GTX or SLI?

The solo NIVIDA 7900 GTX graphics card is pretty "hot" right now, and arguably the best card on the market. Does the Dual Go 7900 GS SLI run games better?

 

That would have to be a yes and no. If you look at their SLI section, Nvidia has a list of games currently "SLI Supported." They also have a section where you can submit a game for SLI support. So if the game is SLI supported I would say yes. You can also make the game supported on your own. There certainly is a whole lot going on there. Just make it simple and get SLI with the GTX. Also, the 7900 GS isn't listed as a GPU they do SLI with. Would have to be at least the 7900 GT.

 

Actuall the best card on the market right now is the 1GB 7950GX2. 2 of those in SLI actually make Quad-SLI. A setup like that will run you atleast $3000 for the 2 cards, adequte power supply (1kw minimun) and a supporting motherboard. But for all that you have about 3 times the graphics power of an Xbox360. If you've got the cash, and the will, combine it with a core2 and its the ultimate gaming machine.

 

The 7950GX2 is a dual chip card, though. Not quite the same But he's probably talking about how a couple Go 7900 GS's (fastest mobile cards around) in SLI work as compared to the 7900 GTX desktop card. And in that case, they perform quite admirably, and will beat it in most cases I believe.

 

Ok sorry everyone I forgot that this is forum about "notebooks" for a moment, long night last night, forgive me. Yes as far as notebooks go the best single card is the 7900GTX, but if mobility & battery life means nothing to you, then yes dual 7900GS's are the most powerful notebook setup.

 

Two GT's. The GS's aren't an SLI card.

 

So why does Alienware offer the M9700 with the 7900GS in SLI configurations? If you look at the bottom of this page, you'll see that the 7600 and above are SLI capable. Don't say stuff with certitude that's un-true. That's what's known as "lying".

 

Go tell Nvidia they're "lying" then.

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_learn.html

NVIDIA SLI-Ready GPUs*:
GeForce 7950 GX2
GeForce 7900 GTX
GeForce 7900 GT
GeForce 7800 GTX 512
GeForce 7800 GTX
GeForce 7800 GT
GeForce 7600 GT
GeForce 7600 GS
GeForce 7300 GT*
GeForce 7300 GS*
GeForce 7300 LE*
GeForce 6800 Ultra
GeForce 6800 GS
GeForce 6800 GT
GeForce 6800
GeForce 6800 XT
GeForce 6800 LE
GeForce 6600 GT
GeForce 6600
GeForce 6600 LE
NVIDIA SLI-Ready Quadro GPUs

So don't blame the misinformation on me. Alienware could have misprinted or Nvidia. Guess my evil scheme to thrwart SLI has been discovered!!!

 

I believe thats for desktop SLI. Notebook SLI is different, and not something that you can just upgrade to in your notebook. Its the GS that its done with in notebooks.

 

Also, according to Alienware (that's who is lying this time), the dual 512meg 7900 GS's (they are the only ones who list a notebook doing SLI with that card for some odd reason. Both Hypersonic and Sager do it with 7900 GTX's.) the 7900 GTX would still be a "faster" card than the two of them combined to answer the original question. Click on the banner above the video card selection section to do the comparison.

 

Alienware's Aurora m9700 has dual 512MB Go7900GS video cards - Nvidia's site doesn't always have the most accurate info regarding notebooks, oddly enough.

I would still opt for a single Go7900GTX over SLI in a notebook for two reasons:
1: If you are interested in SLI-caliber 3D power, then check out a desktop. SLI notebooks are very expensive. A Go7900GTX machine is several hundred less.
2: Current SLI notebooks only feature single-core AMD Turion 64 processors, which are weak in gaming performance compared to a Core (2) Duo.

The m9700 is a different notebook than the Sager NP5950 or Alienware mALX - those are Clevo M590K's. They feature dual Go7900GTX cards, and have a 19" display.

 

Also a notebook with sli is almost everytime 19inch in stead of 17inch.

 

There is the Alienware Aurora m9700 that Chaz mentioned above. It's a 17" SLI-notebook.

I would probably opt for a single go 7900 GTX system over an SLI-one. The SLI will add more heat and weight, but I guess that's not really a consideration when you get into the high-powered laptops.