multi gpu

dragon · Post by **dragon** » 2004-12-30 11:39am

Ok was looking a buying a new comp and saw a alienware that has pci express and SLI multi GPU technology. Was wondering if multi gpu is worth it.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-30 12:33pm

The advantage is well worth it, but personally, the real advantage comes from the upgrade options, such as my next PC, with for example, a single 400$ card (6800GT) then later on adding another.

If your buying from Alienware might be better to email them, ask them if they sell SLI mobo's without 2 GPU's.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-12-30 01:34pm

I would suggest for the GPU a Geforce 6600GT (if not 6800GT). Remember, the blank ones (6600 and 6800) don't have SLI, and the Ultra ones (6600 Ultra and 6800 Ultra) take up two slots so you have to have four slots to do SLI. Not to mention the fact that you can overclock the GT ones to be faster than the Ultra ones anyway. So buy the GTs.

The 6600GT hits a sweet spot because it costs $200 and gets better performance than the Radeon 9800 XT. Cheap yet uberpowerful.

However, if you can afford it, buy the 6800GT. More powerful, and you can eventually add in another one.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-30 01:37pm

Praxis wrote:I would suggest for the GPU a Geforce 6600GT (if not 6800GT). Remember, the blank ones (6600 and 6800) don't have SLI, and the Ultra ones (6600 Ultra and 6800 Ultra) take up two slots so you have to have four slots to do SLI. Not to mention the fact that you can overclock the GT ones to be faster than the Ultra ones anyway. So buy the GTs.

The 6600GT hits a sweet spot because it costs $200 and gets better performance than the Radeon 9800 XT. Cheap yet uberpowerful.

However, if you can afford it, buy the 6800GT. More powerful, and you can eventually add in another one.

1) the 6800 blank has SLI connectors, some benchs I see have SLI scores with them.
2) there is no 6600 Ultra.
3) Your right, the Ultra is a Peice of Crap, the GT can smoke it.

Deathstalker · Post by **Deathstalker** » 2004-12-30 02:26pm

I bought from alienware a few years ago and I recommend them. If you experience any hardware issues, get in touch with thier curtomer service, not tech support. When I got my new machine, the hardrive went, they sent me a new drive, I had a hard time reloading my machine, called again and sent it back and they reset it for me. Didn't cost me anything but a little time because I was still under warranty.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2004-12-31 01:34am

Multi-GPU is definitely worth it, but I don't recommend you buy from Alienware. They're very pricy, sometimes to the point where they have a 3x markup on what it would actually cost to build a similar system.