What SLI setup would better a GXT295 for frame rates? According to the bit tech the GTX260 in SLI does come quite close to the GTX295, but was those the standard card? And would two over clocked GTX260's would better the frame rates of a single GTX295 at a cheaper price than a GTX295?
Yep two GTX260 55nm versions with a small overclock will out perform a GTX295. However, unless you've got an X58 motherboard which supports SLI, then forget it. Nvidia chipsets based on intel 775 plate form all suck, with stability problems from the get go. Of course a single GTX260 or GTX280/285 is still a very powerful card on its own, SLI dosen't really offer that much of an increase unless your powering a 30in screen, with games maxed out.
what about running SLI with a 24 inch monitor? I'm assuming SLI increases resolution? Why does it do that?
SLi can enable you run at a higher res than usual whilst gaming. I guess it would do it automatically if you go for 'Auto Detect Best Settings' in your game settings. Obviously, you can only go as high as the native res (24" = 1920x1200). I prefer to stick to the native res then tone down the settings if necessary.
Is SLI worth it over a single card is the price of two is cheaper than a better single card worth more, if it provides the same if not better frame rates? As ive read not all games support SLI, I don't know if thats changed now, if games are being developed to support SLI and take advantage of a second GPU?
No. In the long run, it'll cost more in electricity to power two cards. You'd be better off going for a non-sli setup so you don't run into compatibility issues, together with it being cheaper to run. I have a single GTX260/216core and it runs all games at 1920x1200 fine at high settings (apart from Crysis, natch).
Crysis is just a fat pig of a game anyway. You'll also find that stock GTX2xx series cards are massively underclocked. My GTX280 runs everything at 1920x1200, with only a small slow down on a crysis demo i played averaging 22fps for me. GTA4 is a bit intensive, but really benefit with a fast quad and lots of memory rather than anything graphical related. Another vote for a single GTX260 55nm version, i regret the purchase of my GTX280 as the same performance can be had with an overclocked 260 for much less cash.
Would you mind sharing what you plan on doing? ie: gaming or rendering? a sli set up doesn't change your resolution, you manually change your resolution, a sli set up would just allow you to run at a higher FPS with less lag IMO sli is more expensive, the mobo, psu and cards cost more and will likely be less future proof than buying one more expensive card. I hope you have good luck finding a card and a little more info would help clarify!
It does if you go into a game and hit 'auto detect best settings' - very often, if the gfx card isn't the latest, the game will favour leaving the pretties turned on but running at a lower res (or so I've found, anyway).
I mainly want to use it for games that are intensive like crysis or flight simulators. Is there a card on the market that is overclocked quicker than GTX295 at a cheaper price?
The 4870X2 isn't quite as fast as the GTX 295, but its only notieceable in Crysis at a 2560x1600 or 1920x1200 with 8xAA. Since its a lot cheaper its a pretty good buy still
The GTX 275 seems to be in the right area for you. And I'm sure 2 OC'es GTX 260s or 2 OC'ed HD4890s would best the GTX 295.
Hmm... maybe a long shot, but if you can find a game that scales well with crossfire, then a quad x-fire 2x 4850X2 setup might outdo a GTX 295... It would work out to all of about $30 cheaper as well... Not worth it. Laz
