2 Sli 7900 GT's or........1 7900 GTX?

Vokofpolisiekar

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One 7900GTX - SLi and Crossfire is over rated. But that's my Marvin the Paranoid Android opinion.

SLI/Crossfire makes sense if you use two mid range cards to get close to one top end cards performance. But if you can have more than enough performance in one gcard, then why go the dual high power way? It consumes space, generates unique heat problems etc.
 

Lan

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Best bang for the buck, go for a single card. If you are on a budget, don't even think about SLI.

That being said, if you don't need to worry about money too much, or you have enough for sli anyway, it might be worth considering if NVidia implements their SLI physics, but who knows when that will be, not to mention that even when NVidia implements it games won't nessesarily take advantage of it.

SLI is good, and I enjoy it very much personally. But it is not a good value for your money.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
One X1900 XT is the best choice for a single card.

If you want dual card, two 7900 GTs are the best cost-effective solution.

Personally I'm not a fan of SLI/Crossfire because they don't give 200% performance in all games, in a few games their increase is single-digit percentages. But if you're always gaming at 1600x resolution, dual-cards are viable.
 

sonnyisthinkn

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I think he's asking because 2 7900GT cost ABOUT the same as 1 7900GTX.

There are pros and cons to both. 2 7900GT would consume more power (more $) and produce more heat. The 7900GTX would consume less power and produce less heat. The 2 7900GT would perform better but could also perform WORSE in some cases.

I do not know that much about graphic cards. Please feel free to corect me.
 

Heyyou27

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Nearly every game you'll play, 7900GTs will outperform the X1900 XTX and the 7900GTX.

Even with that being said, I'd still take an X1900 XT to save money, be able to use OpenEXR HDR+AA, high quality antialiasing, and the AVIVO features.
 

crooms

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yes it is because they are a similar price, im building a rig. way i figure is if im getting better performance with 2 in sli for the most part, then it makes sense as in the future i could upgrade to 2 GTX's or whatever 2nd tier card is about when their price has dropped.
 

Jaffee

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I would suggest buying an X1900XT or a 7900GT (only one) and waiting for DX10 before you spend your big bucks. I think a 7900GT will last for a few months :)
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Buying a second card in the future is never cost effective.

Lets say you'd used that strategy with a 6600 GT two years ago:
Well, you could buy another 6600 GT now for $140, or a single 7600 GT that would perform better than two 6600 GTs for $180. Doesn't make sense to buy the second 6600 GT now... in fact, if you sell the old one for $40 your upgrade costs the same price, and you don't have to deal with the noise/power/heat issues of SLI.

Video card technology moves too fast and gets cheap so quickly that SLI is only really viable if 1) you really need to game at the highest resolutions possible, and 2) you can afford two high-end cards to buy at once (like two 7900 GTs)

So the best buys right now are one X1900 XT, or two 7900 GTs.

As you can see, most of the people on these boards are not SLI fans for all situations... there are good reasons for that.
 

oenomel

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Not to mention there is no guarantee that you will be able to get a second card to match down the road...

My 7800 is 2 mos old, good luck finding a second.
(thank you eVGA step up!)
 

Heyyou27

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As you can see, most of the people on these boards are not SLI fans for all situations... there are good reasons for that.
When I bought my 7800GTs, the 7800GTX 512MB was $750, and the X1800 XT was not the relatively cheap card it is now. Both the X1900 and 7900 series cards were not available and weren't even spoken of.
Although I'm not complaining with game performance, I would get a single card solution now.
 

fainis

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i`ll go for one 7900gtx..............

- cheaper
- you can allways add the second card later, if you change your mind, you can use as well one gtx
- it will be hard to get rid of 2xgt cards when you get a better one....who knows what the future brings........

anyway...the dx10 cards are closer than they ever have been.......6 months to 1 year..........then will thow to the garbage those 7900 cards :D
 

fainis

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Nearly every game you'll play, 7900GTs will outperform the X1900 XTX and the 7900GTX.

you got a serious problem man ... to say something like that ...i`m sure you meant to say it the other way but it`s ok.....7900gtx is excused..but x1900xtx will crush a 7900gt sli

sli will only bring it`s power when playing high resolution
 

shinigamiX

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I can get you 2 7900GTXs for $700. The only condition is that I disguise them so I won't get taxed. Which means they will look like 2 slices of Cardboard bound together with a rubber band. Which is totally not a lame confidence scam at all. Really.

PS I read Plaboy. For the ARTICLES.
 

cleeve

Illustrious
x1900xtx will crush a 7900gt sli

sli will only bring it`s power when playing high resolution

Hmmm. I don't think an X1900 XTX will crash two 7900 GTs, it'll perhaps beat them in a few things but two 7900 GTs will probably win most of the time.

Still, not cost effective IMHO. A single X1900 XT is cheaper and a better all-round solution.
 

SuperFly03

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I've had 7800GTX single and 7800GTX in SLI and honestly its not worth it. The main reason is Video Card turnover. Nvidia and ATI keep pumping out new cards every 6 months (or even less in some cases), so SLI isn't worth it at all. You can just ebay your old card and get the next gen for alot less money than SLI.

SLI/CF is a great idea in theory, it is just this turnover thats killing the whole idea unless you really have alot of cash to spare.
 

mediocer

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I agree w/ superfly. I was thinking about getting 7800gtx SLI, but will wait for next gen cards. 7900s series did come out, but my 7800 does me just fine.

Think about getting one gcard and an Ageia PhysX Physics Processing card, I haven't heard much about them, but so far so good.

There will always be room for upgrades.
 

crooms

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well for the record, i decided to go with one 7900GT on a Sli mobo. i'm going to see if i can play the games i want to, the way i want to and then make another decison in the near future, (whether i need another, or not). All help much appreciated guys, saved me a few quid and made me think a little more. Spent the change on a set of golf clubs. Cheers
 

knupxfon

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One 7900GTX - SLi and Crossfire is over rated. But that's my Marvin the Paranoid Android opinion.

SLI/Crossfire makes sense if you use two mid range cards to get close to one top end cards performance. But if you can have more than enough performance in one gcard, then why go the dual high power way? It consumes space, generates unique heat problems etc.

I've got 2 7900GT's, have a full tower case(no space issues), not heat problems, and they beat the piss out of 1 7900GTX. Score is 8525 in 3dmark06, which is more than double the speed of 1 7900GTX. 1.4v mod is easy to do on a 7900GT which allows you to have the same clock speeds as a 7900GTX. It would be just as good to get 1 7900GT as 1 7900GTX.

ORB Verified 3dmark06 Score - http://service.futuremark.com/orb/projectdetails.jsp?projectType=14

Clock speeds on my 7900GT's are 650/1860.

Don't waste the money on the GTX.
 

sjps220

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Benchmarks dont necessarily represent real world performance though.

I bought an SLI mobo, but I now agree with Cleeve's post completely.
 

Heyyou27

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[quote="fainis"you got a serious problem man ... to say something like that ...i`m sure you meant to say it the other way but it`s ok.....7900gtx is excused..but x1900xtx will crush a 7900gt sli

sli will only bring it`s power when playing high resolution[/quote]I'm correct; two 7900GTs in SLI outpeform an X1900 XTX in nearly every game. Also, who cares if you can play F.E.A.R. at 640x480 faster than I can? Higher resolution is a good test of the GPU's true power.