SLI questions

[MAS]

I'm looking at probably getting an SLI mobo for my new system as it doesn't seem to be that much more expensive than a standard Nforce 4 mobo.

What are people's opinions on the Abit AN8 SLi (Link) vs the MSI K8N SLi Platinum (Link) ?

What would be more powerful? 2 x 6600GTs running in SLI, or a single 6800GT? I'm guessing the SLI option - if so, do people with SLI ever have any problems with it? Does the way the rendering is split ever cause strange effects, or are there compatibility issues with any games, etc?

Ta.

[Lee H]

1 single 6800GT is more powerful than 2 6600GT's in an SLI configuration.

As for issues, more and more games are getting profiles added by nvidia and the games developers in each new release of drivers. As yet I've not found any issues with any of the games I have installed when using SLI and these include the following ;

doom 3, HL2, CS Source, WoW, Guild Wars, Boiling point, and a few more that I can't remember about

Lastly, it's really down to personal preference as to which motherboard to get as they are near enough identical really.

[MAS]

A single 6800GT is more powerful?

Well, wont be bothering with SLI then, it's easier just to stick a single card in.

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

a single 6800GT is more powerful that 2 6600GTs, yes i can confirm this.


Get a 6800, and you cna dd one in the future

[pengellyd]

Yep the 6800GT is faster


Half-Life 2 with AA and AF


Doom 3 with AA and AF

Look here for more. (remember 3DMark 05 is not a game so don't buy anything on this basis)

Get a 6800GT , you don't need SLi/crossfire unless running at 1600x1200 res or higher, but then you wouldn't be using 6600GTs.

[kempez]

Ya might wanna host your own piccies - Tom's don't take kindly to peeps taking up their bandwidth

[MAS]

Er. According to that, the 6600GT SLI scores higher than the 6800GT in some tests. Although the 6800GT does better in Half Life 2.

I think I'll stick just stick with the 6800GT, but those test results are hardly conclusive. It looks like a 6600GT SLI has about the same amount of power.

[Steve]

Be on the lookout for 80.xx drivers in the near future, which will support mismatched cards. However, it remains to be seen whether the fastest card in the SLI pairing will be slowed down at all.

[MAS]

Allowing mismatched cards would open things up a little, although I'm a bit sceptical about any benefits you'd see given that an SLI with matched cards isn't that amazing in terms of performance (for what it costs).

[pengellyd]

Er. According to that, the 6600GT SLI scores higher than the 6800GT in some tests. Although the 6800GT does better in Half Life 2.

If you are refering to the 3DMark 05 tests then the 6600GT SLi does score better, but 3Dmark 05 is a benchmark not a game. The only games that the 6600GT SLi scores better is Pacific fighters with 4x AA and 8x AF enabled and Doom 3. But SLi is restricted to games supported by nvidia, where as a single 6800GT is not. And 6800GT has the possiblility to upgrade in the future with another cheaper 6800GT and when the drivers may not be as restrictive. It is up to the end user to decide.

Kempez, thanks, trying to rectify that now.

EDIT: can't upload the pics at the moment will have a go tomorrow. (i'm new to this website stuff) If you want to see the charts use the link provided earlier.

EDIT 2: Fixed the problem now, i'm using photobucket

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

there isnt that much perfoamnce difference, but bear in mind if you gte the 1 6800gt, it wil work out mildly cheaper, and allow you to add another 6800gt for SLI as a future upgrade rather than having to get an entirely nu card.

[kevpuk]

Go for the 6800GT......the increased memory bandwidth (256 to 128) helps loads with AA and AF, especially when running at higher resolutions (over 1280x1024), besides, below 1280x1024, the CPU is often as much of a bottleneck.....

I ummed and ahhhed between a 6600GT SLI or 6800GT for my recent build, but eventually figured the 6800GT was the way to go.......a lot of this was down to my monitor res of 1680x1050, mind

[Tobeman]

Not sure if this is allowed really, easy enough for mods to take it off.. leaked BETA v80.40 forcewares available here: http://www.3dchipset.com/drivers/nvi.../nt5/index.php

Give em a go if you've got nothing to do (and not afraid of betas), they dont support my GeForce 6600 Go so I haven't tried them yet