firesoldier845 Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 Well, I'm going to be building a new computer in the next two weeks and need some advice: I can get a A64 3800+ SLI with 2 6800GTs or an FX-55 with a Radeon 850XT or single 6800GT for the same price so which one should I get?? Looking at some of the newer benchmarks with SLI in LOMAC - SLI is tempting, but my LCD only does 1280X1024 and the SLI doesn't seem to make all that much a difference until you hit 1600X1200 or higher. So I'm leaning towards the FX55 and a single video card. I'd still like to know if anyone is running SLI and how is it?? From what I have read so far on some websites it looks like I might get overall better fps with the 3800+ and dual 6800GT over the FX55 and a single 850XT or 6800GT. The only thing is future upgrades... I'm just worried about dumping over $700 in video cards that will probably be obsolete in 6 months. Also the 850XT just slighly edges out a single 6800GT in LOMAC performance, but seems to be a lot better in other games with the exception of IL2. It's a tough decision. I think SLI will definitley be better, BUT in a year I'll probably want a newer vid card anyway so maybe I should just go with the faster processor and single card... gosh I wish I knew what to do. I posted this over at the ubi forums, but this place seems to be a bit more active then ubi.com since the release of FC. thanks for any help or suggestions.
Slammin Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 I replied over at UBI as well: "You should hang out here for awhile: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/index.php? But given the choices you listed, I can already say with 100% certainty that I would go for the SLI system. Just invest an additional $40 and grab a nice HSF for the CPU and overclock it until you get the funds to upgrade the cpu again." Also, I think the performance of SLI will last longer than the performance of the 850XT, especially considering the huge performance improvements seen just recently with new drivers. Abit IN9 32x MAX- Kentsfield QX6700 @3520 1.5 vcore watercooled D-Tek Fuzion/PA-160/MCR120/2x MCP655 2x2GB G-Skill 1066 5-5-5-15 2T@1.9vdimm 2x EVGA 580GTX 1.5GB SLI 2x 74GB Sata Raptor Raid0 2x 320GB Hitachi Sata II X-FI Elite Pro Dell U3011 Lian Li V2100B Corsair HX1000
Dusty Rhodes Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 Does a game have to be programmed to take advantage of SLI? Dusty Rhodes Play HARD, Play FAIR, Play TO WIN Win 7 Professional 64 Bit / Intel i7 4790 Devils Canyon, 4.0 GIG /ASUS Maximus VII Formula Motherboard/ ASUS GTX 1080 8 GB/ 32 Gigs of RAM / Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog / TrackIR 5 / 2 Cougar MFD's / Saitek Combat Pedals/ DSD Button Box FLT-1
Pilotasso Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 I would take the AMD FX over the 2 cards, since a strong CPU will yeld good results in anything and a setup of 2 cards means you gotta replace them both if you want to upgrade, and not all games take advantage of it. .
RogueSqdn Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 Don't get an FX-53 or 55. Socket 940 is being abandoned this year and won't have new CPUs. If you go AMD, get a socket 939 CPU. DEFENSOR FORTIS Spoiler Systems: Falcon NW Talon: Ryzen 9 5950X @4.9GHz, 64GB DDR4, RTX 3090 FE; Falcon NW Mach V: Core i7 3930K @3.2GHz, 32GB DDR3, GTX 1080 FE Cockpit: MonsterTech MTX F, 42" 4K TV, HP Reverb G2, Oculus Rift S, PointCTRL Controls: RS F16SGRH CE, RS F18CGRH, VPC T-50CM2, VFX, WarBRD (Grips); VPC T-50CM2, RS FSSB R3L (Bases); Winwing F/A-18C, VPC T-50CM3, VPC T-50CM, TM Warthog, Cougar (Throttles); VPC ACE2 (Rudders)
firesoldier845 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Posted April 12, 2005 FWIW I am getting socket 939 FX-55 or 3800+ which is socket 939. SLAMMIN I checked out that site and yes the SLI is a benefit, but my problem is my LCD can only go 1280X1024 and you don't see the huge benefits of SLI until you go higher. I did post a firing squad review that had LOMAC at 1280X1024 SLI on a 4000+ and the fps boost was still 36% higher. So there is room to gain even at that low a resolution inspite of what I read from users that say there is no benefit to SLI unless you go higher than 1280X1024. If I get an FX-55 and a single GPU I won't see a 36% increase in performance over a 3800+, the FX-55 just isn't that much faster than the 3800+. You know the funny thing though is I could care less about the max fps with SLI, it's the low fps that I care about. I think the SLI could give me a nice boost in LOMAC where it comes to the pixel shaders that kill performance. I just still don't know what to do - in a year I'm sure there will be a new GPU that will beat dual 6800GTs. Its just a tough decision. Certainly though from what I am reading the dual 6800s will give me the most bang for the buck in LOMAC at present.
Pilotasso Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 Don't get an FX-53 or 55. Socket 940 is being abandoned this year and won't have new CPUs. If you go AMD, get a socket 939 CPU. AHEM the AMD fx-55 IS on socket 939...noob :D .
arraamis Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 firesoldier845, don't invest in SLI untill it matures and the price of deployment decreases. The gains you receive at the moment is marginal at best. So, do what I did and get the best nforce4 board out there [DFI, MSI, etc..] and either get a 6800 ultra or an XT 850XT, with the FX-55 {GREAT CHIP}. The simulation i.e. {LOMAC} test results speak for themselves, none of them will take advantage of SLI. Plus, only nvidia based games will run in SLI mode correctly. So, save your money and take your girl out to dinner. If you really want to save money, get a athlon 64 4000+, only difference is that it is locked [only matters if you OC] and the 4000+ doesn't use strained silicon. other than that it is the same chip as the FX-55, but sells for $550.00
firesoldier845 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Posted April 12, 2005 I keep wavering back and forth with all that I read on different websites and such so I think I'm probably going to save the money and get a 4000+ with a single video card - Ultra or Radeon. SLI is definitley great, but your probably right. It's tough to buy a computer for LOMAC when you can't afford to go top of the line for everything. You really just need the most powerful CPU and graphics you can afford and even that won't be enough at present. So now the decision is 6800 Ultra or Radeon X850XT? I had a GT in my old computer that is getting sold that I loved, but I kinda like ATI's AA\AF a bit better than Nvidias. Anyone have any suggestions? The Radeon may be cheaper than an Ultra but a GT is about $100 cheaper than the 850XT - more decisions. thanks for everyone who replied to my call for help. In a way your all right, even though you guys all have differing viewpoints. I guess the decision comes down to how much I want to come off my wallet. thanks again, this a great community here at lockon.ru cya guys soon on hyperlobby when I get my new rig.
firesoldier845 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Posted April 12, 2005 Oh and I almost forgot - so 6800Ultra, GT or Radeon X850XT???
BIOLOG Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 In LOMAC, either of video card setups you are considering, will be bottlenecked by CPU. CPU is the main bottleneck of LOMAC. Ig you don't want to be diasppointed - go with fastest processor you can afford. The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame.
stefostef Posted April 12, 2005 Posted April 12, 2005 wait two month and you wil have AMD dual core and ATI R520
arraamis Posted April 13, 2005 Posted April 13, 2005 If you use higher resolutions [1280x1024 +] go with the ATI 850XT, All the benchmarks show that it outperforms the 6800 ultra .... only under these conditions. Below 1280x1024 resolution ..... 6800 ultra can't be touched. Do a search on google and look at the benchmarks. you'll see for yourself.
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