I read on another forum that Pete Hines said Oblivion is being written to benefit from SLI.

SLI (Scalable Link Interface) is Nvidia's solution for running two PCI-E video cards on one motherboard. The ATI equivalent is called Crossfire. There is a performance boost for games engineered to take advantage of the dual video cards.

Does anyone have a SLI capable motherboard out there? Is it better to use up your video card budget to get one good video card (and add another in a future upgrade), or buy two lesser SLI capable cards right from the start?

It will never be more efficient to buy two video cards initially. Aside from the ultra high-end market, this is purely an upgrade option.

Yeah. I've read that two GeForce 6800 GTs will mostly beat the performance of a single 7800 GT or GTX but it probably only makes sense to buy the second 6800 if you already have one in your SLI motherboard.
Buy a single GeForce 7800 GTX for your new SLI system at first. Then you can upgrade to two 7800s later.

Can you say Oblivion at 100 FPS?

Well, the dual 6800GTs, under optimal conditions, perform about the same and cost quite nearly the same as the single 7800GTX.

Once you factor in how different games react to SLi, and the extra cost of the power supply, mainboard, and -- if you still have to use this -- the bridge chip, though, the 7800 comes out overall. However, if you're set on having an SLi-capable system, and you've done your research with regards to how the specific games you're playing work with dual cards (some actually show a performance loss, mind you) the 6800s are worth considering if it saves you a couple of bucks.

But then, however, you also need to look at the upgrade options. By the next generation, SLi issues will probably have been worked out, and dual card performance will probably meet or exceed the performance of a single next-generation card in all situations -- in which case it would just come down to the decision of buying the $US550 XFX Geforce 8800XGTX XXX EdiXion, or just popping in another $US300 7800GTX. If you buy SLi right off the bat, the only cost-effective option would be to get the 8800.

i currently have 2 6600 GTs... i would have bought just one really good one instead of 2 mediocre one but i have this accursed daly limit thing. i can run HL2 and CS:S at over 100fps, but oblivion is lover mainly bacause the areas that are loaded are mutch, mutch larger....

I have an SLI motherboard, but a single ATI Radeon X1800XT.



I planned to add another one later but, is it possible to use 2 ATI cards in an SLI, or will I have to buy 2 Nvidia cards and just scrap my current ATI?



WarKirby

SLi = nVidia
Crossfire = ATi

I believe.

I know that, but is it an absolute rule, or simply 'use our brand'. Can I use two ATI cards in an SLI, even though it's an Nvidia? My single card works fine anyway, but I really want a pair



I'm not sure my current card alone will be adequate for Crysis.



WarKirby

you can use a single ATI in a SLI mobo, but you may not use ATI crossfire option in a SLI mobo. and vice verse.

ati crossfire option right now is a sligt faster than nvidia, but much much more expensive so i dont think it worth it.

marxist is right, getting sli you need to have a powerful sli supported psu that good ampage. and worth it to get a sli mobo with a very good north chipset. so in the end it is very expensive for marginal improvements.

most games right now dont get much benefit from sli. but the future it supposed to code for one card to run physic adn calculation and another to display graphic, and games will be much more benefitial for sli.

even so, i still think sli is more for gaming enthuasist who want the best fps. if you dont have a lot of money its cheaper imo to to buy a single card expensive card.

also in my opinion its better to save it and wait for the new generation dx10 card, that is if you are going to use vista too, since there will be no dx10 upgrade for windows xp. and these cards will have significant performance improvement over dx9 technology, by reducing loads on the cpu. but again i know this will be a very expensive upgrade path, i dont know how many hundred dollars they will charge for vista, and how compatitible it is. but i think this is the only way to get full graphical features of new gen games.

futhermore, new gen games will capitalize on the dual cpu core technology too.

For what it's worth, I'll stick my two cents worth in here. I built an SLI system. I am extremely happy with it. I think I get great performance out of it. I run Oblivion beyond Ultra High settings.Using Fraps, it says I'm getting beween 45-60fps outside in the wilds. That's not too bad. I know there are a lot of negetive comments made about it. But it works for me. Besides Oblivion, I play Call of Duty2, Half Life2, Quake4, all on the highest setting they have. I will say this. You have to be careful with what you put in the system. SLI will not work with a lot of the hardware out there. It took me three month's worth of research, before I made my choices. So far, I don't have any problems. Doesn't mean I won't. But so far, so good.

My specs:
AMD Athlon 64 X-62 dual core 2.9ghz CPU
AsusM2N32-SLI deluxe MB
2 Geforce7900GS 256mb x 2, 20pipelines x 2, video cards in SLI
2G Corsair XMS PC6400 DDR2 800mhz ram
Seagate Barracuda 320G SATA II HD
Soundblaster X-Fi

I also have two Lite-On DVD/CD units. One recorder, one is just a player.

The only thing I'm lacking, is the damn dial up I'm stuck with for the time being. I can record a DVD, watch a movie, go on the internet, work on a file, all at the same time. So far, I can't find any thing out there it can't handle. I know that someday there will be. This stuff gets old fast. So like it or not, it works great, I'm having a ball, until then.

VERY IMPORTANT; Make sure you get the latest drivers. Especially for the video cards and the chipset. This is a new technology, and there isn't much out there for it right now. There will be.

^ i like to know which PSU you used, a very important factor for sli.

INCREDIBLY SORRY!

cannot believe i didn't realize how old this was. extremely embarassing



someone awhile back mentioned diretx10 cards

if you can afford one, get it. there's only 1 model of directx 10 cards that currently are out, the nvidia 8800 series. a single one crushes EVERY game that is currently out. even oblivion. 2 7900's in SLI aren't quite as good as one 8800gtx. the only thing you have to worry about is your CPU and PSU (and maybe your wallet) . you need a monster of a PSU to run just 1 of them. recommended 750 watts for single card setup. and unless you have a core 2 duo, your CPU will be a bottleneck, guaranteed. if you've got the above mentioned parts, get an 8800 if you can. if not, then SLI would be a good choice.

some people kinda question how much performance gain you get from using 2 cards over 1. the gain ranges anywhere from 60% to 100% gain. definitely worth using.

one more card i want to mention is the 7950gtx (think that was it). it is 2 7900's that fit into 1 PCI-E slot, you don't even need an SLI motherboard to use it. if your motherboard has 1 PCI express slot, you can use it. and second to the 8800's, it is the best single slot card that you can get.

regarding vista's price: i believe it will be 200$ for the business version. I think the business version is equivalent to XP Pro. (i happen to have the vista business version ISO image on a hard drive and can burn as many DVD's of it as i want for free. )

regarding the differences between SLI and crossfire, crossfire is much more flexible then SLI. in SLI, you have to use the same brand and same type of card. for example, you have to have two sapphire 7900gt's, you cannot mix a *powercolor 7900gt and a *sapphire 7900gt. actually they might have fixed this and you can cross manufacturers now. i still wouldn't take any chances. also, if you have an 7900gt, you cannot mix it with a 7900gtx. in SLI you connect the cards by a small "bridge" inside your case.

in crossfire, you can combine two cards of any type, as long as they are in the same family. for example, you can use any x1600 with any other x1600. like a powercolor x1600xt can pair up with a sapphire x1600 PRO. the only bad thing about this is that is one card has 512mb of memory, and the other has 256mb of memory, the card with 512mb will "shut down" 256mb of its memory to match the other cards. the same goes for pixel pipelines and i think core and memory clocks. in crossfire (except for x1950, x1600, and x1300) you connect the cards using external cables, which some people find ugly or stupid.

finally, NForce motherboards, which are the primary SLI motherboards, are pretty much famous for having sweet chipsets. like their onboard sound is better the most sound cards. Crossfire motherboards, however, leave alot to be desired i think. also, i don't know if there is core 2 duo support for any crossfire chipset. i think the the NForce sli 610i or something like that has core 2 duo support.

*: i do not know if sapphire or powercolor manufacturers these cards. i am just using their name as an example.

This is an old thread, but I think I will let this post slide. I doubt however that the original post cares much anymore. Be sure to check the date of threads before posting in them.

Thanks!