Matt said:
Hey guys. Since I'm getting a mtoherboard based on the X48 chipset, if
I wanted to use two graphics cards in parallel, I have to go with ATI.
This isn't ideal
Therefore for my new build, is their an ATI card with similar
performance to the nVidia 8800GT (as this seems to be about the right
price) that I could get now?
The benefit would be that as soon as this ATI card starts to fall
behind, I can stick a second identical card in and get better
performance.
Kind Regards,
Matt
Have you been reading the recent product announcements and
benchmark results ? And the resulting pricing on the cards ?
You'll probably find something, for the amount of money you
have to spend.
There are some cards with dual GPUs, either in a single
card or a dual card form. The card has one connector sticking
out of it. A PCI switching chip sits on the card, and that is
how two GPUs can share the same PCI Express slot. And that is
how you'd run two GPUs from a single slot, like the single
good PCI Express x16 slot on a P35 motherboard.
July 14, 2008 ATI 4870 X2
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3354&p=2
Personally, I'd never go for Crossfire or SLI, and instead
would try to buy a single card of some kind, that meets a
decent number of game requirements. I wouldn't even bother
restricting my motherboard selection, to something with a pile
of PCI Express x16 slots. The thing is, there is no room left in
most computers, once you put a couple high end cards in there.
The box ends up hot and with a huge power supply (think about all
the PCI Express power connectors you'll need). In some cases,
you might not even be able to fit a good PCI sound card.
Using just one video card, even if it happens to be
a double slot design, should be enough.
SLI and Crossfire do not support perfect scaling. Which means
you won't always be getting your money's worth that way.
Check the benchmarks to be sure.
Paul
