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Downsides to SLI??

Physically, more heat, more power demands (get a good high-quality PSU please), and more noise. Less money in your wallet too.
 
1 - expensive
2 - requires lots of power from your PSU
3 - unless you have a nice warercooling system (if I was doing SLI I would get an EXOS watercooling system) it going to be noisy and generate lots of heat in your case

If you've got the money to take care of those 3 issues though, i'd go for it.
 
Am I going to run into problems without watercooling? Because that's not really a road I want to go down.
 
The case i just bought that I would be putting these components into is a lian-li pc-60. All the fans are 80mm. Should i do some chopping and replace them with 120's? Should I add more? There are two fans in the front, one on the top, and one in the back.
 
those are fine, but i'd add a side panel fan taking in cold air to blow over the video cards
 
Ok. I was thinking about cutting a window, so I could definitely do that.

Thanks for the feedback :)
 
no dual monitor support

biggest thing is cost. Its by far the worst cost/bennefit ratio possible.
 
I've got an SLi setup and I do have good cooling in my case. I always leave it closed BTW. You don't need to hack your case. 80mm fans will be fine, you also don't need to leave the side panel off.

As long as you have a good case with decent airflow and you keep your home relatively cool, you'll be fine. The noise isn't that bad. Its somewhat subjective. Some people are find with Vantec Tornados. Personally that was just over my threshold, but alot of the SFF guys hate any and all noise. Really though its not like both cards amplify the noise. They make about the same noise, and its not really any worse than having one card in there.

There are really only about three downsides to SLi.

Cost
Some driver issues in a few games
Power supply requirements

Dual monitor support is there for an SLi capable system, but you have to disable SLi mode to use it. Which sucks as that requires a reboot.
 
I don't really see how the cost such a downside. I'm going to start with just one 6800GT and that's about $400. If in the future i deam it necessary to upgrade, I can just grab another one of those.

biggest thing is cost. Its by far the worst cost/bennefit ratio possible.
Click to expand...

Is the benefit really not that great???
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
I've got an SLi setup and I do have good cooling in my case. I always leave it closed BTW. You don't need to hack your case. 80mm fans will be fine, you also don't need to leave the side panel off.

As long as you have a good case with decent airflow and you keep your home relatively cool, you'll be fine. The noise isn't that bad. Its somewhat subjective. Some people are find with Vantec Tornados. Personally that was just over my threshold, but alot of the SFF guys hate any and all noise. Really though its not like both cards amplify the noise. They make about the same noise, and its not really any worse than having one card in there.

There are really only about three downsides to SLi.

Cost
Some driver issues in a few games
Power supply requirements

Dual monitor support is there for an SLi capable system, but you have to disable SLi mode to use it. Which sucks as that requires a reboot.
Click to expand...


QFT!!

heat is an issue with any high performance PC so I don't see that one as being an SLi specfic one... Cost is the obvious first draw-back, then not all games support it, but all the ones I play do, an most major ones do, plus practically all the games which are coming out now and the ones currently production are going to support it, so this will become a thing of the past, relatively soon... then the PSU issue... which is again, going to be something which any high-end gamer must face... SLi or not.. the next gen of video cards is going to have power requirement which rival today's SLi setups with only one card... almost... not quite though. So, this is going to be something which will become more of any issue as time goes on, and high powered video cards become more mainstream. Welcome to the future. :)

Anyways... I LOVE my SLi system... I think it was worth it all the way! :)
 
jon_k said:
1 - expensive
2 - requires lots of power from your PSU
3 - unless you have a nice warercooling system (if I was doing SLI I would get an EXOS watercooling system) it going to be noisy and generate lots of heat in your case

If you've got the money to take care of those 3 issues though, i'd go for it.
Click to expand...

What a crock. I've had 3 sli sets now and have never water cooled, never noticed noise, never had a problem with psu.
:rolleyes:

To you I say:

http://www.umass.edu/aesop/foxgrapes/palica/foxgrapes_trad.html
 
OMG! that's the the truth... I see lot's of non-SLi folks bashing it... they are entitled to say whatever they want.... but that hits the nail on the head... Thanks for that link. a gem!

PS: no water cooling here and no overheating issues. :)
 
Lets just say I play Doom 3 at mostly 60 fps at 1600x1200 2AA 16AF
 
TRex said:
Lets just say I play Doom 3 at mostly 60 fps at 1600x1200 2AA 16AF
Click to expand...

Exactly, with 6800GT's or Ultra's there is no performance equal at this moment. Though it isn't perfect all the newest and mainstream games support it. With the newest drivers and autoselect settings for SLi mode, even games that don't support it work just fine.
 
1.) Cost, but if you can even think about it I doubt you care to much about this issue.
2.) Noise, its totally subjective. Anyone who argues needs to shut up. Each person has different tastes when it comes to this. I dont mind loud fans, as long as they are not super high pitched. But I know others who dont mind quiet low pitch, but hate loudness. So to each their own.
3.) Power, but you should already have a good PSU.
4.) Heat, its going to get hot. Just have nice airflow and make sure your side panel fan blows in nice cool air onto the cards and you'll be fine.
5.) There's a few minor driver issues (dual monitor) and such. But they are small and may not concern you at all.

If you can afford SLI and dont have any cooling, power, or noise issues then its a great thing for you. Of course all of these can be solved except for driver issues, and like I said, there's an extremely small amount of those.

Overall SLI is a good thing.
 
Skrying said:
1.) Cost, but if you can even think about it I doubt you care to much about this issue.
2.) Noise, its totally subjective. Anyone who argues needs to shut up. Each person has different tastes when it comes to this. I dont mind loud fans, as long as they are not super high pitched. But I know others who dont mind quiet low pitch, but hate loudness. So to each their own.
3.) Power, but you should already have a good PSU.
4.) Heat, its going to get hot. Just have nice airflow and make sure your side panel fan blows in nice cool air onto the cards and you'll be fine.
5.) There's a few minor driver issues (dual monitor) and such. But they are small and may not concern you at all.

If you can afford SLI and dont have any cooling, power, or noise issues then its a great thing for you. Of course all of these can be solved except for driver issues, and like I said, there's an extremely small amount of those.

Overall SLI is a good thing.
Click to expand...

Also its a new technology, and with new technologies comes issues that need to be addressed and worked out. No doubt if SLi type multi-GPU systems become fairly normal, then the driver problems that are present in the technology now will dissapear. Nvidia really has made great improvements with almost every driver release.

Of course, I doubt that will be the case, with dual cores, RAID configurations being normal and dual channel ram, everything is going dual. I think this kind of parallel architecture will continue, especially considering the technical limits of some of these technologies. Parallelism is the next logical step.
 
i know this is wishful thinking, but i think mismatching cards would be excellent - sort of dynamically distribute load, and use the lowest common denominator architecture points - such as using a dx 10 part with a dx 9 part - both would become dx9 parts, etc.....

To me, THAT would really hit it home for multiprocessing of any kind, be it gpu, cpu, etc.
 
Cruithne said:
i know this is wishful thinking, but i think mismatching cards would be excellent - sort of dynamically distribute load, and use the lowest common denominator architecture points - such as using a dx 10 part with a dx 9 part - both would become dx9 parts, etc.....

To me, THAT would really hit it home for multiprocessing of any kind, be it gpu, cpu, etc.
Click to expand...

SLI's current form doesnt allow this. Its ATi' aim with their's to support this, and it looks like it will. I wouldnt be surprised if Nvidia comes out with this in the next true form of their SLI.

Competition = good.
 
I heard about that from ATi - anything as far as a timeframe that anyone else has heard?
 
Cruithne said:
I heard about that from ATi - anything as far as a timeframe that anyone else has heard?
Click to expand...

Just rather soon, I've heard anything from a week away to at latest the end of summer.
 
I've got a guy from ATI coming to our lan party - i'll ask him and accidently leak something on here if he gets me anything ;)
 
Suprnova04 said:
I don't really see how the cost such a downside. I'm going to start with just one 6800GT and that's about $400. If in the future i deam it necessary to upgrade, I can just grab another one of those.

Is the benefit really not that great???
Click to expand...

My only worry would be that you will never get around to using SLi, since by the time you will probablly see the need to get another Video card, IE the 6800GT it will hit the end of its lifetime. Then there will be no point since the new generation of cards will be out and probablly touting the new SLi.

But then again there is nothing wrong with getting the PCI-E board now and just using one 6800GT because I am sure for the most part it will be plenty for most games for a while.
 
UltimaParadox said:
My only worry would be that you will never get around to using SLi, since by the time you will probablly see the need to get another Video card, IE the 6800GT it will hit the end of its lifetime. Then there will be no point since the new generation of cards will be out and probablly touting the new SLi.

But then again there is nothing wrong with getting the PCI-E board now and just using one 6800GT because I am sure for the most part it will be plenty for most games for a while.
Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly. Later when you need more speed, you can put that money towards a new card with new features/new architecture, instead of just doubling your speed with all the same features.

If the graphics card industry starts slowing down as it reaches the physical limitations of silicon, then this may be worth looking into, however i think dual core graphics cards will be more effective.
 
Dual core graphics cards = SLI on one card ;).

Anyway, another downside to SLI is the widescreen monitor issue. For whatever reason, it doesn't work right with widescreen monitors. Supposedly there will be a driver fix for it, but I haven't seen it yet.

The buy one now get another later mentality might get the average n00b since you very well might have to flash one of the cards' bioses to get it to work right. SLI can have some difficulties to set up, but overall, it is a nice performance benefit.
 
kirbyrj said:
Dual core graphics cards = SLI on one card ;).

Anyway, another downside to SLI is the widescreen monitor issue. For whatever reason, it doesn't work right with widescreen monitors. Supposedly there will be a driver fix for it, but I haven't seen it yet.

The buy one now get another later mentality might get the average n00b since you very well might have to flash one of the cards' bioses to get it to work right. SLI can have some difficulties to set up, but overall, it is a nice performance benefit.
Click to expand...
It's already been fixed with 73.00 drivers i think
 
Its generally not wise to buy the first generation of anything (and no don't bring up 3dfx its different technology). In just a years time we will look back and laugh how Nvidia's sli only gave 50% improvement, had to be programmed for each game, and gave no IQ benefits outside of just speed. ATI will improve on all of these, and I'm sure Nvidia will with their next generation motherboards. Add to the fact there are no killer games to even play as of late, and your best option is a one card solution, be it the 850xt or 6800 ultra.
 
killerD said:
Its generally not wise to buy the first generation of anything (and no don't bring up 3dfx its different technology). In just a years time we will look back and laugh how Nvidia's sli only gave 50% improvement, had to be programmed for each game, and gave no IQ benefits outside of just speed. ATI will improve on all of these, and I'm sure Nvidia will with their next generation motherboards. Add to the fact there are no killer games to even play as of late, and your best option is a one card solution, be it the 850xt or 6800 ultra.
Click to expand...

SLI doesnt just give a 50% improvment, its more like 90%. Its almost completely CPU limited too.

I could lots of killer games, what you may mean is there's no killer games in the last month that stress the cards enough to jusitify going SLI unless you have the money to spend.
 
It's not necessarily expensive. I have 2 6600GTs coming in the mail. I am moving from one 6800GT AGP to PCI-E. Due to the price of the PCI-E cards compared to AGP, it is actually cheaper for me to buy 2 6600 GTs than a single PCI-E 6800GT. And when SLI performance of the 6600GTs is better, why not go down the SLI road?
 
Kickus_assius said:
It's not necessarily expensive. I have 2 6600GTs coming in the mail. I am moving from one 6800GT AGP to PCI-E. Due to the price of the PCI-E cards compared to AGP, it is actually cheaper for me to buy 2 6600 GTs than a single PCI-E 6800GT. And when SLI performance of the 6600GTs is better, why not go down the SLI road?
Click to expand...

Because when it comes time for the next generation those cards will sell for basically nothing, leaving me with little at all to go forward. Also, it leaves me with basically no upgrade route at all.
 
Cruithne said:
i know this is wishful thinking, but i think mismatching cards would be excellent - sort of dynamically distribute load, and use the lowest common denominator architecture points - such as using a dx 10 part with a dx 9 part - both would become dx9 parts, etc.....

To me, THAT would really hit it home for multiprocessing of any kind, be it gpu, cpu, etc.
Click to expand...

I've never seen the point of this, as it's wasteful to balance speed. (i.e. the faster card is never performing to potential)
 
Skrying said:
SLI doesnt just give a 50% improvment, its more like 90%. Its almost completely CPU limited too.

I could lots of killer games, what you may mean is there's no killer games in the last month that stress the cards enough to jusitify going SLI unless you have the money to spend.
Click to expand...

Depends on the game/setting. Even a 50% improvement is nothing to laugh at though- the guy you're responding to needs to see my "Fox and the Grapes" link.

With Unreal2 reputedly giving your 90% performance benefit, and Prey, Quake4, and Wolf2 all based on the Doom3 engine, I think people will see the value of SLI over single card easily enough.
 
Banko said:
It's already been fixed with 73.00 drivers i think
Click to expand...

I've heard different things. Some say it is, some say it isn't :confused: . The latest officials from nvidia are still only 71.89.
 
Rollo said:
Depends on the game/setting. Even a 50% improvement is nothing to laugh at though- the guy you're responding to needs to see my "Fox and the Grapes" link.

With Unreal2 reputedly giving your 90% performance benefit, and Prey, Quake4, and Wolf2 all based on the Doom3 engine, I think people will see the value of SLI over single card easily enough.
Click to expand...

Not when the next gen graphics cards come out later this year and a single card solution touts the performance near or greater than the performance of two cards from the previous generation. And thats when Prey, Quake4, and Wolf2 will actually be on the shelves. ;)

Don't get me wrong if you have the money for SLi, than by all means I see no reason not too. But the mentatility of buying one now and buying one later down the road for a budget minded consumer just doesn't make any sense.
 
Suprnova04 said:
TRex, Rollo, revenant:

would you say there is a significant benefit from 1 gpu to SLI?
Click to expand...

Oh yes... I am very happy with it... I have a big 23" LCD and really like to play games at 1600x1200 because @ 1280 they looks a bit blocky, not bad, but I get really spoiled for the higher res and like to keep it there... I can now enable AA and AF and it still screams... Doom3 is an obvious one which it improved a lot... but Far Cry was the one which surprized me the most... rendering mode on "paradise", all other options on very high, except for water which has "ultra high" which I use... then AA 2x and AF 8x and it /still/ shreds through frames... I get 60fps avg with those settings... even with 4x AA it plays fine, but 2x is just a little more smooth in huge areas and it looks just as good, I think. I also run Pain Killer @ 6x AA and 16x AF and it rips... that's a fast paced game. lol.

so, for me it's great because running @ 1600x1200 is really where you see the greatest benefits of SLi, so I really enjoy it a lot... I think that's important to think about when you are planning a system... if you are going to be limited to 1280x1024 (or less) becuase of a monitor, then perhaps SLi is not a really smart move? Well, I know I have head some folks say they didn't notice too much difference while playing games at lower resolutions, and they were a little steamed, but I think a lot of those people were upgrading just for the sake of upgrading and were hoping for something magical to happen. lol. Well, as with any upgrade, it's good to ask yourself why you are doing it... sometimes. lol... anyways... staying OT here...

I do notice a big difference with SLi... it's great for high res gaming performance. As for hard numbers, I get about 4k more 3Dmark05 points and about 9k more 3Dmark03 points. So, it's not double performance, but it definitely a serious boost in performance. Like adding twin turbos to a car... or one 20g turbo. lol (sorry for all of you who hate car/computer analogies)
 
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