Arguing against SLI

[Regs]

Uhh, hello? The dual core boards like the Gigabyte board linked above are SLI on a board graphics cards, just like the Quantum 3D products from years ago. The SLI implementation isn't the same, but the concept is.

I must of been confused, but I think I get it now. So what you are saying is that using today's implementation of SLI (a combo of SFR and AFR determined by Nvidia engineers themselves)will make dual core SLI work properly?

 

[imported_Nacelle]

5) A proven failed technology of the past.

How can you say that? Voodoo2 sli was "THE" setup to have. If you didn't have one of their cards, you where a chump. Voodoo didn't go down the tubes untill after the move to AGP.

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: Nacelle

5) A proven failed technology of the past.

How can you say that? Voodoo2 sli was "THE" setup to have. If you didn't have one of their cards, you where a chump. Voodoo didn't go down the tubes untill after the move to AGP.

LOL, your statement only reinforces what you quoted.

 

[BenSkywalker]

LOL, your statement only reinforces what you quoted.

Why 3dfx's SLI failed was what they were trying to shovel down the throats of consumers was akin to nV coming out with a higher clocked FX part and putting that up against the R420(actually, what 3dfx did was worse then that as their part still couldn't even handle trilinear+multi-texturing which the competitors had had for multiple generations by that point). Instead what we have is the most feature complete board on the market offering SLI. Also, AGP itself was a major limiting factor of why IHVs moved away from SLI, not because the idea itself was bad. All of the top tier viz machines use multiple rasterizer elements working in tandem- much as all of the top tier computational machines use multiple processors.

Regs-

You just spent literally thousands of dollars for performance that not even your CRT monitor can handle

I would wager that at the highest AA and AF settings on a 6800Ultra SLI setup it couldn't maintain an average framerate faster then what my montior can handle running Quake3- and yes I mean to say Quake3- forget DooM3. The problem is we have very poor reviewers who are overwhelmingly non gamers and run POS LCD displays that can only handle the middling resolution of 1600x1200(at most, even saw a review so poor they stopped testing SLI setups @1280x1024). Anyone who is going to invest in a high end SLI setup is going to have a decent display.

while residing on a shaky upgrade path

This statement is at best moronic to an obscene level. You point out any x86 upgrade solution more flexible then SLI right now.

The reason why I say people only buy into SLI to "one-up" the others with single video card solutions is as as follows: I will be happy enough to be playing HL2 and D3 at 60-80 FPS 1600x1200 Max Details with some AA and AF while they go spend an extra 500+ dollars for extra FPS that cannot even be drawn on a CRT monitor.

Why not throw out the POS display you have and try pairing your setup with a proper montior and then maybe you will be able to understand why there are people who are interested in SLI?

 

[Blain]

Why do you want to slam SLI? Just don't build or buy it. :shocked:

 

[jvarszegi]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Current boards all have at least one X16 PCI-E slot. The slots are throttled down to x8 when dual cards are used, they are not x8 slots.

Right. My A8N-SLI has two x16 slots. At least one is used at 8x in SLI mode, I think-- I haven't hooked up SLI.

As a purchaser who's bought an SLI board, I (like figfiddle) will only be running one card for at least a while. I view the extra capability as a harmless add-on that may be useful sometime. I personally think that the recent dual-chip 6600GT is the start of something big, especially with die shrinks et al. on the horizon for graphics cards, which will make it more feasible with even better chips.

 

[Gothgar]

I am sticking with my one video card, and it will run better than any SLI system, because it is padded by the 500 dollars I saved

 

[JackBurton]

WTF is up with these poor man excuses not to go forward with SLI? Sh!t, I can't afford a Ferrari, but I'm DEFINITELY not going to try and dissuade anyone from buying one. Why? Because I'd LOVE to have one!

Let me reply to your weak ass arguements:
1) How is that not practical? Instead of one card, you now have two cards. What's the problem?

2) Start up Doom3 and set your visual setting to high quality, 4X AA and 1600x1200 and let me know if the CPU is still the bottleneck.

3) Expensive to maintain? How is that harder to maintain than a single video card?

4) How will better cards make SLI obsolete? You can't SLI the new cards?

5) Yeah, the Voodoo2 cards were failures. :roll:

6) WTF is up with this "upkeep" crap? What exactly are you doing? And why will it be harder to sell? You can't sell the parts individually?

These are the WORST arguements I've seen and come off like someone that can't afford it, so they just make excuses why not to buy.

You want to hear the unbiased negatives of SLI? Here you go:
1) Expensive
2) NVidia may need to iron out some bugs in their drivers

That's all I can come up with.

 

[Regs]

You want to hear the unbiased negatives of SLI? Here you go:
1) Expensive
2) NVidia may need to iron out some bugs in their drivers

That's all I can come up with.

That's a poor man's excuse. As you call it. The same excuse many chipset manufactures will use to dump it if it does not sell for a profit gain.

 

[Regs]

Why not throw out the POS display you have and try pairing your setup with a proper montior and then maybe you will be able to understand why there are people who are interested in SLI?

This is an arbitrary statement.

You point out any x86 upgrade solution more flexible then SLI right now.

Difference - My A64 was 150 dollars and was a lot more available than a 6800 Ultra. A video card these days are just smaller versions of your entire computer in one slot.

And since you've been in my room to benchmark my computer on D3 and HL2, I suppose you are right. My computer comes to a crawl at those games at 16x12.


My theory in technology is that its actually suppose to take up lesser space and use less mass in the future. Especially if you apply this to a desk top computer. Memory modules increasing in density and size, other than using up over 2 slots. CPU die's are shrinking. 2 CPU cores on one die. Even some motherboard manufactures are supplying only two or three PCI slots. Onboard Sata, onboard LAN, onboard Sound. The list goes on, and this is only in a short time span. It's almost an absolute if you follow the time line.

SLI is going to be an ugly duckling in the year to come.

 

[Edward Lee]

If it was so great where has SLI been?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: Edward Lee
If it was so great where has SLI been?

Waiting for PCIe

 

[Zebo]

I believe gigabyte has a dual 6800 GPU card...watch for it..

Most of us will opt for dual ultra card with single PCIe.

 

[element]

I will be sticking to the 1 video card solutions because if you look back 2 years ago i for example, got a geforce 4 4200 for my athlon 2400+ rig. Now imagine if that 4200 were sli capable. Would i invest in another 4200 today to double the performance? No, I'd want a newer direct x 9 card, not 2 direct x 8 cards.

I just think 2 years from now all these cards will be obsolete and you just spent ~$75 extra for nothing.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I believe gigabyte has a dual 6800 GPU card...watch for it..

Most of us will opt for dual ultra card with single PCIe.

Fvck nV, ATI's multi-GPU scheme allowing different GPUs without a bridge is going to hopefully thrash SLI in sales :evil: Yeah I'm still bitter about the PVP debacle

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Regs

You want to hear the unbiased negatives of SLI? Here you go:
1) Expensive
2) NVidia may need to iron out some bugs in their drivers

That's all I can come up with.

That's a poor man's excuse. As you call it. The same excuse many chipset manufactures will use to dump it if it does not sell for a profit gain.

No, a poor man's excuse is more like this...It's too expensive and not worth it (even though big performance gains have been shown using SLI (6800GT/Ultra)). It may not be worth it to some using a monitor only capable of displaying 1024x768 resolution, but to others with better monitors and a fatter wallet, SLI is definitely worth it. I define a "poor man's excuse" as ruling out a product solely by its high cost. SLI IS expensive, but that shouldn't rule it out for the people that can afford it. I'm sure if you asked a Ferrari owner if his car was expensive, he'd say, "hell yeah, but I love it." Well, that's what I'd say at least.

 

[Regs]

I will not argue that SLI offers considerable amount of performance to any user willing to shell out the cash. Couldn't agree more. I guess I should of stated that earlier as it seems I tend to lack a thesis in any of my posts.

My argument is if SLI will be a viable upgrade solution.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Regs
I will not argue that SLI offers considerable amount of performance to any user willing to shell out the cash. Couldn't agree more. I guess I should of stated that earlier as it seems I tend to lack a thesis in any of my posts.

My argument is if SLI will be a viable upgrade solution.

Viable? perhaps, but unless they are able to handily outperform ATis' tech and offer the diverse configs such as supporting different GPUs together in multi-mode without a bridge I know which I will embrace.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Regs
My theory in technology is that its actually suppose to take up lesser space and use less mass in the future. Especially if you apply this to a desk top computer. Memory modules increasing in density and size, other than using up over 2 slots. CPU die's are shrinking. 2 CPU cores on one die. Even some motherboard manufactures are supplying only two or three PCI slots. Onboard Sata, onboard LAN, onboard Sound. The list goes on, and this is only in a short time span. It's almost an absolute if you follow the time line.

SLI is going to be an ugly duckling in the year to come.

Yeah, I heard dual and quad CPUs are the ugly ducklings of the server world.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Regs
I will not argue that SLI offers considerable amount of performance to any user willing to shell out the cash. Couldn't agree more. I guess I should of stated that earlier as it seems I tend to lack a thesis in any of my posts.

My argument is if SLI will be a viable upgrade solution.

I agree with you, I'm not big on the "upgrade" solution either. But I wouldn't rule it out for people that want that option in the future.

 

[Twigstir]

Advantages of SLI

* you can run one or two graphics cards (your choice)
* ATI's upcoming "SLI" solution states that you can run two different graphics cards (more choices) Nvidia might follow

- With SLI you can buy one video card now and have more choices when the next gen video card comes out. Replace the card if the performance really increases or buy a second, now cheaper, video card if performance gains don't out way replacing the one card.

- with no "same card" requirments your future choices are even greater. Instead of replacing that one card, you could add the next gen card on top of it for an even greater performance boost.

SLI gives you choices. You have all the same things as a one card system just more capability. The extra money on an SLI mother board gives you a lot more flexibility. You can run SLI boards as a one card solution or a two.

The only real cost difference is the mother board. All other costs are optional. SLI just makes those optional costs more flexible.

 

[Edward Lee]

Originally posted by: Twigstir
Advantages of SLI

* you can run one or two graphics cards (your choice)
* ATI's upcoming "SLI" solution states that you can run two different graphics cards (more choices) Nvidia might follow

- With SLI you can buy one video card now and have more choices when the next gen video card comes out. Replace the card if the performance really increases or buy a second, now cheaper, video card if performance gains don't out way replacing the one card.

- with no "same card" requirments your future choices are even greater. Instead of replacing that one card, you could add the next gen card on top of it for an even greater performance boost.

SLI gives you choices. You have all the same things as a one card system just more capability. The extra money on an SLI mother board gives you a lot more flexibility.

How is running two graphics cards an advantage?

No "Same Card" requirements.... We're not talking about future tech. What has the current tech have to offer?

I can talk about future tech all day and night. What about dual core processors? What about this what about that? Stick with the facts and don't speculate.

 

[deveraux]

Originally posted by: element
I will be sticking to the 1 video card solutions because if you look back 2 years ago i for example, got a geforce 4 4200 for my athlon 2400+ rig. Now imagine if that 4200 were sli capable. Would i invest in another 4200 today to double the performance? No, I'd want a newer direct x 9 card, not 2 direct x 8 cards.

I just think 2 years from now all these cards will be obsolete and you just spent ~$75 extra for nothing.

This in my opinion, is probably one of the better argument points in this whole thread. However, I'd have to disagree as the release of DirectX 8 and 9 were sort of "special" cases. No other DirectX release in history had as much impact on gaming as these two did. They were also badly timed as it was only 2 generations (1 year) away from each other, which added on the frustrations. And from what I know, there's not really another big release scheduled for DirectX, at least not until Longhorn (remember reading that somewhere).

And about SLIs, well, all I can say is that it is no more than an option. An option, that if memory serves, was meant for upgradeability, and not so much for dual GPUs for insane levels of performance (although it is there for those who want to shell the cash for it). I don't see why the hostility toward SLI, I mean, don't use it if you don't like the idea or think that nVidia is trying to cheat you.

element, if you want more perspective, a better comparison (excluding DirectX updates), would be say, running two GeForce FX 5900's either now, or say by next generation. Those cards are about a year ago and a half ago which can now be had for around $200 and judging from the performance of just one of these and extrapolating for dual GPU, you'd have the performance of at the very least a GeForce 6800 GT. Yes, you initially forked out $400 for the first GeForce FX 5900, but isn't forking out $200 now better than forking another $400 for the new GeForce 6800 GT?

My two cents.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: Regs
My theory in technology is that its actually suppose to take up lesser space and use less mass in the future. Especially if you apply this to a desk top computer. Memory modules increasing in density and size, other than using up over 2 slots. CPU die's are shrinking. 2 CPU cores on one die. Even some motherboard manufactures are supplying only two or three PCI slots. Onboard Sata, onboard LAN, onboard Sound. The list goes on, and this is only in a short time span. It's almost an absolute if you follow the time line.

SLI is going to be an ugly duckling in the year to come.

Yeah, I heard dual and quad CPUs are the ugly ducklings of the server world.

However I still don't see many here playing games with server towers. And the server world highly appreciates only using one tower, than using 4 towers to get the same demandable performance which they require to run a functional server.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Edward Lee

Originally posted by: Twigstir
Advantages of SLI

* you can run one or two graphics cards (your choice)
* ATI's upcoming "SLI" solution states that you can run two different graphics cards (more choices) Nvidia might follow

- With SLI you can buy one video card now and have more choices when the next gen video card comes out. Replace the card if the performance really increases or buy a second, now cheaper, video card if performance gains don't out way replacing the one card.

- with no "same card" requirments your future choices are even greater. Instead of replacing that one card, you could add the next gen card on top of it for an even greater performance boost.

SLI gives you choices. You have all the same things as a one card system just more capability. The extra money on an SLI mother board gives you a lot more flexibility.

How is running two graphics cards an advantage?

You just didn't ask that, did you?

Now I'm just going out on a limb here but, higher resolution with all visual settings maxed?