SLi - Yes or No on your new rig?

Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Seriously, I still go for a game of Quake III now and then and take Star Craft out for kicks.

Hah, I hear you there. I'd still kick up a multi-player of Q1.. classic. I agree with you on Sli.. but it's been tempting me more and more lately. I don't run any games above 1280*1024, but even some games like FEAR and Quake IV on max settings can lag from time to time. We are definitely coming to a time where SLi need is becoming more evident. Well.. not need per se, but for those who want it the high quality and smoothness, it's there.

Is there a specific reason you want a 3800+ Venice? The 3800+ is cheaper, and is almost identical except it has 1MB L2 Cache. You may even be better off going for one of the 146 S939 Opterons, that will keep up the that CPU, but costs almost half as much.

In my personal opinion, I'd get rid of the 3800+ Venice, and get a San Diego or Optie, and then use that $100 you save to get a 2GB kit of memory instead, since they are getting cheaper and cheaper.
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
I've been keeping up with the AMD 64's since their release and the 3800 and 4000 Venice editions were perfomance monsters. The reason I was looking at a 3800 is that it keeps up, and in some cases, outperform the 4000. I read that review on the San Diego and agree there's a reasonable performance gain. Right now I just can't justify spending the extra $50-80 for the San Diego 4000 chip. The 3800 and 4000 overclock close to 3Gb and even then the 3800 manages to outpace the 4000 regularly. The Sempron would be a good choice as well, but doesn't have the same performance. I've done my homework on this one, and still think that the Venice core is the way to go.

Like you said in your review of the San Diego core:
If you don't have need for a Dual Core and don't wish to empty your wallet on an FX, I can't justify spending extra money for little performance gain. Unless you have a very specific need for an 1024kb L2 Cache, you may wish to look more into the Venice Cores.

I agree totally with you. I don't do video editing I may rip some songs now and then but nothing that is a total system drain. I run most of my games at 1152x864 with a 17in monitor. I'm not a gaming nut and don't try to post the highest benchmarks or anything. I do plan on overclocking the 3800 and I know it can reach 2.6g+ easily. You could say I'm a "budget gamer" who wants the best bang for the buck. Since these hurricanes I've had to move to Florida and it has delayed me once again in upgrading, and last week WinXP decided it didn't like it's own system32/config FOLDER... not a single file but the WHOLE folder. I picked up a 10gig just for windows and so I can access my files. I'm going to have to wait until January to take a trip back to my family in Mississippi to see if I can scrounge up my software collection.
Hopefully I'll have my system up and running by spring. I can't play most of my games right now so there's no big rush really. By then the prices will have dropped again, and maybe I will go for the 4000 San Diego.
 
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b1lk1

b1lk1

Tech Monkey
Sorry to bring such an old thread back to life, but I must defend my 6800GS SLI setup. I easily outscore a single 7800GTX/X1800XT on every benchmark and my cards cost less than either of those 2 cards. Plus, they are not bottlenecked like almost any 7800GT/GTX SLI setup. The money spent on 2 6800GS cards for SLI is so much smarter than the money spent on a 7800GTX. And 7800GTX SLI is just plain impossible to run without a $800+ CPU. I firmly love SLI, but would not get any higher than 6800's. Until FX57's are under $500 that is.
 
werty316

werty316

Partition Master
2x 6800GS faster than a 7800GTX you say? Ypou usre about that. What kind of benchmark scores are you getting?
 
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Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
Ok so I lied...
I don't have Sli but will later on if and when I need it. I ended up getting a better job than I had expected and went with a better setup. I've been weighing wether or not to get a dual core and right now I'm not seeing it, but I may get an X2 processor and another GT later on. I've been really pleased thus far.
 
F

fussnfeathers

E.M.I.
For me, it would depend on the overall system performance at the time. If I were to build a new rig today, it would be SLi, simply because I'd be going AMD for the better performing proc. A year from now, that decision might be Intel/Crossfire. It's all bang for the buck in my book.
 
werty316

werty316

Partition Master
Damn that is freakin sweet. I hope to get another GTX in the future for SLi and add an Opteron 165 or 170.
 
sbrehm72255

sbrehm72255

Tech Monkey
I'll more than likely stick to a single card solution, for me a SLi or any dual card solution just isn't worth the extra cash.
 
S

spiffyp

Obliviot
When I finally get the money to upgrade, I'll be going w/ an SLI-supporting mobo.
But, only one card to start with. As was mentioned before, that's the best part of SLI!
Get one 7800GT/GTX now and, if I need to later, get a second one & SLI it!
 
werty316

werty316

Partition Master
That is one good thing about SLi is you can add another card later unless you are rish and can shell out the cash for both.
 
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