Analysis - BFG says Core i7 is great news for SLI

[HEXUS]

One of the less reported features of Intel?s new CPU is its effect on the multi-GPU market. BFG?s Graham Brown aims to change that.

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[j.o.s.h.1408]

only the rich rich people runs tri sli and besides crysis, sli is a waste as every game bar crysis can run brilliantly on a 4850 let alone a 280gtx! overkill imo but what it does show about a i7 is that if their ever was a card that is as fast as a 3 way 280gtx in SLI, then a core 2 cpu will be bottlenecking it and you will therefore need some sort of an i7 based chip to run that card to its full potential and not holding it back. which leads me to beleieve that a i7 is what i am after. a cpu that will last me as long as possible before my pc games becomes CPU bound.

[shaithis]

Multi GPUs have their place.

Sure, if you stick to 1680x1050 (and in some cases 1920x1200) you really do not need multiple GPUs...but past those resolutions and it becomes a necessity.

Horses for courses as usual.

[Hicks12]

what it does show about a i7 is that if their ever was a card that is as fast as a 3 way 280gtx in SLI, then a core 2 cpu will be bottlenecking it and you will therefore need some sort of an i7 based chip to run that card to its full potential and not holding it back. which leads me to beleieve that a i7 is what i am after. a cpu that will last me as long as possible before my pc games becomes CPU bound.

Im not so sure that the c2d is bottling it, the X58 is a different board which could have been changed to improve SLI performance, by any means your not wrong but it is probably the case. C2d will be here for awhile until they stop producing it and still it will be a very strong chip.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Multi GPUs have their place.

Sure, if you stick to 1680x1050 (and in some cases 1920x1200) you really do not need multiple GPUs...but past those resolutions and it becomes a necessity.

Horses for courses as usual.

honestly what pc games out now require SLI setups to run the game at max details at 1080p?

[Hicks12]

honestly what pc games out now require SLI setups to run the game at max details at 1080p?

None , and at max res(2500x1600) the 4870x2 wins with playable FPS of 60 normally so there is NO need. I still dont class the 4870x2 as multi gpu as its on one PCB so it technically is one with 2 cores so , win.

[shaithis]

honestly what pc games out now require SLI setups to run the game at max details at 1080p?

Seeing as Crysis/Crysis2 go through periods of crawling on a 4870x2 at those resolutions, I am sure there are others out there......but I do not have a library of games to try so can't say past what I play.

None , and at max res(2500x1600) the 4870x2 wins with playable FPS of 60 normally so there is NO need. I still dont class the 4870x2 as multi gpu as its on one PCB so it technically is one with 2 cores so , win.

4870x2 is multi GPU whatever you want to say....there are 2 GPUs on the card and it follows the dynamics of a dual GPU solution rather then the dynamics of a single GPU solution.

2560x1600 playable on a 4870x2? A fair amount are playable. A lot are not and the amount of "can not" games will only increase each week.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Seeing as Crysis/Crysis2 go through periods of crawling on a 4870x2 at those resolutions, I am sure there are others out there......but I do not have a library of games to try so can't say past what I play.

i said besides crysis. fc2? nope, fallout 3? nope, nba2k9? nope. those are the latest games that have come out over the past few weeks that i can think of the top of my head that doesnt require SLI to run those games at 1080p with very high settings mate.

matter of fact, a 4850 could just about run those games at max details You dont have to play games to know which ones require SLI to make it runnable at the highest settings. thats what hexus is for

i have read some pretty niffy stories on how some games dont scale well with SLI too. again i fail to see a reason to do SLI if dont care about crysis

[Hicks12]

Nvidia pumped loads of money on crysis which is why you see the nvidia badge and along with crossfire scaling very poorly if not at all, if it did scale the same then the 4870x2 would win.

[shaithis]

i said besides crysis. fc2? nope, fallout 3? nope, nba2k9? nope. those are the latest games that have come out over the past few weeks that i can think of the top of my head that doesnt require SLI to run those games at 1080p with very high settings mate.

I did say if you stick to 1680x1050 you do not need SLI.....not sure why your bothering to debate this..

matter of fact, a 4850 could just about run those games at max details You dont have to play games to know which ones require SLI to make it runnable at the highest settings. thats what hexus is for

Not at 1920x1200 or above, which is what my opening post said you NEEDED SLI for.

i have read some pretty niffy stories on how some games dont scale well with SLI too. again i fail to see a reason to do SLI if dont care about crysis

There are plenty of titles that do not like CF and/or SLI. That's the biggest issue the technology has.....and it is a massive issue. People do not like unpredictability, nor their purchase to seem wasted...

Still, I think you either misread or completely ignored the message in my first post.....past a certain resolution multi GPU is a MUST. You cannot run many games at 1920x1200 and you can hardly run any games at 2560x1600 with a single GPU.

if you stay below those resolutions, then multi-GPU is not for you.

[rufeo]

i do think that sli/crossfire have their uses. but it really is a niche market. unless you're gaming at 1920x1200 and like to turn up the details then a 4870 or gtx260 is enough or you could get a gtx280. there's always going to be certain games that will be a bit more demanding and need that extra bit of umph. thats when an extra card will help out bit.... i have to agree with ppl who say that th 4870x2 is a crossfire solution, because it basically acts like two cards in crossfire config even though they're on the same board.

what i do think will appeal to the mainstream gamer is the fact that say later on after building their rig and games get a bit more demanding, they have a chance to add another card to boost their performance instead of buying a more expensive albeit newer version card. the fact that sli seems to scale better with i7 may mean that more ppl go down this route than in the past.