SLI or not to SLI?

[Thunderr]

I used to be into PC gaming pretty heavy. I got into consoles for a while and now im ready to get back into PC Gaming and my goal is to build an upgradeable system with a somewhat strict budget. Back in the day all I heard about was SLI so I told myself "hey lets make an SLI setup". Well I've started to do some reading and shopping and the main idea im getting now is that SLI is not necessarily the way to go anymore.

Between newegg and tigerdirect my options/current wishlist is:

ASUS P5N-D 750i
Intel C2Duo E8400
Evga 9800GTX+ (x1)

these items were going to put me around $400 all together.

So at this point I am wondering if it would be better just to have a single GPU setup with a 775 board. I think it would open up my options for better motherboards (versus the reportedly unstable nForce 700 chipsets). Otherwise if I go with an x58/Core i7 setup im looking at almost double the price which I am not ready to dish out right now.

On a side note... when choosing my RAM is it absolutely necessary to have the RAM be on the motherboards QVL? Can I just make sure im matching compatible speeds?

Thanks!

 

[ares1214]

not to burst any dreams, but this build would eat that, destroy it, annihilate, and pone:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.295032

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864

that is 343.98 and it would destroy it, and be more future proof. you even have room to buy some good RAM, like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231318

sorry for sending you into an entirely different direction, but this would kill that for less money too.

 

[Thunderr]

No need to apologize. I wouldn't call myself an intel or nvidia fanboy... i've just never used AMD or Radeon. Don't get me wrong though im not opposed to the idea so thank you for the suggestion.

 

[gkay09]

+1 to ares1214's suggestions.

 

[tecmo34]

^+1, as well...

To answer your question on SLI/Crossfire... It is pretty much a decision the end user needs to make, such as Hamlet had to make (play on your post title... :lol: ). Today's cards are strong enough to run most all games at an acceptable frame rate (>30 FPS) with one card at moderate resolutions. Where the decision to run SLI/Crossfire comes in is for those users that want to run the most demanding games with "full eye-candy" on at 1920x1080+ resolutions. To do this, it can become required to run dual cards to meet that acceptable gaming frame rate.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

I used to be into PC gaming pretty heavy. I got into consoles for a while and now im ready to get back into PC Gaming and my goal is to build an upgradeable system with a somewhat strict budget. Back in the day all I heard about was SLI so I told myself "hey lets make an SLI setup". Well I've started to do some reading and shopping and the main idea im getting now is that SLI is not necessarily the way to go anymore.

Between newegg and tigerdirect my options/current wishlist is:

ASUS P5N-D 750i
Intel C2Duo E8400
Evga 9800GTX+ (x1)

these items were going to put me around $400 all together.

So at this point I am wondering if it would be better just to have a single GPU setup with a 775 board. I think it would open up my options for better motherboards (versus the reportedly unstable nForce 700 chipsets). Otherwise if I go with an x58/Core i7 setup im looking at almost double the price which I am not ready to dish out right now.

On a side note... when choosing my RAM is it absolutely necessary to have the RAM be on the motherboards QVL? Can I just make sure im matching compatible speeds?

Thanks!

In order to get the best out of an SLI rig, you'll need a 24" oe larger monitor. You'll also need at least a 575 watt PSU, preferably one with higher watts. If you're not ready for all that, go with a single card solution.

Don't forget to research the crossfire options too.