VGA Charts VIII: PCI Express Winter 2005

Performance Comparison Between Single Configurations And SLI Setups

The games of our benchmark suite reacted very differently to SLI. For example, Age of Empires III, Fable and Serious Sam 2 actually ran slower with the supposed 3D double graphics card hitter. On the other hand, the remaining games benefited from the SLI configuration. Interestingly, Age of Empires III also reacted negatively to the higher clock speed of the ASUS GeForce 7800 GTX Extreme.

In four games, the single GeForce 7800 GTX proved itself superior to the SLI setup of the older GeForce 6800 Ultra. The two were tied for the lead with two other games. The GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI solution only took a slight lead in F.E.A.R. Meanwhile, the GeForce 7800 GTX SLI configuration was the most powerful--and the most expensive--in the group.

Differences: Single Card Vs Dual Card SLI

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Age of Empire 3Single CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)220.8 fps180.4 fps-18.3%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)94.0 fps83.6 fps-11.1%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)80.7 fps73.8 fps-8.6%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)57.4 fps55.3 fps-3.7%
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Fable - The Lost ChaptersSingle CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)210.9 fps187.8 fps-11%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)155.1 fps134.4 fps-13%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)125.3 fps117.7 fps-6%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)76.4 fps80.7 fps+6%
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Quake 4Single CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)438.5 fps520.7 fps+19%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)307.0 fps433.3 fps+41%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)268.9 fps414.1 fps+54%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)198.4 fps304.0 fps+53%
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Serious Sam 2 with HDRSingle CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)194.3 fps175.7 fps-10%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)130.6 fps131.0 fps0%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)121.2 fps115.8 fps-4%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)63.8 fps54.8 fps-14%
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Serious Sam 2Single CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)103.2 fps99.1 fps-4%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)84.2 fps79.6 fps-5%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)79.7 fps76.9 fps-4%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)59.8 fps67.8 fps+13%
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Black & White 2Single CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)145.5 fps210.6 fps+45%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)89.5 fps148.7 fps+66%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)79.1 fps136.6 fps+73%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)73.3 fps81.1 fps+11%
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F.E.A.R.Single CardSLI (2 cards, parallel)Performance Gain / Loss (%)
Geforce 7800 GTX (256 MB)270.0 fps377.0 fps+40%
Geforce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)206.0 fps285.0 fps+38%
Geforce 6800 GT (256 MB)180.0 fps268.0 fps+49%
Geforce 6600 GT (128 MB)103.0 fps152.0 fps+48%