Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, morphine, SecretSquirrel
zenlessyank wrote:One advantage of using 2 cheaper cards instead of one expensive one is if one card dies you can use 2nd until the RMA comes back from repair. Also you will get twice the output ports for extra monitors. Also note, that heat can be dissipated across the 2 cards a little easier.
Aphasia wrote:but considering the hassle
Waco wrote:If you HAVE to go with dual GPUs, SLI. No question.
Aphasia wrote:The hassle I was talking about was more in the case of noise, power and space type.
Aphasia wrote:The point is still, why go SLI instead of a single faster card, unless you actually need performance that surpasses the single fastest single gpu card you can get
Aphasia wrote:There isn't any problem doing a 2 way SLI build, just get quality components. But you still need more expensive components beyond just the card itself.
Aphasia wrote:And you will have a higher about power draw.
Aphasia wrote:Silent is a subjective opinion though. And these days, I want something with a much lower noise floor then I used earlier. I also never use headphones when gaming so that is also a factor for me.
I found the reference design of 6970 under load to have significantly noise when gaming with it. So bad as to drown out footsteps, etc, actually hindering my enjoyment when gaming. And yes, the annoying part is either you needed a steady and slightly to high fan rpm that was too noisy, or you needed to listen to the fan go up and down as the profile on the 6970 wasn't geared for a steady rpm but immediate temperature control. So what you actually got when under high load was this cyclic dustbuster that revved every 10 seconds or so. Or you could set it manually to a more steady, but slightly too noisy level.
Waco wrote:Even one is enough to be satisfactory though
Waco wrote:I'm only using SLI because I have multiple of the cards laying around.
Chrispy_ wrote:Treat crossfire/SLI as a tweakers dream - like a classic car; If you like fiddling with stuff you can make it work and feel damn good about the result, but after four days of tinkering with the engine, changing fifty parts and polishing the manifold until it's mirror-shiny you are still going to discover that a Toyota Camry is the more comfortable way to cross three state boundaries, and anything more than an occasional day's driving you wish you car just worked without needing all the constant maintenance.
Mutli-gpu solutions are the poor cousin, the kludge, the half-assed solution to not having a fast-enough GPU.
Sure, with enough smoke and mirrors, enough lipstick, you really can make a pig look pretty.
(pro tip; they're still pigs, even if you do have two of them)
Airmantharp wrote:And can we stop calling them 'SLI' PSUs?
End User wrote:Waco wrote:Even one is enough to be satisfactory though
Resolution?
michael_d wrote:No more replies from the author.
End User wrote:michael_d wrote:No more replies from the author.
That is nothing new. Usually by page three we catch on.
End User wrote:Airmantharp wrote:And can we stop calling them 'SLI' PSUs?
There was no we. It was just me. A thousand apologies.
Would you prefer SLI Ready PSU?
Airmantharp wrote:If we're going to talk about PSUs for multi-GPU setups, let's just explain that the cards have X number of Y type of connectors, and that a PSU is needed that can effectively fulfill those requirements.
End User wrote:Airmantharp wrote:If we're going to talk about PSUs for multi-GPU setups, let's just explain that the cards have X number of Y type of connectors, and that a PSU is needed that can effectively fulfill those requirements.
Hang on. I have to find my pen.
michael_d wrote:P.S.
This thread is highly suspecious due to such a naïve question. No more replies from the author. But there is a very large icon with a link to some website. How many people actually clicked on it?
Chrispy_ wrote:There are plenty of sites that have all the intricate details, of exactly why you should avoid mutli-GPU configs, including TR.
Chrispy_ wrote:Never use multiple graphics cards until you've hit the limit of what you can achieve with one graphics card.
Chrispy_ wrote:I have had both types of SLI (3DFx and Nvidia) as well as a couple of dual and quad Crossfire configs; My experience matches the articles around the web - concluding that even, lag-free frame delivery is far more complex than a FRAPS, DCAT or FPS average, and Mutli-GPU configs suck at it, even with frame-pacing driver wizardry.
Chrispy_ wrote:SLI being slower than a single card when there's a compatibility problem
Chrispy_ wrote:SLI causing image-quality issues (graphical corruption)
Chrispy_ wrote:Games being completely incompatible and not running on SLI systems at all
Chrispy_ wrote:Higher power draw
Chrispy_ wrote:Higher noise levels
Chrispy_ wrote:Delayed driver support for new features
Chrispy_ wrote:vsync issues and input lag that are hard to quantify and measure, but affect your gaming enjoyment
Chrispy_ wrote:The need for a PSU with more cables
Chrispy_ wrote:a motherboard with more slots
Techgoudy wrote:As far as single GPU cards go what would you really consider the best bang for your buck considering the new Radeons approaching the market. Would you wait or buy now?