1 graphic card vs 2 graphic card? any major difference?

Depends on the game, the resolution, and the card. At 2560x1600, SLI generally shows almost 2x the performance of a single card in most games, while at 1600x1200 the difference may not be so large.

Theres pretty much always some improvement though, at lower resolutions it may be more bottlenecked by other parts in your PC.

When heyyou27 sais that though, he means say, 1x 8800gts and 2x 8800gts.

Not 1x 8800gts and 2x 8600gts.

well if u play @ 1920x1200 or higher , then u will see the true difference between single card and dual cards , in lower resolutions sli wont shine very much

From my own experience 2 7900GT's give better and smoother game play than a single 7900GT @ 1280x1024. Higher minimum frame rates with more details enabled and in some, not all but some cases higher maximum frame rates as well.

MrsBytch thats a complete load of crap.

Using a high end CPU there is actually tons of performance more on low resolutions, like Is aid though, need quite a high end CPU. It does get more and more as you go up though..

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/vga-charts/battlef...

Proof  

personally... im now going to get a 640mb 8800gts for my 1280x720 resolution, but at Xmas im getting a 1650x1080 screen, water cooling and another 8800gts 640mb, overclocking like mad.

If I had the money to buy a 8800gtx now i would, but this offers more flexibility, thats the advantage of 2 cards  

Personally, dont go sli; there is always going to be a card that will beat both of them in SLI. I.E- the G92 Series coming out this Nov. may not the be able to beat 2 8800's in SLI but as being a single G92, it might come close.

The advantage is though, that I can spedn £220 now, and more later.

So infact, in a few months time, I wont have to spend £350 to get the performance of a better card, but by then infact under £200.

Here's my 2 cents worth on SLI.
At first, you buy the best single card you can possibly afford.
A year later when you start to feel the need for an upgrade, the price you paid for that single card is probably now 1/2 of what it was a year ago. Buy another one and enjoy the boost until time to start all over again.

Dude, Even though you have phrased it so simply and sweetly, you and I both know that there will always be the those who will refuse to or indeed are unable to comprehend the simple concept that you so eloquently put forth.

I built several SLI systems and currently have 3. I have found over the years, I enjoy using a single really great graphics card more than two lesser cards set up in SLI. Like others have said, resolution is important as well as your intentions of use.

isn't more higher resolution the better(more real-quality of graphics) the game looks? I am thinking of getting 8800 ultra, donnno if i should *2 or not.

Dual graphics card works best with ultra high resolutions. At 1280x1024 sure you can get some increase but not much. If you have 1280x1024 rez and lower then it's good to get a single card and overclock it. Like the 8800GTS 320Mb works well in that area.

MrsBytch wrote:


Erm..., the above quote?

Mrsbytch got owned  

as a 2x 2900xt owner with a 30" dell, i can say there is a vast difference.

Bet you can lol. Awesome rig..

As a 4x RAID0 owner, can you say there is a vast difference?

I think we need to wait for more dx10 games to come out and be stable and well written to use two cards in SLI...

This is too early to tell and although higher resolution requires more video card memory, one has to look at the pro's and cons with price in mind. A 640mb 8800 gts is currently the same bloody price as a 320 on tigerdirect.ca and while I got screwed (i bought a 320 about 6 months ago) those buying a new card should not hesitate to go with the 640 so they can upgrade their monitor in the future.

Main argument, wait for better written games on DX10 with better written drivers from nVidia and we will see what an SLI system can really do at all sorts of resolutions.

Double video cards doesn't mean double FPS.

But there is a definate difference. Its not worth it until later down the track you add another of the same type when its dropped in price as someone else mentioned.

Two X2900XTs are not better than a GTX Ultra for the same price unfortunately. So there are limits. One of my Aussie gamer mags shows the increase when running a single ATI card, and then running crossfire. The FPS does not double

No-one said it does, but the improvement in minimum frame rates is where it is most noticeable because the games do not get choppy or laggy and if the minimum frame rate with a single card is 10fps and then when a second card is added the minimum frame rate increases to 19-20fps then although the maximum fps may not increase the performance has still been doubled just not in the easy to see way that the naysayers harp on about. Also comparing two different makes of card does not give a true measure in the same way that comparing two series does not give a true measure, if you compare a single 2900XT to 2x 2900XT's and 1 8800 Ultra to 2x 8800 Ultras then you will be getting a fairer picture, otherwise you may as well start comparing a 7900GTX against a Voodoo 2 and what a shock the 7900 is better just as an XT1900 is better than a Matrox Millennium, the only way to compare a dual card setup is to compare them to the same single card, so two 2900XT's should only be compared to a single 2900XT and nothing else.

someone got up on the wrong side of the bed.....calm down mate.....just assisting the op with their question

  , I just thought I'd try to clear up the doubling frame rate 'myth' and I sorta stepped out there for a bit.

ahh ok....no worries :-)

so basically SLI isn't worth it unless you want insanely high resolution? (and you don't mind losing money as if you had a drainpipe in your wallet) maybe I should save a link to this thread for the next one that will inevitably occur...

Well I've been running a pair of 7900GT's in SLI for over a year now @1280x1024 and that's why I know it works at the lower resolutions giving better frame rates with more details or 'eye candy' and that most of what is spouted about Sli is tosh.

ok, I suppose that means you are rather better qualified than me (or indeed most people) to make judgements

Hmm... maybe so, I can only really call it how I see it, there are some who have said that they have tried a dual card setup and didn't think it was worth it, but I like to think that I knew what to expect from Sli and as far as I'm concerned it does exactly what it says on the side of the tin.