Multi-GPU - have you invested in it? How many cards are you prepared to buy?

People have previously bought 2/3/4 Voodoo cards for SLI, so why not the same from ATI and NV? Have you bought into Multi-GPU and how many cards are you prepared to buy to string together?

 

I bought an additional second hand 6600gt to tide me though the 7 series and have now gone back to one 8800gts will probably get a second when they get cheap on ebay to last through the next gen gfx cards.

 

No. One card is powerful enough for most screen sizes. When that one card gets slow, then its time to ditch it and get a new one rather than get another identical card.

That way, you get the increased speed and a better feature set. Unless you have a massive screen and buy both cards at the same time, SLI/Crossfire is a waste of money IMO.

 

It all depends on the price ratio - if you can get better performance from 2 cards than 1, at a lower cost, why not?

 

SLI/CROSSFIRE is not for those who want a good price ratio or to double their frame rates.
it's for those who want to pay a premium to increase their FPS by about 40% at best,so it's a premium product for uber fast games fanatics or those who have money to throw away.

I reckon the new Tri-SLI adopters will be in the same boat,as we are told that 2 cards for SLI and a 3rd card for physics.

p.s. I am one of the ones who throws money at Multi-GPU setups

 

QFT.

 

I'm more willing to pay to get a old card and than add in a new card, that way I can the best of both worlds, better backwards compatibility for old, higher resolution in new games

 

Been using multi GPU for a long time now, started with a Gforce 4600ti + 420mx card for tri head, then moved up to Geforce 7800ultra with a pci 6200LE when I went for quad display.
At present I use my 8800gtx with a 6200LE for quad screens, though I find the 6200LE rather lacking now, and going to get another 8800 card, just wondering if I should get a 8800gt or a 8800gtx as witht he gtx I could if I wanted have the option for SLI.

 

Own SLI set of 8800GTS 320s, just purchased Sunday a Quad SLi board, will do my damndest to fill it. Mostly for the "look at my ****ing awesome watercooled quad SLI rig in my handbuilt case" and try to win some competitions...

And e-peen isn't one of them. I got all that I want when I open my parts closet.

 

The only thing I'd condiser are 2 mid-end cards, like 2x 8800 GT's or mabey even 2x X1950 Pro's..

 

I bought a 7900GT in late 2006 and stuck with that for a while, but then foolishly bought another 7900GT for SLI in January 2007.

Performance is good in most games, but SLI as an upgrade path is a false economy - I found that out the hard way.

I would have been better off waiting a few more weeks (had I known) and buying an 8800GTS 320, keeping the 7900GT to drive my 2nd monitor.

The saddest part is that I have an 8800GT on order right now (waiting for stock, naturally) and the idea of using SLI as an upgrade path again has crossed my mind.
(Tempted to cancel the 8800GT order and wait for the revised 8800GTS, but all I can see is unconfirmed rumours regarding those so it's a difficult decision.)


My advice to anyone considering SLI as an upgrade path is to think twice and strongly about it, because for me it was a false economy, and I'm certainly not the only one who has had that experience.

One thing I can never understand is the people who go buying 2 midrange cards for SLI at the time of release. People who bought two 8800GTS 320 cards instead of one GTX must be out of their minds.
Multi-monitor support killed, extra hassle with games, a price premium for performance that ranges from 60% of a GTX to 120% of a GTX.......Why? SLI isn't THAT much of an e-penis extender, especially with 2 mid-range cards that cost more in total than a single high-end card.

So my advice to anyone considering SLI'd mid-range cards as their initial purchase instead of a single high-end card: Just don't do it - It's not worth the hassle or the money, even if it costs marginally less than a single high-end card.

 

Just make sure to buy your daughter her horn first.

 

Can't usually afford more then one card, so I think 1 is going to be the right number for me.

 

Originally, I got my DFI LP Expert board with a single 7800GT at the time....scored an additional 7800GT second-hand for SLI. I probably will just stick with a single card in the future. Too much of a hassle and power-hungry to boot. Literally.

 

1 for me.

SLI has too many issues and too high price for the small performance gain. I'd rater just invest in the best/fastest single card I can get. By the time I'm ready to upgrade, buying one card makes more sense than getting SLI with my old card.

 

I have a single GTX, but if I found another one for the right price, I think I'd do SLi

 

I used SLI'd 7600GTs for some time and there were no problems. If I was looking for a new GFX card then definitely I'd go with a single one. Less noise and no surprises in performance (in some games SLI-systems just don't work that well...).

 

depends on my budget. Before I only ran a single card since the MB I had only had one PCI-e x16 slot. I just got a pair of 8800GTX for my new rig, if it wouldn't have been for my sponsors I wouldn't have been able to afford both of them.

 

Just one

 

I like SLI I've had it from day one and up until the release of the 8800GTX it was the only way you could drive a 1920x1200 screen at reasonable frame rates, when it first came out there were lots of issues then after a few months it was sweet, biggest problem for people who don't tinker with their kit is that they don't understand how to get the best out if it, some games don't have profiles and require you to make one etc, quite a few people don't have a clue how to do it and blame the hardware.

I have noticed since the release of Vista we are going through the whole buggy SLI period again which is a shame but I'm sure it'll get ironed out, when SLI works it can work bloody well and provide next gen levels performance today.