1 4850 or Dual SLI 8800GTX's

[jgmcgowan]

I'd like to know if I would see better performance with my:

HD 4850 (512mb) in PCI-E 16x mode
or
Two Nvidia 8800GTX (768mb), but because my Motherboard only supports PCI Express 2.0 at (single x16 or dual x8) will I actually have more sluggish performance with 2 Good Cards but at 8x.

My CPU should not be a bottleneck as at Full Settings its never gotten over 40%. AMD Phenom II X3 2.8Ghz BE (AM3).
I own all 3 of these cards (got the 8800's as a present), and know that I will need to get the 5900series eventually if and when my primary game (LOTRO) goes Dx11. But until then LOTRO, MW2, and Bluray playback is my top concern.

According to a basic 3dMark test on this site, that compared all modern Graphics cards it said that Two SLI 8800GTXs got 22,000 score while a single 4850 recieved 14,000. My main question is then will I actually lose out because my motherboard is only PCI-2.0 x8 when in SLI?

 

[nforce4max]

What is your board? If the board has an ATI chipset there wont be sli unless the card were to be a 7900 gtx duo, 7950 gx2, 9800gx2, or a gtx295. In the end test each card to see which one gives you the best score in the game that you play.

 

[shadow187]

That there is a Crossfire motherboard, I'm sure.

 

[jgmcgowan]

That is a Crossfirex board, but I have two dongle looking things that I have connected between each card. Had to put in a new PSU (1000w) because it needed 4 PCI-E 6pin connectors

 

[jyjjy]

What they are saying is that it is a crossfire motherboard and not SLI. You cannot use two 8800GTXs on it.

 

[jgmcgowan]

Darn, are these things worth anything on Ebay still haha. I spent an hour redoing my PSU and putting the two 8800s in, and Windows and 3Dmark is only showing one being utilized at 8x.

 

[jyjjy]

I think they do still fetch a decent price on ebay. If there's any card that's retained a decent value so long from when it was introduced it's that one.

 

[nforce4max]

I think they do still fetch a decent price on ebay. If there's any card that's retained a decent value so long from when it was introduced it's that one.

$75~$200 depending on condition and brand.

 

[shadow187]

Even the the HD4850 beats it?

Odd.

Anyways.

Go buy yourself another 4850 with the money you get from those cards. Or a 4850x2 and have a trifire setup ^_^.

 

[jgmcgowan]

Does the 16x / 8x thing really hamper performance? So if I end up getting a 2nd 4850 (or 5870) Ill still see some performance increase even if it goes to 8x?

 

[jyjjy]

Only the second card should run at x8 I believe so if you get an HD5870 it should be entirely unaffected. I'm not sure what the effect would be on HD4850s in xfire though.

 

[shadow187]

There is absolutely no bottleneck so far in a 2.0 x8 slot. I doubt the 5970 will be bottlenecked in it.