whats better ? one 8800gt vs sli 7900gs

[donald7777]

Hello everyone. I have a question that might seem stupid to some people but here goes. I have a BFG geforce 7900gs and I wish to upgrade. What would be the best option?
1. Get another geforce 7900gs for sli or
2. Get a geforce 8800gt
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[monst0r]

The 8800gt is far better than two 7900gs's, but I wouldn't recommend buying a GT now that the GTS 512's price is so low. Just get the GTS, it has a MUCH better cooler, higher frequencies, and more SP.

 

[1971Rhino]

I'm gonna gamble here and say most people (including me) are gonna tell you to go with the 8800 the newer verisons. I'm assuming you have an SLI capable MoBo for starters. Also the first thing I expect people to say here is something about SLI not scaling well .....that seems to be the first thing any one mentions here when SLI is brought up. I'm surprised it's not in anyone's signature. Or they will tell you to wait until the next big video card release is.

 

[donald7777]

ok thankyou ill save up for a gts.

 

[pauldh]

Forget SLI 7900GS. A $100 8800GS would be better.

The $170 AR GTS is a a little better and a bargain, but the 512MB GT for $140AR (with a free game even) is still a great bargain too. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a GT at current pricing. Look at these two:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125088
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134037

 

[pcgamer12]

i personally think sli is rip off. its rarely 2x performance. i believe its only best to use it if u have the fastest single gpu and need more performance. ie 8800gtx sli, 8800 ultra sli, 9800gtx tri sli, 9800gx quad sli. honestly, an 8800gt will pwn any game u have, i run crysis on directx9 for a couple extra frame rates with everything on high except post processing which is on medium, no AA, probably trilinear filtering seeing as AF isnt in the game, u have to force in nvidia control panel, at 1680 by 1050. its 100% fluid throughout the whole crysis demo. i have latest drivers which improves fps even more then the last i had which was a beta. besides. if ud like to sli, with an 8800gt u could after u feel u need more performance. if u get another 7900gs which is a bad idea, waste of money. then ur out of sli slots.

 

[pauldh]

^ I disagree quite a bit. Dual 8800GT will spank and 8800 Ultra in most games for less money. Dual 9600GT will beat a 9800GTX for about the same money. SLI doesn't need to scale 100% to be the best performing solution in a given price range. So why is it a ripoff? You rarely if ever double your performance going from a $300 card to $600 card. So why is it a ripoff if two $300 cards don't double performance over one.

Have a look at this and judge for yourself. If you wanted to max out crysis at 12x10 resolution, would you rather have SLI G92 (the 9800GX2 in this case), or a more expensive 8800 Ultra? Is 70% scaling good enough, or do you need 100% to be a valid option?
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/0408/itogi-video-cr3-wxp-aaa-1280-pcie.html

Take a look at 8800GT SLI and 9600GT SLI vs the 8800U in this review:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_9600_gt_sli_performance/page3.asp

Or vs 9800GTX in this review (again check all the games):
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_9800_gtx_performance_preview/page4.asp

I do agree down the road SLi no longer looks like a good option, like in the 7900GS case now.

 

[dagger]

Of course sli is ripoff. It's just that cards like Ultra are far bigger ripoffs.

Nvidia wants bigger profit margins from those willing to pay more for nothing. See 9800gtx benchmark:
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/03/geforce-9800gtx-review/12/

 

[pauldh]

Well, SLI isn't nothing, but I agree it's high end where you pay dearly to reap the benefits. The bang for buck bargains are not on the upper $ end. But you aren't going to play crysis at nearly the same settings on a bargain bang for buck card as you will with two in SLI.