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SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 10th 06, 10:24 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
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Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a 7800GT
costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in Australia where
everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320 vs.
450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single 7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I need
reassurance!


  #2  
Old March 10th 06, 06:38 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
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Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

personally, i would drop in a second 7800, but thats until i see any reviews
of the new ones. power consumption is supposed to be less on the new card.
they are out today, so shouldnt be long before the likes of anandtech have
them dissected, then you will be able to make a more informed choice.


  #3  
Old March 10th 06, 07:35 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
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Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

If you google .. there's a 1Kwatt psupply out there just
for the nVidia cards. I think it is only $600, and comes
with a dozen eggs.

johns

  #4  
Old March 10th 06, 08:47 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
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Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

A lot of great choices.
Hmmm I'm not as confident about SLI yet so I'd probably find a buyer for
your current 7800GT or give it to a friend and buy one 7900 GTX but then I
realize that is a more pricey option and one 7900 GTX isn't going to give
much more performance than two 7800 GTs I suppose. Of course, that
fluctuates game-to-game.
Did you see the review/comparison he
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...ZW50aHVzaWFzdA
They actually show a lot about the exact situations you are thinking about!


--
Scotter
Tyan Thunder K8WE
Dual Opteron 252s (2.6ghz)
4 gig Corsair XMS DDR400 RAM
XFX 7800 GTX 256 w/VGAsilencerV3
500 gig Hitachi SATA 300
160 gig Seagate SATA 150
Dual Dell 24" wide aspect LCDs
550W Antec power supply
X-Fi Platinum Soundblaster
-
"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message
...
Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a
7800GT costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in
Australia where everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320 vs.
450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single
7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I
need reassurance!



  #5  
Old March 11th 06, 02:55 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?


"Scotter" wrote in message
...
A lot of great choices.
Hmmm I'm not as confident about SLI yet so I'd probably find a buyer for
your current 7800GT or give it to a friend and buy one 7900 GTX but then I
realize that is a more pricey option and one 7900 GTX isn't going to give
much more performance than two 7800 GTs I suppose. Of course, that
fluctuates game-to-game.
Did you see the review/comparison he
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...ZW50aHVzaWFzdA
They actually show a lot about the exact situations you are thinking
about!



Thanks heaps for that Scotter - it was really helpful.

And, briefly looking over that, I think I will stick with my plan of buyinmg
a second 7800GT for SLI.
The performance gain in buying the new cards doesn't seem worth the extra
expense and bother. I like my games to look pretty, but I reckon a SLI
7800GT will be more than adequate for all the latest games for the next year
or so.

--
Scotter
Tyan Thunder K8WE
Dual Opteron 252s (2.6ghz)
4 gig Corsair XMS DDR400 RAM
XFX 7800 GTX 256 w/VGAsilencerV3
500 gig Hitachi SATA 300
160 gig Seagate SATA 150
Dual Dell 24" wide aspect LCDs
550W Antec power supply
X-Fi Platinum Soundblaster
-
"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message
...
Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a
7800GT costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in
Australia where everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320 vs.
450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single
7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I
need reassurance!





  #6  
Old March 11th 06, 06:53 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717&p=8

2x 7800GT is over 60% faster than a single 7900GT in extremely
fillrate-limited situations. Add another 7800GT and you can play Quake 4 at
2048x1536 4xAA and still keep your head above 60 fps...

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message
...
Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a
7800GT costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in
Australia where everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320 vs.
450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single
7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I
need reassurance!



  #7  
Old March 11th 06, 08:10 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?

On 10 Mar 2006 10:35:33 -0800, "johns" wrote:

If you google .. there's a 1Kwatt psupply out there just
for the nVidia cards. I think it is only $600, and comes
with a dozen eggs.

johns


Warning: ATi troll.

(For the OP, please see:-

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717 )

For the troll, the following power-related information is extracted
from the above article and other sources:-

( OT mode on )

Even the dual 7900GTX(512) will do quite nicely on a 600watt SLI rated

supply (~ $140 max.). Need a PC Power & Cooling 850 watt (~ $450)
only for dual ATi X1900XTX (512) and for dual configurations of the
now-obsolete 7800GTX512.

Read on....

The sharply lower power consumption is not surprising since the ATi
X1900XT(X) GPU (R580) is 353mm square and the 7900GT(X) (G71)
is 196mm square, which according to my math makes the ATi R580 3.24
times the area of the G71, both on the 90nm process. Maximum power
consumption of the G71 GPU at GTX speed is about 50% that of the R580
GPU at XTX speed, resulting in a power ratio at board level of about
75%.

The 7900GTX512 has almost exactly the same maximum power consumption
as a current 7800GTX(256) at default clock speed. And a dual-SLI
configuration of these latter boards does not need any more than a
600 watt-rated SLI ATX 2.x supply ( Enermax 701 or similar)

ATi's R580 design is very wasteful of silicon area and power, and
results in a die cost at least 4x that of the G71 (3.24x plus a yield
loss factor for the much larger die). This translates into a ~2x cost
ratio for ATi/nVidia for the packaged and tested GPUs, factoring in
the packaging and test overheads. Not good news for ATi at all,
especially since the power- and cost-efficiency differences will also
be mirrored in the Xbox360 and PS3 GPU designs.

The G71 has ~ 40 million fewer transistors than the G70 (7800GTX) with
improved functionality too. nVidia has cranked the G71 and G73 with
the deliberate intent of competitively and drastically lowering prices
but simultaneously offering much higher clock speeds, lower power and
no loss of functionality over the G70/72. Also a further die shrink of
the G71 and G73 on to the TSMC 80nm 'half-node' process can happen
at any time with zero design changes when the manufacturing yields are
judged satisfactory -- the design rules do not change.

(OT mode off)

John Lewis


  #8  
Old March 11th 06, 08:40 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?


"First of One" wrote in message
...
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717&p=8

2x 7800GT is over 60% faster than a single 7900GT in extremely
fillrate-limited situations. Add another 7800GT and you can play Quake 4
at 2048x1536 4xAA and still keep your head above 60 fps...


lol...this is brilliant. Thanks for this First.
Ha and it appears that SLI 7800GT setup has higher fps than a single
7900GTX...

There may be more than meets the eye in these benchmarks, but as far as I
can tell this is all good. Nice and reassuring! Thanks again First of One.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message
...
Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a
7800GT costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in
Australia where everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320 vs.
450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single
7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I
need reassurance!





  #9  
Old March 11th 06, 08:41 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?


"John Lewis" wrote in message
...
On 10 Mar 2006 10:35:33 -0800, "johns" wrote:

If you google .. there's a 1Kwatt psupply out there just
for the nVidia cards. I think it is only $600, and comes
with a dozen eggs.

johns


Warning: ATi troll.

(For the OP, please see:-

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717 )


Thanks John! First just slightly beat you to it with a direct link to the
Quake 4 results - but all in all this is really quite reassuring. Spot on
the sort of comparisons I was looking for.

For the troll, the following power-related information is extracted
from the above article and other sources:-

( OT mode on )

Even the dual 7900GTX(512) will do quite nicely on a 600watt SLI rated

supply (~ $140 max.). Need a PC Power & Cooling 850 watt (~ $450)
only for dual ATi X1900XTX (512) and for dual configurations of the
now-obsolete 7800GTX512.

Read on....

The sharply lower power consumption is not surprising since the ATi
X1900XT(X) GPU (R580) is 353mm square and the 7900GT(X) (G71)
is 196mm square, which according to my math makes the ATi R580 3.24
times the area of the G71, both on the 90nm process. Maximum power
consumption of the G71 GPU at GTX speed is about 50% that of the R580
GPU at XTX speed, resulting in a power ratio at board level of about
75%.

The 7900GTX512 has almost exactly the same maximum power consumption
as a current 7800GTX(256) at default clock speed. And a dual-SLI
configuration of these latter boards does not need any more than a
600 watt-rated SLI ATX 2.x supply ( Enermax 701 or similar)

ATi's R580 design is very wasteful of silicon area and power, and
results in a die cost at least 4x that of the G71 (3.24x plus a yield
loss factor for the much larger die). This translates into a ~2x cost
ratio for ATi/nVidia for the packaged and tested GPUs, factoring in
the packaging and test overheads. Not good news for ATi at all,
especially since the power- and cost-efficiency differences will also
be mirrored in the Xbox360 and PS3 GPU designs.

The G71 has ~ 40 million fewer transistors than the G70 (7800GTX) with
improved functionality too. nVidia has cranked the G71 and G73 with
the deliberate intent of competitively and drastically lowering prices
but simultaneously offering much higher clock speeds, lower power and
no loss of functionality over the G70/72. Also a further die shrink of
the G71 and G73 on to the TSMC 80nm 'half-node' process can happen
at any time with zero design changes when the manufacturing yields are
judged satisfactory -- the design rules do not change.

(OT mode off)

John Lewis




  #10  
Old March 11th 06, 12:24 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default SLI 7800GT or 1x 7900GT?


"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message ...

"Scotter" wrote in message
...
A lot of great choices.
Hmmm I'm not as confident about SLI yet so I'd probably find a buyer for
your current 7800GT or give it to a friend and buy one 7900 GTX but then
I realize that is a more pricey option and one 7900 GTX isn't going to
give much more performance than two 7800 GTs I suppose. Of course, that
fluctuates game-to-game.
Did you see the review/comparison he
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...ZW50aHVzaWFzdA
They actually show a lot about the exact situations you are thinking
about!



Thanks heaps for that Scotter - it was really helpful.

And, briefly looking over that, I think I will stick with my plan of
buyinmg a second 7800GT for SLI.
The performance gain in buying the new cards doesn't seem worth the extra
expense and bother. I like my games to look pretty, but I reckon a SLI
7800GT will be more than adequate for all the latest games for the next
year or so.


True. The 7900's *are* a bit faster and cooler running too. But it's more
like the difference between Ti4600/Ti4800 or FX5800/FX5900 than the
'non-owners' are hollering about
BTW; I am *NOT* disappointed in the quality or performance of my 7800GTX's
at ALL. Going from 6xxx to 7xxx was deffo a good move
McG.


--
Scotter
Tyan Thunder K8WE
Dual Opteron 252s (2.6ghz)
4 gig Corsair XMS DDR400 RAM
XFX 7800 GTX 256 w/VGAsilencerV3
500 gig Hitachi SATA 300
160 gig Seagate SATA 150
Dual Dell 24" wide aspect LCDs
550W Antec power supply
X-Fi Platinum Soundblaster
-
"DC" dragoncarer@woops wrote in message
...
Ok, so it appears that the 7900GT will cost a little bit more than a
7800GT costs right now (vendors depending, of course, and this in
Australia where everything is a little more expensive video-card wise).

If the 7900GT slightly exceeds the base clocks of a 7800GTX (450/1320
vs. 450/1250), I'm assuming 2x 7800GT (in SLI) will outperform a single
7900GT.

Um...is this right?

Essentially - should I go ahead and buy a second 7800GT (leadtex extreme
450/1050)?

Or wait and buy a single 7900GT?

I think this might turn out to be a very, very stupid question...but I
need reassurance!







 




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