8800GTX V 9800GTX V 2 X 8800GT

[Dark Comet]

Out of this selection of cards what would be the best choice overall?

 

[jonyb222]

I'd say 2 8800 GTs (probly both with 1 gb) would rock SLI since you'd probly want lots of textures and the speed should be relatively the same, though take it with a grain a salt as I prefer ATI and am not the best person to judge NVIDIA

 

[Evilonigiri]

You'll need to give us more info. What games do you want to play? What about resolutions? System specs?

The best choice all depends on the price of the vidcard.

 

[Dark Comet]

All types of new games really. I'm not sure about resolution because not my monitor is only 1280 X 1024 but i'm sure I will end up getting a 1080P one. System specs are still be decided but i'm sure they will not bottleneck the cards.

 

[Hatman]

Well id say 8800GTs would defeat all of em pretty easily even at the relativly low res of 1280x1024.

But id say go with 9800GTX out of convenience really. Don't go for an nvidia motherboard if you can help it.

 

[Dark Comet]

Ok its better to go with intel chipset? Why not Nvidia?
Do you think the 2 X 8800 GTs would out perform the 8900 GTX at high resolutions because of the added memory? (512MB X2)

 

[Evilonigiri]

SLI does not add memory. So 2 x 8800GT 512MB will use only 512MB of vram.

 

[Dark Comet]

What it only uses one of the cards VRAM? Thats kinda stupid and wastes money too.

 

[kellytm3]

You'll only want an Nvidia chipset if you plan on going the SLI route now or in the future.Go with an Intel chipset(X48)if your sure your not gonna add a second Nvidia card.As a bonus,if you were to use ATI in the future,the Intel chipset would allow you to add in extra ATI cards...

 

[Mousemonkey]

What it only uses one of the cards VRAM? Thats kinda stupid and wastes money too.

No, each card uses it's own memory.

 

[ivanski]

Not an expert,but it seems that the 8800gtx is king with higher resolutions and AA on.Meaning if you go with 24'' or higher widescreen it wins.

 

[Dark Comet]

No, each card uses it's own memory.

SLI does not add memory. So 2 x 8800GT 512MB will use only 512MB of vram.

???

 

[Mousemonkey]

???

Do some research.

 

[Dark Comet]

Did some quick research. One of the GTXs will be the best choice now I think.

 

[lx_flier]

Wrong http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=702&p=0 2x 8800GT's spank a 8800GTX

 

[mihirkula]

Did some quick research. One of the GTXs will be the best choice now I think.

Research properly mate...2x8800GT rape a 8800GTX to kingdomcome.

 

[bobert866]

2 512 mb videocards in sli dont equal one 1gb video card because each video card has to have the exact same information stored in it's memory as the other card. And also, make sure you have the power supply and ample case ventilation for sli. If you're going to stay with the 1280 x 1024 I would stay with a single card. To me a 2nd would be a waste. If you do opt for the bigger monitor then sli would be more fitting.

 

[two bit hit]

2 GTs is the best set up, but at that res, I'd be tempted to stick with a single 512MB 8800 GTS. If you're thinking of getting a monitor with higher res, go for the GTs.

 

[JeanLuc]

???

2x 8800 GT 512Mb in SLI means games won't use two lots of 512Mb as 1GB and will treat the VRAM available to it as just one lot of 512MB. So even if you had 4x 8800GT 512MB games would only address 512Mb of Vram.

 

[Dark Comet]

So the 8800 GTX would have more VRAM then 2 X 8800 GTs therefore it should do better in higher resolutions shouldn't it?

 

[Mousemonkey]

So the 8800 GTX would have more VRAM then 2 X 8800 GTs therefore it should do better in higher resolutions shouldn't it?

In theory yes, but in reality no.
http://www.legionhardware.com/Bench/Nvidia_GeForce_8800_GT_SLI_Performance/XP_STALKER.png

 

[Hatman]

While GTX will naturally perform better in higher resolutions SLI scales much better in higher resolutions too, and the gap between GT and GTX isnt big enough to make up the difference.

 

[leo2kp]

It's always been my understanding that in SLI one card renders one half of the screen while the other card renders the other half. So each card stores different information, thus 1GB would be correct for SLI'd 8800GTs.

But I've been known to make mistakes

 

[Mousemonkey]

It's always been my understanding that in SLI one card renders one half of the screen while the other card renders the other half. So each card stores different information, thus 1GB would be correct for SLI'd 8800GTs.

But I've been known to make mistakes

And there is also 'alternate frame rendering' either way both cards store the textures for the entire frame, the same frame @ 512 mb each. AFAIK

 

[JeanLuc]

It's always been my understanding that in SLI one card renders one half of the screen while the other card renders the other half. So each card stores different information, thus 1GB would be correct for SLI'd 8800GTs.

But I've been known to make mistakes

You haven't made a mistake because you were talking about SLI from 3DFX weren't you?