Will sli'd 8800gtx @ 1680x1050 be waste?

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:10

Getting a new pc with 1 x 8800gtx and 6600C2D, will run this at 1680x1050. Now this should be more than enough for that res and I take it that getting a second one would be a waste.

I have used sli in the past and to be honest it has been a right pain in the butt sometimes. My understanding is that when games need more than one card at my res nvidia would have already made another series of geforce cards.

From what I have seen this is true of the 8800gtx as it swallows games up.

What do you think?, by the way I will not be getting another monitor my NEC is perfect for me.

Lolcb · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:13

If you want to play with 16xAA and 16xAF, then you have to get another 8800 to have a decent gameplay.

Even with 4xAA and 16xAF with that reso playing Dark messiah, expect to see your fps dropping to the low 40s.

hyper_piper45 · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:21

I would say it is a waste. I have a x1900xtx and i max my games at 1680x1050, and a 8800gtx is a hell of a lot more powerful.

Lolcb · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:28

Lets put it this way, get one 8800GTX first. If you are unsatisfied with it, get another 8800GTX.

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:34

2 replies with different answers.

I havnt chosen the 680i option but have gone for the 1000w psu, 2gb 900 mhz ram. I know that the 650i cant support 2 x 8800GTX thats why I need answers.

The 680i will cost another 100 quid and I have already configured this as a high base system with no monitor , speakers and keyboard.

Now would going from 900 to 533 be a big difference as I could get the 680i with the saving?

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:37

Think you need to delete the link - it's a competitor...

Not permitted.

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:39

Forgot about that

Lolcb · 20 Dec 2006 at 09:47

Try not to go 533 with ram, stick with 800. By the way, get the 680i mobo.

KWJay · 20 Dec 2006 at 10:11

at the moment yes, 2 GTX's will be wasted on your display. I have the same monitor and a single GTS and it powers it fine. Just get one GTX and spend the other cash on better component, like the 680i and some quick ddr2. I assume you're going Conroe, so the better ram will help with a better OC, which will help the GTX really shine

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 10:32

I dont believe it I have upgraded to the 680i, it sounds from the sales team that it will be the evga mobo as well.

Here is my final spec what do you think

System Base Price: £ 935.31
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor(2.40GHz,4MB Cache,1066MHz)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Aluminium ATX Midi Tower + 1000W PSU - Black [upg £ 150.00]
ASUS P5N32-E SLI nForce 680i SLI(C55XE) Mainboard - Core 2 Duo/Quad-Core - ATX [upg £ 80.00]
2048MB DDR2 900MHz Memory -( 2x 1024MB Kit) [upg £ 100.00]
320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB Buffer
Super Format SONY 18x Dual Layer DVD Writer +R/-R/RW/RAM
Super Format SONY 18x Dual Layer DVD Writer +R/-R/RW/RAM
768MB nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX [upg £ 275.00]
Without 19" Sony Monitor [upg £ -140.00]
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Sound Card (oem)
Without Speakers (7.1) [upg £ -45.00]
Without Keyboard & Mouse (Cordless) [upg £ -12.21]
Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + 60 Days Microsoft Office Trial
Free Cyberlink Video Editing Suite - 7 titles (oem)
2x IEEE1394 Firewire (onboard)
1x Gigabit LAN (onboard)
1.44MB - 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive [upg £ 10.00]
Internal 33-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Premiere Warranty - 3 Years On-site-Parts & Labour-T&C

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:07

A word of advice though - if you're using the competitor you previously mentioned - do NOT expect great service.

I've used them once before and was scarred for life over using them ever again - amongst the worst customer service i've ever experienced. The machine was 6 weeks late, by which time the price had fallen by £300 and they wouldn't do anything about the original price i had paid.

Once the machine arrived, it was faulty and so on and so on...

Just be cautious with them!

Lolcb · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:17

Mind telling us the competitor so we know if we should avoid it in the future or not?

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:20

Would if i could - but not permitted to name and shame :/

It's one of the bigger companies though...

melbourne720 · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:21

Maybe its worth asking gibbo if we can mention competitors in order to **** them off LOL

I doubt it though...

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:23

Yeah been doing some research, it was between them and another big company. I think that every company has pitfalls

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:24

LOL! Would be a HUGE thread!

There's plenty of comments to be found if you look around about this companies performance quite honestly, pants performance, when it comes to customer dealings / help / satisfaction...

Would love to name them, if only i could contact someone to let them know and then they can post to agree or not LOL! I'm convinced this company are amongst the very worst i've dealt with - but they are a BIG company!

Regarding pitfalls of every company - i quite agree, i've seen one or two complimentary posts around and about talking about this company - and they must be doing something right to have such a large customer base - and their end of year returns for last year were mind blowing. I'm purely saying on a personal level - i would not buy from them ever again, not even with your money - it was an unbelievably stressful event and the outcome was abysmal.

marv_1 · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:28

Now im wondering if I should go with them now

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:32

It is up to you - it's your money of course.

One thing to bear in mind is this though - you are never going to find the same number of posts on forums etc online complimenting a company - it just doesn't happen. People mainly post to complain or to bring something to someone's attention. By this i mean, i could easily have been in an unhappy percentage of their customer base lets say <5%, the other 95% could be over the moon with what they were given.

It's a question of value & service for me everytime, hence my decision would be not to use them given the history i have had with them. You on the other hand, may receive no trouble and get everything you want from them in a timely fashion. It is simply something to bear in mind when using them.

One more thing - the biggest problem i had was being blatently lied to about delivery etc, think i ended up taking about 8 days off over the 6 week period after believing them when they said "it will be with you tomorrow" - that was the nail in the coffin!

Lolcb · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:38

PM me the competitor or email in trust. I am so very interested to know.

LiamJH · 20 Dec 2006 at 11:41

Can't PM for some reason...

Can you post email addresses here?