How important is SLI.

The only game purchases I see in my immediate future are SCII and L4D2. For those, a single 280M would be more then enough. However, I want my next computer to last like my current one has (It's working on 5 years running HL2 mods, L4D, and WC3 just fine) or at least close to it.

The real issue is how long will that single GPU be useful? And would it be worth it to pay a little more for a laptop capable of holding two GPUs, even if I only get one right now? Since I wouldn't need a second so soon, and in a year or two the prices would be dropped, letting me upgrade with say a second 280M for a lot less then it would be to get two right now (or possibly a better card?).

 

SLI will definitely increase the longevity of a laptop, especially if the cards are powerful. SLI has become a pretty mature platform that offers significant performance gains in most games.

One thing to keep in mind: if you want to run at high resolution or use high AA settings, you need to get a setup with a lot of VRAM. 2x256mb cards can only use 256mb of memory, which isn't really sufficient for high resolutions or high AA. If you don't have enough VRAM it doesn't matter how much GPU horsepower you have, so make sure you get a 512mb or 2x512mb setup.

Case in point: I have a GTX295 with 2x896mb VRAM in my main rig and I run it at 1080p. In the most demanding games like Crysis and GTAIV I have to reign in the AA and AF not because the cards aren't powerful enough, but because the required VRAM sometimes exceeds 896mb, even if just barely.

 

Well SLI/Crossfire definitely helps boosting performance for power hungry games. The question is mostly whether or not *you* will be making full use of those. If you are a gaming enthusiast and want those max settings even a few years down the road for upcoming games, then a dual GPU setup will definitely allow you to do that over a single GPU setup .

The main questions you have to ask yourself:
- what types of games are you into?
- what resolutions and detail levels do you like to game at?
- do you game with AA or such?

And finally, concerning "buying one GPU now and purchasing a 2nd GPU later when prices drop" issue, only certain laptop chassis's can bear twin GPUs so do your homework if that's the case ^_^

 

I agree, SLI is alot more practical and more cost efficient in the long run for a laptop. I have 2x512mb 8800mgtx, but to tell you the truth, I have been running just a single card for games like L4D, Bioshock, and Fallout 3 at max settings and still avg 60fps (1920x1200 resolution). I would image I will start utilizing SLI for games scheduled to come out at the end of the year and starting 2010.

SLI can also be useful for the very few games that incorporate physX. For cryostasis, I used my other gpu for physX.

 

You need to do something about your post, or some people might actually think that VRAM is everything in a GPU...

Now to be back on topic, SLI/Crossfire configuration helps performance in most games but with a performance gain of approximately 40% until now, yet with the proper drivers (that might actually be developed in a while) you can see this percentage rising higher.

Eg: The latest driver from ATi (Catalyst 9.6) is said to have improved gaming performance in Crysis with the 3870 X2 by 15%-20%.

But if your playing old games, very old games, then you might not have any performance gain, and some times you'll have exactly the opposite, stuttering issues, just because those games weren't meant for multi-GPU rendering.

 

anyone with a 5th grade reading comprehension level should conclude that i wasn't implying that VRAM is everything. i was just stating that doubling theoretical processing power while keeping VRAM constant can lead to some interesting scaling issues at higher resolutions and AA settings.

oh yeah, and for older games, you can disable SLI and still run them fine. best of both worlds

 

could someone explain what AA is and the benefits of it in gaming? i've never really looked into AA cuz i haven't been a "hardcore" gamer for about 3-4+ years. i have searched it up, but the explanations found online are pretty technical. could someone please explain it in a more simple definition?

 

SLI is the beast technology. My street fighter 4 fps boosts from 30 fps-1 gpu to 60 fps-SLI with everything at max, 1200p and 2x AA.

 

i am also wondering how sli will perform. i had crossfire and it gave me a bigger performance increase in ever game except, crysis, crytosis, and stalker clear sky.

i went to nvidia and i can also max out any game out there but i had one card. i'm going to sli it so i guess i can findout for myself if no one knows.

 

Basically, antialiasing removes jagged edges by having the GPU render a frame at a significantly higher resolution than it's going to display. The AA factor (2x, 4x, etc.) tells exactly what factor of the original resolution the GPU will render. When it renders this much larger resolution, it shrinks it back down again to fit the actual displayed resolution. For whatever reason, this helps to smooth out jagged edges.

The same thing happens on a smaller scale when you run a game at a resolution smaller than your display's native resolution.

 

ah gotcha. i kinda got this from the long, long technical definitions and examples i found online. i just wanted to make sure. thanks and +rep.

 

The 4870's with 2 x 512MB are performing the same as the the GTX 280m s with 2 x 1GB, it's down to how much power does the card have(shader clocks, core cloks..etc) than the VRAM, yet it is important though.

take an example, the desktop's GTS 250 vs GTX 260:

GTS 250 has 1 GB of VRAM(sometimes 512 though) but when compared to the GTX 260 896 MB of VRAM, the GTX 260 is faster.

 

if you want to play hardcore games at maxed settings, get sli/xfire, if not, go single.

 

Well guys it's been a while since I last posted but I can say that the deal just got a little bit better with SLI. All I can say is go buy SLI because if your monitor supports it you're going to see an increase anywhere between 300-371% if you're running the sweet spot resolution. I used to run a normal gaming rig but then I went out and bought SLI and now I can actually run crysis.

My friend bought an M15X alienware laptop with no SLI and when he tries to run Crysis all that happens is his laptop goes to like over 100 degrees celsius and that might be good for cooking them beef burgers but its terrible for running Crysis now he might go buy SLI too.

So if you want to ask an expert like myself then SLI is very important and you should definately buy SLI as soon as you possibly can because deals getting better don't just happen every day. They happen once in a while and today is one of those whiles.


I want to close by saying that Crossifire is terrible most games don't support even ONE ATI card let alone two (LOL@ATI).

 

Source ? that Crossfire is terrible ? Crossfire uses Supertile while SLI uses AFR, and some sites says that Crossfire's Supertile is better than AFR, and you can switch from Supertile to AFR or another (Scissor) using the Catalyst so it would be just like the SLI.
Also Supertile, unlike the AFR, is compatible with every 3D application.....
most games says "runs best with NVIDIA" not that they can't run with ATi cards, and wait just a few months, you'll see more games leaning towards ATi because of the fact that they offering better performance than NVIDIA's cards and keeping the price lower, thus more people buying it, and more ATi cards being used.

 

ok

Ocz Whitebook
[email protected]
Ati 3870 Crossfired and single runs
4gb of ddr3@1333mhz
single 3dmark06

crossfired is 12,500 sorry i don't have my whitebook but i'm sure someone can provide this

dmc4 single


crossfired



farcry2 single


crossfired


from the looks. i would say about double in some runs.

can you provide some other source as well as ati crossfire is garbage.

 

SLI is important and can improve gaming performance but what you just said about that Alienware M15X running at 100C and not being able to run Crysis doesn't have anything to do with this at all.

I can run Crysis on High at very good frame rates on my NP8662 and my GPU never goes anywhere near 100C, it barely goes past 70C in general at high loads.

Your friend either needs to clean out those vents, re apply thermal grease or just buy a new laptop. Nothing to do with SLI.

 

It has to my attention that some ATI Fan Boiz got angry when I said that any number of ATI cards in a computer were unsupported.

Rest assured that I meant it and that I know this because my brother works at the CROSSFIRE DEPARTMENT IN ATI. All he does is make fun of ATI all day and how him and his buddies eat their lunch on the video cards about to be shipped out to customers like the post above me. So if you buy an ATlol video card and find all this sticky white stuff on it then it's probably mayonaise.......



















































....................or something "else"

 

i'm not a fanboy and you said ati's crossfire doesn't even work. so i provide you games that i have tested.

also if you have a big support can you provide any infomation then the one i provided about of how it doubled framerates in the games i posted above.

 

Am not a fanboy either, but it seems to me that you're a NVIDIA fanboy, cuz what you said was completely, am sorry to say this, but it was trash...
dondadah88 provided a solid proof to backup his words, can you ?
you're just saying that your brother is an untrustworthy employee to me...
once again, am sorry if this was a bit harsh...

 

lol you sound like exactly NOT an expert.
1: if his laptop is overheating with one graphics card, with 2 it will be on fire. 2: you cant get sli on a m15x
3: SLI or crossfire will never give you a 300-371% performance increase, unless maybe you are running at the absolute lowest resolution possible, but even then i doubt it. from everything ive read (benchmarks, reviews and such) you can expect about a 50ish% increase in most games
4: Every game SLI works on Crossfire works on also, ive only had ATI cards (not because im a fanboy, just cause they have a better bang for their buck), and ive never had any game that didnt work (and i have a nice solid collection of games)

your an idiot. that was fun.

btw: i still suggest you upgrade to sli if you want your computer to game longer, it is a very good upgrade that will increase your gaming potential on you laptop for years to come.

 

for crossfire it can be anywhere from 0-100%.(real average is about 30-70%) as seen in my previous post of the 3870 single and crossfire runs. the ONLY game that i couldn't get crossfire to run on right is crysis. everything else is well worth it.