SLI Upgrade or a waste on money? Please Help!

[booth_matthew]

Hi all,

Ok, I am hoping someone can give me some advice on a SLI upgrade? I am finding that the more modern games are starting to struggle slightly when at a resolution of 1650x1050. I need to play games at this res as I have a 22” widescreen monitor. Some games like COD 4 run perfectly, but others i.e Crysis struggle! I want to ensure Assassins Creed will play perfectly!

One more important note to mention, I am running Windows Vista Ultimate not XP!

I will list my relevant pc spec below:

Intel C2D 2.00ghz – Overclocked to 3.15ghz
Corsair XMS – 4gb 800mhz DDR2
BFG 8800GTS 320mb (earlier version)
Hiper 580watt PSU – (It says SLI compatible!)

I have noticed that on overclockers.co.uk they have the same card as mine but the 640mb version for around £85.
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

And also a 8800GT 512mb for around £100.
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail


My question is will I see much of a performance increase if I went ahead and got either of these cards and used it as my main gpu and sli’d it up with my current 320mb version?

I have read/posted and heard that the greater the res the more GPU ram is required. That said am I best to simply forget the sli idea and save up for another card? Cost is a huge issue here as a baby is on the way along with a new kitchen and a mortgage increase too!

Many thanks for your time on this one and happy gaming!

Matt.

[fatbears]

If i was in your position i would go for it! I'd get the 640Mb GTS! You would notice the difference!!

[-iceblade^]

either way, swap out your PSU. i have the same one and regret it...

you can't really go wrong, though i think the smarter option would be to get an 8800GT, and then another one in say a few more months, when you can afford it...

[Salazaar]

I just looked at SLiZone FAQ, it doesn't look like you can use the GT in SLi with a GTS and they don't recommend you mix different amounts of memory.

It looks like you'd be better off looking for another 8800 GTS 320 or upgrading to a more powerful single card solution. As a general rule, you're always better off waiting if you can and in your case, if you're not willing to spend a lot of money you won't find a significantly more powerful card right now.

[booth_matthew]

I just looked at SLiZone FAQ, it doesn't look like you can use the GT in SLi with a GTS and they don't recommend you mix different amounts of memory.

It looks like you'd be better off looking for another 8800 GTS 320 or upgrading to a more powerful single card solution.

Intresting stuff chaps! I was always under the impression that you could mix the cards with no impact on memory resources! Looks like if I got a 640mb version It would only run at 320mb if paired with a lesser model!

Matt.

[fatbears]

Well how about you went for the OcUK 8800GTS 320Mb save of £18 from the 640Mb...

[pauldarkside]

You haven't mentioned what motherboard you have so we'll have to assume that it's SLi compatible too.

I really didn't think SLi was worth it unless gaming at much higher resolutions than your 22" display supports?

[Salazaar]

I don't reckon that you'd actually see much benefit from SLi unless you could find a really cheap 320 from somewhere.

[fatbears]

Pauldarkside - what kind of resolution are you thinking that it becomes worth it?

[booth_matthew]

Thanks for the reply's on this! post people!

Yes I have a ASUS 650i SLI motherboard so thats ok for this possible upgrade! If my graphics cards not the issue then is it my CPU? If i lower the res the fps get better so I thought that was the bottleneck although I maybe wrong? If i lower the overclock on my cpu things (fps) don't really change unless i went back to stock.

I thought that SLIing the cards up would be a good upgrade option due to the low cost of these cards vs performance increase? I payed over £290 for my 320mb card about a year ago. Ouch huh? A 320mb version looks like a bargin on overclockers, not checked scan yet!

Basically to sum this up, my system is struggling to run games at 1650x1050 under Vista and I want to sort it one way or another!

A 320mb version looks like a bargin!

Cheers!

[TooNice]

Depends on the game. From what I've seen, SLI has come a long way. Imperfect still, but good enough that I would consider if I already have a SLI motherboard. Only thing is, I wouldn't go out of my way to get a SLi motherboard at this point.

The other thing is, 2x320MB does not behave like 1x640MB. So if you run a game at a setting (resolution, eye candy) that would have been bottlenecked a 320MB, then chances are, SLI will not help much.

That'd be the reason I would am not overly keen on recommending a second 320MB card, unless, as previously stated, you can get it for cheap.

[fatbears]

Scan seems to only have the one MSI 8800 GTS 320Mb....at £88.11...so depending on postage/overclockers pickup (take a friend so he can buy something too) it would probably be cheaper to go overclockers!

[-iceblade^]

if you had more posts you could get free delivery from Scan...

[Salazaar]

You could sell the GTS (for £50ish maybe) and put that towards getting a 512mb 8800 GT.

(Did you really pay £290...?! I only paid £180 for mine about a year ago!)

[fatbears]

Maybe he got ripped off...

I recently changed my card from the 8800GTS 320Mb to the 512mb GTS!!

I noticed the difference!! Loved it!!

[pauldarkside]

Pauldarkside - what kind of resolution are you thinking that it becomes worth it?

As said above, it really depends on the game but from the reviews I've seen, to really justify SLi you're looking at 1920x1200 and upwards. My GPU is only a 8800GT and it copes pretty well at 1680x1050 (using Vista 64-bit) across the games I play.

Personally, if I were in the OP's shoes, I'd opt for a better/newer single card solution.