New Gaming System

[nlm39]

I am in the process of planning to upgrade my system. I am unsure whether or not I should go with a SLI configuration or not. The decision I am having a difficult time with is this. Should I just spend the cash for the top notch graphics card today? Or should I spend nearly the same amount of money and buy two lower performing cards and run them in SLI mode? Will the SLI solution offer me better overall graphics performance and provide more longevity than buying a single card? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

I am thinking this:

ABIT AN8 SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
(2) eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT CO SE 256MB GDDR3 PCI E16
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz HT Socket 939
2GB DDR400 timing 2-2-2-6 Corsaid XMS

Non SLI thoughts:
Geforce 7800 GTX
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz HT Socket 939
ABIT AN8 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
use my ddr400 from my existing system

 

[a1ien]

I wouldn't recommend SLI. Why, single X1900 is as good as dual 7800 in performance and it provides nice looking graphics. I would recommend you get a X1900 or wait few days for the 7900 series and see what it brings. For the price of dual 7800GTs, you can get a X1900 which will be just as good if not better.

I agree with prozac here. Furthermore, according to benchmarks I've seen, SLI barely shows any improvement in graphics over a single card system in certain games. I say go with the x1900, or perhaps wait until the 7900 is released and see what that brings to the table and see if it drops the prices on the x1900 at all.

Also, I would highly recommend a dual core processor.

I concur, although right NOW, from what I know (I could be wrong), but single core is the way to go for strictly gaming. However, it won't be long before games start implimenting multithreading into their games and dual-core processors really become an advantage.

 

[mdd1963]

"but single core is the way to go for strictly gaming. "

Quake4 has an SMP patch enabling a nice 25-30% boost in framerates, which is a nice jump....

Other games will follow...

 

[Maxiius]

I am thinking this:

ABIT AN8 SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
(2) eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT CO SE 256MB GDDR3 PCI E16
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz HT Socket 939
2GB DDR400 timing 2-2-2-6 Corsaid XMS

Non SLI thoughts:
Geforce 7800 GTX
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz HT Socket 939
ABIT AN8 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
use my ddr400 from my existing system

7900 is out now, get a 7900GT. And for ram i'd use Corsair :lol: