Should I go SLI?

M

Mongose101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
465
I am running the system in my signature, I am going to be passing down my 22in monitor to my son and replacing it with a LG W2452T-TF Black 24" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor for myself.

In stepping up in resolution from 1680x1050 to 1920x1200, I am wondering if I should get another GTX 260 at the same time or would i be better off getting a GTX 280 and running a single card?

Right now the games I am playing most are Wow, The Witcher and Crysis. But I would also like to continue running games at the same settings I am now.

So any advice from others with a 24in monitor would be helpfull.
 
If cost is an issue, just go for a second 260. For 1920 x 1200, you would be rock solid as two 260's are faster than one 280...

If money is no issue, I think we are just 15 to 20 days or so from a GTX 280+, and/or a 280 GX2 type card, mabey called the GTX 300? (The 300 might be longer before release?) I would want to give thoes a look, and take the price drop. I could be wrong too. Just a hunch. :)
 
Each 260 requires two 6 pin PCI-E connectors meaning you will need a total of four connectors. Your PSU only has two. Looks like you will have to go with the 280 unless you want to spend more on a PSU. If upgrading the PSU is not a problem, then if it was me, I would go with the two 260 in SLI. I had a 9800 GX2 and thought SLI worked well.
 
your games will be fine with a single card, Crysis of course could use a 2nd card
 
mbmadness said:
Each 260 requires two 6 pin PCI-E connectors meaning you will need a total of four connectors. Your PSU only has two. Looks like you will have to go with the 280 unless you want to spend more on a PSU. If upgrading the PSU is not a problem, then if it was me, I would go with the two 260 in SLI. I had a 9800 GX2 and thought SLI worked well.
Click to expand...

Good call...
 
I think I will also replace the PSU and go with 2 GTX 260s. Would anyone like to recommend a good modular PSU?
 
you do once you get into higher resolutions and like your eye candy, but yes, most all games dont scale %100, i think some places have said upto %80 at most...
 
Mongose101 said:
I think I will also replace the PSU and go with 2 GTX 260s. Would anyone like to recommend a good modular PSU?
Click to expand...

Antec Signature Series are great modular PSU's. I recently found myself in a similar situation, having moved from a 22 to 24 inch monitor, the difference is I had one gtx280 as opposed to your GTX260. I found that the 280 was not adequate for my gaming preferences so I added a second in SLI. Now it runs fantastic. Crysis runs very smoothly with everything on high.
 
Mongose101 said:
I think I will also replace the PSU and go with 2 GTX 260s. Would anyone like to recommend a good modular PSU?
Click to expand...

I love my ThermalTake Toughpower 1000w Modular PSU! I do think it is made for running dual video cards, but not tri. Back when JonnyGURU was big into testing PSU's, I first found out about the Toughpower units. They indeed do handle torture tests well. Jonny did do the best PSU reviews on the net...

Here is JonnyGURU's review of the W0155RU (fixed cable version). There is an identical modular version, or "CableManagement" version, with the part number W0132RU that is the one I own. http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=53

Toughpower 1000W
+3.3V - 30A
+5V - 30A
+12V1 - 20A
+12V3 - 36A
+12V2 - 20A
+12V4 - 36A
-12V - 0.8A
+5VSB - 3.5A

The thing that I like to stress is that the V3 and V4 rails that are made to power your video cards, are a whopping 36 Amps each. That is a true 36A for each GPU, not shared.

A GTX 280 can only use about 17A Max, so powering one off of your V3 or V4 rail is no issue at all!!

If running two GPU's is enouigh for you, this PSU will keep you happy for sure...

Some other good reviews of this PSU:
http://www.dvhardware.net/review118_toughpower_1000w.html

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/ToughPower/W0132/w0132.asp

Here is the Official EVGA PSU thread: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=61082&mpage=1&key=
It may help you decide too... ;)
 
TalonMan said:
I also love my ThermalTake Toughpower 1000w Modular PSU! I do think it is made for running dual video cards, but not tri. Back when JonnyGURU was big into testing PSU's, I first found out about the Toughpower units. They indeed do handle torture tests well. Jonny did do the best PSU reviews on the net...

Here is JonnyGURU's review of the W0155RU (fixed cable version). There is an identical modular version, or "CableManagement" version, with the part number W0132RU that is the one I own. http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=53

Toughpower 1000W
+3.3V - 30A
+5V - 30A
+12V1 - 20A
+12V3 - 36A
+12V2 - 20A
+12V4 - 36A
-12V - 0.8A
+5VSB - 3.5A

The thing that I like to stress is that the V3 and V4 rails that are made to power your video cards, are a whopping 36 Amps each. That is a true 36A for each GPU, not shared.

A GTX 280 can only use about 17A Max, so powering one off of your V3 or V4 rail is no issue at all!!

If running two GPU's is enouigh for you, this PSU will keep you happy for sure...

Some other good reviews of this PSU:
http://www.dvhardware.net/review118_toughpower_1000w.html

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/ToughPower/W0132/w0132.asp

Here is the Official EVGA PSU thread: http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=61082&mpage=1&key=
It may help you decide too... ;)
Click to expand...

I agree, the TT Toughpower PSU's are awesome, I love my 1200w unit
 
I looked around and I think I am going to go with the ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W and another GTX 260. Looked at the 280 FTW card as well but in the end decided to go SLI because I have not tried it yet and would like to. It will be a couple weeks before I have the money together, but I am looking forward to it.

Thanks for all the help,

Mongoose
 
gtx 260 works great at 1920x1200 even in crysis. You will also find that you do not need 4xAA+ when running at that higher resolution.
I can run crysis with everything on high except for pp and shadows. COD4 everything at max with v-sync. Looks perfect. Yes SLi and X-fire will give you more performance, but you will have to deal with crappy Nvidia chipset and by the time you spend all that money on Sli there will be a better cheaper single card solution out :)

Alas, I have tried Sli/Cf on several occasions ... I guess it's like the red button that says do not push :)
 
K1tty said:
You will also find that you do not need 4xAA+ when running at that higher resolution.
Click to expand...

I really wish that were true. You get spoiled so quickly, I thought I was happy running COD4 with 4xAA at 1920x1080 but once I ran it at 12xAA with a 4870x2 I have trouble going back. The difference is immediately noticeable, everything simply feels more cinematic. I may just be an AA junky, but once you see it it's difficult to do without.

I think you'll be happy with your decision and the dual 260's. Let us know how it turns out.
 
gmkmay said:
I really wish that were true. You get spoiled so quickly, I thought I was happy running COD4 with 4xAA at 1920x1080 but once I ran it at 12xAA with a 4870x2 I have trouble going back. The difference is immediately noticeable, everything simply feels more cinematic. I may just be an AA junky, but once you see it it's difficult to do without.

I think you'll be happy with your decision and the dual 260's. Let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

Agreed. You should see the Devil May Cry 4 game at 2560 x 1600 and 16xQXAA and 16xAF.
 
Thought I would update you all on what I did in the end.

I bought:

ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W PSU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz (hope to get overclocked to 3.8+Ghz)
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280
BenQ V2400W Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor

I had ordered the Acer P243WAid but after reading more about it, i desided to give it to my son, who will have to live with my GTX 260 running it.. poor kid. I got the BenQ for myself.

All my parts should be here the 14th.
 
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