Advice: 7600gt in Sli or single 7900gt?

2006-07-09 04:47:46

#1

cailuc: Friendly fire isn't; +36|6918

I have an ASUS A8N-Sli mobo, Athlon 3800+ dual core and 2gigs DDR2 RAM. PSU is 500W.

Currently my graphics card is an Xpertvision 7600GT, quite simply what is the best upgrade for me?

1 Another 7600GT for about £120 and run them in Sli.

2. Forget the 7600GT and replace it with a 7900GT for about £220.

I've read various reviews but some of the results appear to vary with the 7600GT's winning some and the single 7900GT others, any advice or experiences?

2006-07-09 06:24:56

#2

Viper007Bond: Moderator Emeritus; +236|7104|Portland, OR, USA

Hmm, well if you didn't already have a 7600GT, I'd say get a 7900GT hands down as from the stories I've heard from my clanmates who ran SLI back when it came out were pretty bad. Perhaps things have since improved, but you still can't run a 2nd monitor while gaming (a must for me), etc.

If money is an issue and you don't run a 2nd monitor, I'd say get another 7600GT, but wait to get more feedback from people who are more up to date on SLI than me (as I said, perhaps things like the line down the center of the screen have improved with the driver versions).

https://bf3s.com/sigs/044900892044e7fc95e599e832a086ae9bcd7efb.png

2006-07-09 06:39:50

#3

cailuc: Friendly fire isn't; +36|6918

Thanks for the reply viper.

I'm tempted to go for the cheaper option with the 7600 (if only to keep the wife happy), but wondered if anyone knows if the performance is going to be better than a single 7900?

2006-07-09 06:44:47

#4

fierce: I love [fiSh]; +167|6867

I would go for a single 7900GT, simply because it is only one card and it got a lower power consumption. If you want to upgrade your computer if you got the 7900 GT, you could buy a second one and run it in SLI.

With two 7600 GT you could do only one thing for upgrading, buy a new card and give your old cards to someone as a gift.

There are more positive aspects in only buying one 7900GT like less power consumption, less heat etc.

2006-07-09 07:27:29

#5

Viper007Bond: Moderator Emeritus; +236|7104|Portland, OR, USA

cailuc wrote:
but wondered if anyone knows if the performance is going to be better than a single 7900?

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

It's a bit old, so it lacks both cards, but I bet you can use it to help you figure out how SLI really compares.

2006-07-09 07:35:47

#6

Zedman: Member; +3|7025|NOVA

I would say go with the 7900, the SM3.0 and other new features make it a better purchase option. Especially since a single 7900 will probably get roughly equal or better performance. Keep in mind that is a speculation on my part.

2006-07-09 08:43:31

#7

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7015

what resolution are u running? if ur running high res like 1600X1200 then i would go w/ the SLI... but since u already have a 7600gt... i would buy a 7900gt and sell the 7600gt on ebay or sumthing