SLI Vs. Crossfire X

M

monkoosbob0

n00b
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
44
I'm planning on buying a new motherboard/ processor soon. I've decided on the Q9550, but the problem is that i can't decide whether to get an Nvidia board or an Intel board. I'm not quite sure if this belongs in the Video thread, but what it really comes down to is whether i should go with SLI or Crossfire.
I can't really afford a monster system with 3 GTX280's or dual 4870X2's, so i would probably have just one 260GTX or HD 4870, and then when my bank account recovers, buy another one.
Please share your opinion.
Thank you in advance. :)
 
evga 750i ftw is a good sli board. As far as sli or xfire - what video cards have you used lately?
 
monkoosbob0 said:
So, in your opinion, SLI > Crossfire?
Click to expand...

I've never used xfire but I had a 3450 or something like that - it was not a pleasant experience. Built 750i and 790i ftw's no issues, sli gtx 280 on the 790i. (let me put my crap helmet on first, there.) .. Works great.
 
My friend built a system on a really tight budget. His plan was to buy an 8600gt at first and then later buy another one. Well, he got the money, and then the card, and after installing it he benched it, and it performed worse across the board in SLI. I understand that he was using shitty cards, i just wanted to make it clear that i'm not entirely trusting of SLI.
 
SLI works and works well for a specific set of games, mostly the major FPS. If that's not your scene, you may not need xfire or sli. Ya, 8600GT isn't the ideal solution but 280/260 will run just fine. You can go with xfire - but I cannot recommend what I haven't tried myself.
 
i own both sli and crossfire machines and i can say that both multi gpu platforms perform similarly. the first thing you need to understand that multi gpu is no substitute for a single powerful card. you're making a mistake if you expect to get linear performance increases when you add the second or third card. sometimes drivers don't appear in time for new game releases and you will see zero or negative performance gains. if that is something you can live with, then i welcome you to the world of multi gpu gaming. the last thing these forums need are more threads created by disgruntled users who don't like what they paid for and cry about how multi gpu is pyramid scheme.
 
Okay thanks, and i wouldn't have "cr[ied] about how multi gpu is a pyramid scheme." becuase i understand that the best you can expect from a multi gpu setup is at least mild performance gains. The only reason i brought up my friend is because he's the only person i know who's tried SLI, and he ended up pissed.
 
i prefer crossfire..... but if you're a crysis hog then you're gonna want to go SLI as it runs better with nvidia cards.
 
SLI with top end cards is a great idea... with anything less, a horrible idea. Same deal with CrossfireX, though I have been far less impressed with scaling in CrossfireX than SLI, with the notable exception of COD4 and Source based games -- CrossfireX scaling in those titles is damn near perfect, as in 100% boost from a second card, 50% boost from that from the third. It's beautiful, it just never happens outside of those titles, and sadly those titles work great with a /single/ card, so it's pointless.

Never buy the first card, then a second later on. You're almost always better off selling the first card and buying a faster, more recent single card to replace it.

Sadly, while I do think SLI is superior (only due to ATI's apparent inability to make a driver worth anything) it means, at least on an LGA775 platform, that you have to deal with Nvidia chipsets. If the EVGA 750i FTW motherboard has your needs covered (limited to 4 SATA ports, single NIC) I'd go with it because it is much less expensive and does not use DDR3 RAM (much more expensive, zero performance gain on LGA775 platform). If it does not meet your needs, pretty much any board based on the 790i / 790i Ultra chipset will work well, but will cost considerably more. Outside of the 750i and 790i... stay away. 680i, 650i, 780i, they all have serious potential issues. You really don't want to play the game, trust me.


All of this said... what resolution are you running at? At 1920x1200 a single GTX 280 will handle just about anything, with 2-4X AA, 16X AF, with the exception of GTAIV and Crysis which are both unoptimized and not all that much fun anyway. At 1650x1080, a GTX 260 or single 4870 1GB would be plenty.

Oh -- and the 8400/8500/8600 series were utter trash. They didn't even deserve to be called "gaming" cards. Don't judge multi-GPU performance based on them.
 
alg7_munif said:
Intel Chipset >>>>>> nVidia Chipset.
Click to expand...

Truth. Undeniable truth; having gone through a number of 680i and 780i based boards, I knwo firsthand. Meanwhile my friends are all still running P35 based boards quite happily, no problems of any kind. Unfortunately SLI > CrossfireX due to poor driver support. Luckily you can get away with a single card up to 1920x1200 anymore. I wish this'd been the case when I built, but one 8800 GTX wasn't quite enough. Granted, I am more demanding than most.
 
silent-circuit said:
Truth. Undeniable truth; having gone through a number of 680i and 780i based boards, I knwo firsthand. Meanwhile my friends are all still running P35 based boards quite happily, no problems of any kind. Unfortunately SLI > CrossfireX due to poor driver support. Luckily you can get away with a single card up to 1920x1200 anymore. I wish this'd been the case when I built, but one 8800 GTX wasn't quite enough. Granted, I am more demanding than most.
Click to expand...

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/reviews.html?cat=MyxHUFUgLyBWaWRlbyBDYXJkcyxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLA==

Btw there is no solid evidence that shows a driver from any company is better than the other.
 
alg7_munif said:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/reviews.html?cat=MyxHUFUgLyBWaWRlbyBDYXJkcyxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLA==

Btw there is no solid evidence that shows a driver from any company is better than the other.
Click to expand...

The long stream of ATI cards I've owned prior to the 8800 GTXs and those my friends now own is conclusive enough for me. (Rage 3D Pro, Radeon 64MB DDR, Radeon 9700 Pro, Radeon X800 XT all mine, Radeon 9200, Radeon 9800 SE, Radeon 9800 Pro, Radeon 3850, Radeon 4850 my friends)

So many people seem to believe I just make this stuff up on a whim or something.
 
silent-circuit said:
All of this said... what resolution are you running at? At 1920x1200 a single GTX 280 will handle just about anything, with 2-4X AA, 16X AF, with the exception of GTAIV and Crysis which are both unoptimized and not all that much fun anyway. At 1650x1080, a GTX 260 or single 4870 1GB would be plenty.
Click to expand...

I have a 21" crt, so i run most of games at 1600*1200

Right now I'm running a Gigabyte P35 board and it's treating me just fine (with the exception of my running out of SATA ports), I was just feeling envious of all the three and four pci-e mobos out there.
 
monkoosbob0 said:
I have a 21" crt, so i run most of games at 1600*1200

Right now I'm running a Gigabyte P35 board and it's treating me just fine (with the exception of my running out of SATA ports), I was just feeling envious of all the three and four pci-e mobos out there.
Click to expand...

Get a GTX 280 and don't look back. It will /destroy/ at 1600x1200, and you'll be able to run 4X+ AA in just about everything. If you need more SATA ports pick up a new P45 board as well. Trust me, after owning a P35 based board you do /not/ want to deal with all the potential bullshit involved with mutl-GPU and Nvidia chipsets.
 
You can continue the thread but i have the hit the sack, i was just waiting for ophcrack to finish downloading. Thank you all for the enlightening discussion.
 
silent-circuit said:
Get a GTX 280 and don't look back. It will /destroy/ at 1600x1200, and you'll be able to run 4X+ AA in just about everything. If you need more SATA ports pick up a new P45 board as well. Trust me, after owning a P35 based board you do /not/ want to deal with all the potential bullshit involved with mutl-GPU and Nvidia chipsets.
Click to expand...

Okay thank you very much, i will probably be able to afford the nicer card with the money i would be saving on the cheaper board.
 
If you look around here I'm sure that you will also find people who are having problems with their nVidia driver, there are also people who don't have any problem with ATI driver around here. There is no solid evidence that shows which driver is superior than the other. Both companies have their own problems with their driver. Don't let the "driver sucks" FUD affect your decision.

With that said, If you have the money, I would suggest you to get this 2GB HD 4850 X2 for only $280 After rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102809


This is a review of the card:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/sapphire_radeon_4850_x2_review/

It blows the GTX 280 out of the window in term of performance with a cheaper price.
 
I have the 780i in my sig, and I'm happy with it. I have had zero mobo problems.

I would highly suggest going with a single card. 2 weaker cards really have problems with minimum frame rates. I would also recommend an Nvidia card as they tend to have higher minimum frame rates, which is what is important to me. If you want higher high frame rates, I'd suggest ATI.

As far as price/preformance ratios go, look for a GTX 260. They have been around 200ish. Which is a hell of a steal for the power your going to get.

Don't go for the 280, it's not a price/preformance card. It's the fastest single GPU card on the market and it's priced as such. If someone starts talking about the 280 and it's "price/preformance" they're probably just being a fanboy of one graphics card maker or another.
 
alg7_munif said:
Intel Chipset >>>>>> nVidia Chipset.
Click to expand...

Pretty much ended the thread right here.

Had some pretty bad (and some good) experiences with Nvidia chipsets, and I've had like 0 issues with my x38 Asus Maximus Formula (Flashed to Rampage bios). I'm running 2 4870 1GB cards and so far everything I play can run at the highest Edge-Detect AA settings + Supersampled TRAA :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top