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SLI really worth it?

post #1 of 33
3/29/07 at 7:49pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys/gals first time poster in a bit of a dilemma,

I plan on getting a m9700 AW notebook at the bare minimun; around $1800 (I'm poor lol). I am really interested in Vista and wanted to know if SLI was really worth $300 + a couple more months of waiting (again I'm poor) and no Vista?

Any posts appreciated
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post #2 of 33
3/29/07 at 8:07pm
u can buy it now, and upgrade down the road
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post #3 of 33
3/29/07 at 8:07pm
Why no vista? All alienwares include vista. I don't think SLI really worth it but if you are not in need of your computer now, you might want to wait until this summer. The Gefroce 8 and Radeon X2K will be out and a geforce 8800GTX is stronger than a 7900GTX SLI, on direct x9. The GF8 aren't more expensive than the GF7 are now. When they released the 8800 for deskot, the GF 7900 dropped to $300 and the GF8 took the $600 so it won't change the price. The radeon X2600pro and the GF8600 should do the job for at least 2 years and offer full HDR + 16xAA
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post #4 of 33
3/29/07 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks War and Thor,
And to reply to war It's not that I wouldn't get Vista it's just that it doesn't support SLI, so it was Vista or SLI and $300 more dollars. Thanks for the tip and I cna't wait to see what goodies Vista holds. HOpefully get a review up when I get my precious notebook thnx again.
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post #5 of 33
3/30/07 at 12:00am
With the m9700 you are able to upgrade the gpu to an SLI configuration at a later date and I think the cost for a second 256mb card has been currently going for $230 from Alienware. It would do you best to at least get the 2.2ghz processor if you are able to spend a few extra dollars as this will help the transition to dual cards if you so choose in the future. The only problem facing the m9700 right now is the fact that the m9750 is going to be released quite soon and that comes configured with an intel C2D processor which really puts the smack down on AMD's cpu's. Also you will be able to get it with a single 7950gtx card which is close to the SLI 7900 GS setup. Don't know the exact price right now but if the base price is near $2,000 as Alienware has said they want to make it then it will be well worth waiting another month or so just for the processor choice and GPU upgradeability.

My 2 cents and they are actually only worth 1/10th of 1/100th of a dollar.
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post #6 of 33
3/30/07 at 4:58am
Is SLI worth it?

My configuration with a single card would have been about $3500. For $3900 or so, SLI added 50% + more performance in games (framerates). I'd say it's worth it.
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post #7 of 33
4/5/07 at 1:16pm
Wait for the m9750 and get one card, then upgrade later. A single 7950gtx should ~equally perform with 2x7900GS in SLI. That way you'll have C2Duo and can upgrade later on to 2x7950gtx for the SLI. That being said, I'm not sure how easily you could get a "cheap" configuration of the m9750. It certainly could not be done for your spending limit.

Honestly, I pretty much point all the "bargain shoppers" to buying a Dell e1705 off ebay. You can get a maxed configuration for under your price with 3 yr warranty and with a simple bios hack can upgrade the video card. Just an idea. I hate to see people shoot themselves in the foot with a system config on a system they can't truly afford. Otherwise, just save up a few more months for the m9750.

Also, look into the m5790 if you really want an Alienware. I think the prices just went down.
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post #8 of 33
4/5/07 at 8:06pm
Currently the base configuration for the m9750 is a steal in comparison to last year when the m9700 was released. I sit here and do a double take given that the standard card is a single 7950GTX that gives you near or equal performance to a dual gpu m9700 but you get the added benefit of the choice of c2d processors and cheaper HDD options. Also purchasing Ram afterwards is a bit cheaper than purchasing the DDR 400 ram for the m9700. You can get 2x1gb ram sticks for around $140 shipped where as the ram for the m9700 will cost you nearly $100 shipped for just 1x1gb stick.

Wait for the m9750 plain and simple. Use this time to save up some more money so you can at least upgrade the Processor to 2ghz or higher. So let's say you have a budget of $2500 this will get you the 2.0ghz with the single card (add second card later) and 1440x900 resolution with smallets HDD (upgrade later) with shipping included. That system alone will beat the pants off of last years $3,500 m9700.
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post #9 of 33
4/5/07 at 11:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
Is SLI worth it?

My configuration with a single card would have been about $3500. For $3900 or so, SLI added 50% + more performance in games (framerates). I'd say it's worth it.

This isn't true for games that use the source engine.

In a lot of cases your frame rate will actually drop.
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post #10 of 33
4/5/07 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem
This isn't true for games that use the source engine.

In a lot of cases your frame rate will actually drop.

Well yeah, but a single 7900gs is more than powerful enough for Source. I get the same fps with SLI or single card, with full settings at 1920 x 1200 the test gives me somewhere around 115 fps.

I see it drop down to 50 fps in office when outside sometimes, but most of the time it's pushing 100 fps.

Games need to be SLI capable to take advantage of SLI, Source is old, so it doesn't do so well.

Future games will be SLI compatible, or they'll die...
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post #11 of 33
4/6/07 at 12:18am
well more of reason why you get a FPS drop is because source is optimized for Ati cards
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post #12 of 33
4/6/07 at 1:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem
well more of reason why you get a FPS drop is because source is optimized for Ati cards

Another reason the source engine is dead in the water...
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post #13 of 33
4/6/07 at 10:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
Another reason the source engine is dead in the water...

Oooo i wouln't be so sure about that.

Source is the most stable engine out of the top 10 most played multiplayer games... esp over BF2142 and BF...

not to mention there are serval games based on the source engine due out later in the year... Portal, TF2, HL:E2, Left 4 Dead....

The engine is almost three years old and dominates its competition
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post #14 of 33
4/6/07 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem
This isn't true for games that use the source engine. In a lot of cases your frame rate will actually drop.
Can you provide a benchmark or link an article that supports this statement? I'd be very interested. Here is a set of benchmarks using 7800GT in SLI vs. a single 7800GT and there is not a single benchmark that I can see where the SLI doesn't significantly outperform the single card. I would imagine that any situation where this would not be the case would be a rare event. Or are you specifically referring to the 50%+ statement? In which case, does it really matter considering how easily these latest gen cards can render the Source engine? http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=195&page=1 The Source engine plays so well on a single 79XX card with maximum settings that it almost seems like a moot issue.
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post #15 of 33
4/6/07 at 7:43pm
I've seen minor improvements in fps with HL2 with AA, AF and HDR on, but mostly I play CSS, and the fps in the tests are nearly identical. I play at 1920 x 1200.

I hope with future source engine games, they improve SLI support as the games most of us play with the source engine at this point were not supported well with SLI unless you play with very high settings at very high resolutions, even then it's not a huge difference.

I've not seen the kind of results that article posted with my m9700, perhaps desktop cards are more robust when it comes to SLI.
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post #16 of 33
4/6/07 at 7:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem
Oooo i wouln't be so sure about that.

Source is the most stable engine out of the top 10 most played multiplayer games... esp over BF2142 and BF...

not to mention there are serval games based on the source engine due out later in the year... Portal, TF2, HL:E2, Left 4 Dead....

The engine is almost three years old and dominates its competition

It'll be history when crysis and UT2k7 are out.

Of course TF2, HL:E2 etc will be on source, but they're either remakes of old games, or complete rips. The "episodes" are short, have shitty gameplay, and cost too much IMO, at least so far. I wasn't impressed at all with episode 1, it was a real turd in terms of gameplay, graphics, and value for the dollar.

And Steam sucks butt.
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post #17 of 33
4/6/07 at 8:07pm
Damn, I loved EP1. I was amazed with the gameplay. EP2 and the TF2 inclusion is going to eat into my free time...

Steam does suck though. There's got to be some way they can speed up loading with those games. It seems like every week I have another "please wait while steam software is updating..." Bah. The only saving grace I've found is that I never have to worry about cd's or media with my steam games, but the whole interface and launching platform feels bloated. I think the concept is great, but they need some serious optimizations.
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post #18 of 33
4/7/07 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
It'll be history when crysis and UT2k7 are out.

Of course TF2, HL:E2 etc will be on source, but they're either remakes of old games, or complete rips. The "episodes" are short, have shitty gameplay, and cost too much IMO, at least so far. I wasn't impressed at all with episode 1, it was a real turd in terms of gameplay, graphics, and value for the dollar.

And Steam sucks butt.

Wow Hammer. I think this is the first I've ever disagreed with you.

The source engine will survive through these next two game releases you can count on it. Source will be around for along time. In fact, I am willing to be that UT3 and Crysis won't even pass WoW, CSS and BF2 for total time played on x-fire after the first month.

steam is the future btw
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post #19 of 33
4/7/07 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Groove75
Damn, I loved EP1. I was amazed with the gameplay. EP2 and the TF2 inclusion is going to eat into my free time...

Steam does suck though. There's got to be some way they can speed up loading with those games. It seems like every week I have another "please wait while steam software is updating..." Bah. The only saving grace I've found is that I never have to worry about cd's or media with my steam games, but the whole interface and launching platform feels bloated. I think the concept is great, but they need some serious optimizations.

I've never had a problem with steam other than updating.
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post #20 of 33
4/10/07 at 10:31pm
Err, just one thing about FPS (Frames per second, not first person shooter).. isn't any rate above 30 or so kinda useless, because the human eye can't register a difference as the rates go up?

SLI will still help keep your system fresh as new games come out, no question there, just wondering about why people brag about 120+ FPS rates when it really doesn't matter.
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