2 question plz ^_^

hi i'm new here and a friend of mine going to buy new pc so i got some questions plz .....

1- which is better crossfire or SLI "in general"?
2- how big is the difference between a VGA card that support DDR2 and one support DDR3 .... i mean is't big or just like (e.g. 4-6 fps inside the games)

extra thing i forgot to mention which is better

2X ( 3D Fuzion 3DFR76256GSE GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143054

or
one ( SAPPHIRE 100106L Radeon X850XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102688

finally u got any tips regarding VGA i would like to hear it

thanx in advance guys

Well first of all the X850 is better card. It is almost equal to the GF 7600GT and also GF 7600GS for $89 HOLY SHIAT.! I mean wow that is cheap.

x850xt is much much better than 7600gs....as for the 7600gt i could say slighty better..
benches show same games like ati and same nvidia (x850 versus 7600gt)...but in real life ati has the upper glove cause of it`s 256 bit interface with the memory....

for example if you play a certain game at same modest settings and resolution both cards are good ...but if you choose AA and AF settings ati goes ahead ....i`m talking about x850xt and 7600gt....(both tested)
for example in far cry all settings high and AA set to high (same 4x i presume) 1600x1200 .. the ati card has almost double fps than 7600gt

Wether SLi or CF is better is very much a matter of opinion, and something you'll never get a consensus on.

My personal opinion, fwiw, is that SLi is the more 'elegant' and better implimented solution, that allows you more flexibility in how you set it up.

However, in most applications, the x1900s and x1950s are the faster cards right now, so in raw performance x1950 CF is better most of the time than 7900GTX SLi

SLi is right now suffering from a lack of official motherboard support on the Intel side, because the nVidia Intel chipsets are pretty weak overclockers.

CF meanwhile is officially suported on 975X and P965

Well its the same story as the 7800GTX and the x1800 imho

The nVidia card is going to come out *months* earlier, and I'll get one when it does. Maybe the R600 will end up better, in which case I'll be upgrading again, but if the time taken to launch the R600 is as far behind G80 as the x1800 and x1900 were behind G70, then imho there are not really the same generation, they are like half a generation ahead

IMO that depends on the cards you're using.

Anything that can do dongle or bridge-less Xfire is more elegant IMO as it has far more flexability on the card combinations and the rendering modes. But I agree, the dongle is less elegant, and the new X1950 solution is similar to the current SLi (with and extra connector/cable) so I think there's an admission of the need for change even from ATi's guys.

I'd say Xfire can be the most elegant and the worst at the same time dependin on the implementation. However I doubt that itmatter much once it's set up, although the multi-monitor switching and limitations beyond gaming are a hassle on both. The dongle on the high end, just adds to that by also limiting possible output combinations.

As for the Intel situation, I have a feeling that will change within the next 6-9 months.

Right now I'd say that Xfire is more flexabille, but that SLi has greater developer support right out of the box, but that Xfire is more adaptable out of the box, which means more user input to make it work though. Xfire theoretically should work on everything, but like any driver solution IMO, needs tweaks to work best.

SLi is definitely the most widespread, and while people talk about it getting the biggest boost from adding a second card, I don't know how much that matter if the end performance is lower, it's like Xfiring 2 X1600Ps versus 2 X1650XTs I don't care if the XTs get only a 90% boost whereas the Pros get 100% boost, the end result is still the XTs being much faster than the Pros.

The whole Xfire / SLi thing is kinda funny to me because it's like talking about the top speed and Acceleration of a Veyron vs McLaren F1, and then driving primarily in bumper to bumper traffic.

I think only large LCD panels 'NEED' it, but if you got the money to burn and don't care, then it should matter SLi vs Xfire so much as TOP FPS in the prefered game regardless of who's providing the solution.