New build- SLI or Crossfire?

here goes
Opteron 170
2 Gb ram
Hiper 580 W PSU

Plan A
A8N32-SLI Deluxe
1 6800 to start( budget depending)

Plan B
A8R32-MVP Deluxe
1 X1600 pro to start

This will be used for moderate gaming, surfing, and media. I do plan on overclocking on air (vapochill micro just for laughs). I will also add a second video eventually (also just for laughs). I'm not hardcore or bleeding edge.
I haven't bought anything yet except the case (Raidmax Ninja-Silver cut out the bottom 2- 3.5" bays for better airflow).
Any input is appreciated.
I don't need to know what a dumbass I am, I have a wife for that.

In every sense of the word... dual cards are a peice of crap and are not worth it.

Considering:

You need a better PSU with the correct amount of PCI-E plugs (their are adapters but meh)

You need to spend the extra money on the SLI version of the mobo you want (in my case its like 50$ more)

Their will be added heat consumption, a higher ambient case temp and restricted airflow (which comes back on the higher ambient case temp).

The performance gains, in no way, justify the high costs.


Your better off with a good single card and besides in most situations today its the CPU holding back the GPU, not the other way around.

If indeed he is cash strapped then go for the ASUS A8N-E and forget SLI. Its for those who have more money then they care about and want to say "I have 2 GFX cards in my system".

If he cut the ram back to 1GB for now and got the non SLI board he could easily take that money and invest into a 7800GT. Then when he gets the extra money (like 60$) he could get the second GB of ram and have a better system.

Once again, SLI is NOT for people with a budget or a brain

You will be better off with the A8R32-MVP as it is the best overclocking board available and ATI does not dissapoint with regular driver updates.

I have the following and it rocks getting 4,935 3DMarks06 and 9,881 marks in 3DMark05.

Lian Li PC-60plus Black Aluminum Case
Opteron 175
ThermalTake BigWaterSE 12cm liquid cooling system
Asus A8R-MVP Motherboard
HiS X1800XT Graphics Card (700 MHz OC core/1600 MHz OC mem)
ATI TV Theater 550 PRO Tuner
4x 512MB Corsair Micro Xpert DDR RAM
2x 74gig Western Digital Raptor Hard Drives RAID-0
2x 250gig Western Digital Caviar SE16 Hard Drives
Plextor 716AL Black 16x DVD/CD Burner (IDE slot loading type)
Antec TP-II 550 Power Supply
Dell 2405FPW 24-inch LCD Monitor Logitech G-15 Gaming Keyboard
Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan
Case Fans (SilenX 120mm intake, Adda 120mm exhaust blower, SilenX 92mm exhaust and SilenX 80mm Fan)

Yes and ONLY for high rez situations

aspire will be nice, one of thoes 520W ones. i had one and liked it, also the camelion is nice, (i have this one)

"ONE gt could not do 1600X1200 in BF2 with settings at max, and 7800GTX can only pull 30-50 frames. "

7800GTX's are rather expensive, almost rivaling the cost of a pair of 7800GT's on sale, but are indeed fine video cards....

I for one do not knock SLI, as a 2nd GTX will boost FEAR framerates from 55 fps to 103 fps at 1024x768/4xAA/16xAF....it's just the expense of the 2nd card I dislike, but a pair of 7800GTs is indeed a sensible option! :-)

(Unless, of course, the upcoming 7900GT /GTX will defeat it at an overall lower price point, which I doubt at this point...; but we will all soon find out, as arent they supposed to be released this week or the next?)

You should get the 7800GT to start with and I would go for an SLI since its been out for a while and ATI has just started with there crossfire and as well as the mobo soppurting it.

I think sli and crossfire will be a better use at future gaming and looking at the future your better off with a sli or crossfire board. Even with a single card solution... It will work off if you have money alter on for a sli setup... but need to upgrade a motherboard first

Crossfire in my opion is better because ati cards are better at high res, If im right??

I'd opt for a less expensive SLI board, or even a single slot board if necessary, and upgrade your video card choice to a single 7900GT, which will outperform a pair of 6800GT or GS cards....

(You'd have the option of a 2nd gt later if you get the SLI board, but I think you'd be happy with a single 7900GT for at least a year anyway, it will play any game out at fairly decent resolutions)

Opt for an X2-4200 if possible, or an Opty 165 if cash strapped!