuase for example if you have 600-800 bucks to spend on your tower SLI probably isn't the best idea considering GOOD SLI mobos are expensive (as apposed to good single slotted ones) you need a more powerful and more trusted power supply. You also need good cooling inside your case meaning you probably will have a more expensive case.

Honestly two 9800GT's for a total of $280 or so will beat on a 9800GTX which is around that. The thing is you will spend anywhere from 30-60 more on a SLI compatible board with similar features and overclockability. As well as you will then need a PSU with more juice than the standard adding another 20 or 30 bucks from our recommended parts. So you see your actually paying close to $100 bucks more to do this.

There are a lot of factors that say wether or not SLI is a good choice for a new build. Honestly the more expensive builds such as $1000 and above for just the tower SLI may be a good choice becuase you probably will game better for the money.

However for a lower budget build where you don't have as much money to throw around SLI isn't worth it.

I would like to add that i never wanted SLI for almost two years but eventually without trying i had purchased parts that were fully ready to handle SLI. And being that 9600gt's and 8800GT's scale so well in SLI on new games when it came time to buy a new mobo becuase my old one died i said **** with it and went with the 750i ftw to eventually SLI 8800GT's. So every situation is different if SLI is right or not.

 

[Luke]

also if you don't have a high res monitor such as 1680x150 and up then you will not see a significant boost in performance. Even a monitor with 1680x150 res still doesn't see much, 1920x1080 and up is really where it see's the performance boosts.

 

[706]

Thanks for the replies, by the sounds of it I don't think I'll worry about SLI. I don't want to be limited to certain motherboards and don't want to have to buy a stronger power supply or cooling systems to support it. So long as there are still cards being made that can handle today's games on their own I don't think I'll worry.

 

[brewabeer]

P35 board and 9800gtx on my system and I get 38FPS in high traffic areas on AoC, and 60+ FPS in low traffic. 22" LCD 1680x1050.

 

[veedubfreak]

Do you need SLI? Answer these questions.
1)Does the game you intend to play the most support it?
2)Are you playing on a BIG monitor
3)Do you like to tinker with your machine

Unless all 3 apply to you, SLI is probably not for you. I run SLI because i like to MAX out all the games i play on a 24" monitor. This simply is not possible with a single card setup.

 

[Prototype]

2)Are you playing on a BIG monitor

u need a monitor that has 1920 x 1200 resolution or higher to get advantage of SLI/CrossfireX

 

[veg1992]

u need a monitor that has 1920 x 1200 resolution or higher to get advantage of SLI/CrossfireX

thats the size of a 24'' so its fine....