One 6800GT or SLI? I spent my $$$ on ....

Rig:
AMD 3000+/400FSB, 1G 2-2-3-5, 6800 Vanilla on a big CRT.

Choices:
6800GT AGP or 6800GT PCI-X with new mobo, cpu.

Decision:
6800GT AGP

Rationale:
I recently read [H]'s SLI review and TechReports' and found a few
interesting facts that convinced me not to buy SLI right now. Firstly, the
expense is significant and if you want value for your dollar, that point has
not yet arrived for SLI. Performance gains are significant only in certain
games (Far Cry being one, which I am very fond of and Halo 2 which I am
not.)

Also, PSU requirements are astronomical, I have a mighty 420W, but I suspect
even that would need upgrading. Motherboard choices for SLI are also slim.
Those are strong negatives against SLI, and the positives for a 6800GT are
noticable improvement vs. the 6800 in high resolutions, significantly lesser
expense and a drop-in and forget installation with compatibility with all
installed hardware.

Has anyone come to a different conclusion? [If I had about $1000(usd) to
freely spend, I might have went SLI, but cost wasn't the only
consideration.]

In article ,
says...
Rig:
AMD 3000+/400FSB, 1G 2-2-3-5, 6800 Vanilla on a big CRT.

Choices:
6800GT AGP or 6800GT PCI-X with new mobo, cpu.

Decision:
6800GT AGP

Rationale:
I recently read [H]'s SLI review and TechReports' and found a few
interesting facts that convinced me not to buy SLI right now. Firstly, the
expense is significant and if you want value for your dollar, that point has
not yet arrived for SLI. Performance gains are significant only in certain
games (Far Cry being one, which I am very fond of and Halo 2 which I am
not.)

Also, PSU requirements are astronomical, I have a mighty 420W, but I suspect
even that would need upgrading. Motherboard choices for SLI are also slim.
Those are strong negatives against SLI, and the positives for a 6800GT are
noticable improvement vs. the 6800 in high resolutions, significantly lesser
expense and a drop-in and forget installation with compatibility with all
installed hardware.

Has anyone come to a different conclusion? [If I had about $1000(usd) to
freely spend, I might have went SLI, but cost wasn't the only
consideration.]

No, I think you're correct in your assessment. However, I'm wondering
why you think you need to upgrade from a 6800 to a 6800 GT. I'm
currently running Doom 3, UT2004, etc. at 1280x1024 on a regular 6800
and getting super smooth frame rates (P4 3.2E, 1GB DDR400). At this
resolution and above AA is a non-factor.

Friendly Guru wrote:

Rig:
AMD 3000+/400FSB, 1G 2-2-3-5, 6800 Vanilla on a big CRT.

Choices:
6800GT AGP or 6800GT PCI-X with new mobo, cpu.

Decision:
6800GT AGP

Rationale:

Seems to me that the only "rationale" one needs is the fact that you can't
buy a motherboard that supports SLI right now.

I recently read [H]'s SLI review and TechReports' and found a few
interesting facts that convinced me not to buy SLI right now. Firstly, the
expense is significant and if you want value for your dollar, that point
has not yet arrived for SLI. Performance gains are significant only in
certain games (Far Cry being one, which I am very fond of and Halo 2 which
I am not.)

Also, PSU requirements are astronomical, I have a mighty 420W, but I
suspect even that would need upgrading. Motherboard choices for SLI are
also slim. Those are strong negatives against SLI, and the positives for a
6800GT are noticable improvement vs. the 6800 in high resolutions,
significantly lesser expense and a drop-in and forget installation with
compatibility with all installed hardware.

Has anyone come to a different conclusion? [If I had about $1000(usd) to
freely spend, I might have went SLI, but cost wasn't the only
consideration.]

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)