I don't recommend SLI unless you are dealing with top of the line or very near top of the line video cards. If you want more video performance, you will be BETTER OFF selling you current card and upgrading to a faster, single card. If you are a performance junkie with an 8800GTX or something similar and run max settings at huge resolution then sure, add another 8800GTX.
I get a kick out of all the replies to selling a recently bought card and going with a single better one. Some people out there dont have the connivance of hunting down and ordering better cards off the net. Some like me would rather go down to the local computer shop or best buy and purchase an upgrade right then and there. Yeah you can throw down numbers apon numbers on paper and say look. This 500 dollar card performs better then your two 130 dollar cards. But step back a second. My two 130 dollar cards in SLI only cost me 260 dollars. So why talk people down or out of an idea that there excited about.
Most of my game play is maxed at 1280x1024. With my lonely 8600GT *over clocked* I can play Bioshock at 1280x1024 and hold on avg. 35 - 50 FPS. *max settings* I don’t play on a 24” flat screen. I have no need to play at 2400x1800. Now for me, I can only imagine that tossing in another 8600GT in SLI. I know it would probably boost that avg FPS up nicely at the resolution I plan on playing at.
Lately, I’ve been playing BF2. With all settings maxed at 1280x1024, I consistently hold 100+ FPS. So telling me to sell my card I just purchased 2 weeks ago to buy a card that cost 3x as much is not reasonable. Id much rather toss out another 130 down the road when I have it and go SLI .
Not all games are going to fall back on shaders. But if they do, I know I can still play it in a setting that appeals to me at a reasonable frame rate. Two cards running in parallel with each other, sharing a total of 64 pipes and double the processing power means your going to utilize the structure of the card better. Its also going to be well above any *minimum* requirement for any game coming out anytime soon.
I appreciate everyone’s push for a 20k score on 3dmark05 or 06. But all I care to do is play games at a comfortable resolution and bragging rites that I am fully utilizing my mobo with better then sub par graphic computing capabilities.
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Re: BFG 8600 GT OC more tweaking!
Nobody told you to buy a 500 dollar card. The point is, if you bought another 8600 now it would be a waste because you should of just saved the 260 in the first place and bought a good single card. Or if you intend to buy another in say 6 months it would also be a waste because there should be a single card out that costs the same and would be better than your two in sli
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