• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

CrossfireX or SLI

wtfdude

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
10 (0.00/day)
i have been waiting on the fence for a while and still am, regarding what system to build in regards to multi-GPU performance, for me its either Intel X48 or 790i or Intel X38 or 780i i really need some advice regarding this matter, thanks what system will give me more bang 4 buck in regards to a multi gpu system for eg. either 3870 X2 + 3870 or 9800 GTX sli.
 

GameSinewPCs

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
89 (0.02/day)
Location
Albany New York
How much are you looking to spend, what games/apps are you expecting to use (and at what settings), are you willing to upgrade your cpu and what are the other intended specifications of the system?
 
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
1,925 (0.31/day)
Processor Intel C2D E8500 @ 4.25GHz (1.36V)
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6
Cooling (Temporary) Tuniq Tower 120
Memory 2GB Transcend aXeram 1200+
Video Card(s) HIS HD3870 CF Volt modded
Storage 3 Seagate 320Gb Barracuda in an Intel Matrix Raid array
Display(s) Sony GDM-FW900 24" Widescreen CRT (a.k.a "The Shiznotch")
Case Ultra Aluminus Full Tower
Audio Device(s) onboard Intel HD audio
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software XP MCE + Vista (HP) dual-boot
Looks like it's down to which mobo you want. X38/X48 don't do SLI...
 

flashstar

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2007
Messages
743 (0.13/day)
System Name Einstein IV
Processor 1090t @ 3.8 Ghz
Motherboard Fatal1ty 990FX Professional
Cooling Swiftech H20 Cooling Kit w/ Apogee XT Rev. 2
Memory 32 GB DDR3
Video Card(s) MSI 260 XT 216 edition
Storage 2x 120gb Sandisk Extreme SSDs, 1x 120 gb Corsair Force 2
Display(s) Samsung BW206
Case Lian-li Lan-cool
Audio Device(s) M-Audio Profire 610
Power Supply Corsair TX-750
3870x2 + 3870 is going to be faster than 2 9800gtx's in SLI.
 
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
2,116 (0.32/day)
System Name Not named
Processor Intel 8700k @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Assassin II
Memory 16GB DDR4 Corsair LPX 3000mhz CL15
Video Card(s) Zotac 1080 Ti AMP EXTREME
Storage Samsung 960 PRO 512GB
Display(s) 24" Dell IPS 1920x1200
Case Fractal Design R5
Power Supply Corsair AX760 Watt Fully Modular
It really depends on what your price range is, at this point in the game 9600gt's perform extremely well, but if you're on the highend its a different story.
 

wtfdude

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
10 (0.00/day)
How much are you looking to spend, what games/apps are you expecting to use (and at what settings), are you willing to upgrade your cpu and what are the other intended specifications of the system?

I am intending to run the following components

Intel Core2Duo E6750 (would change when new ones are launched)
DDR3 1600MHz
and the graphics is down to the mobo i choose.
 

GameSinewPCs

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
89 (0.02/day)
Location
Albany New York
You'll save yourself money by going with an X38 motherboard and X-fire with comparable performance versus 3GTXs on a 780i board. For example, a Gigabyte X38 with Sapphire 3870X2 and a Sapphire 3870 will run you roughly $850 after parts are shipped, an eVga 780i board with 3X8800GTXs will run you roughly $1500 with comparable performance to the HD3870's.

Edit: That E6750 should OC fairly well, I recommend ( if you weren't going to already) installing a good after market cooler such as a Thermalright Ultra or a Zalman 9700. I'd expect an OC of around 3.6+Ghz depending on the chip. Also, you could save yourself some money and go with some DDR2 800 or 1066mhz ram. Maybe add a couple of GBs as well?
 

wtfdude

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
10 (0.00/day)
I have seen somewhere i cant remember that the 3870's dont do well when AA is enabled, and come behind a 9600 GT. but i am not aiming to go tri sli with 8800 GTX's may be 8800 GTs would do the job. what i choose, i am really sitting on the fence here.
 

ShadowFold

New Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2007
Messages
16,918 (2.85/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Name The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling Stock
Memory Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage Western Digital 640gb
Display(s) Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s) Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores -❶-❸-❸-❼-
Get a X38, HD 3870X2 and a HD 3870. My HD 3850 only loses around 4-10fps with 2x AA but I dont really use it that much.
 

GameSinewPCs

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
89 (0.02/day)
Location
Albany New York
Two 8800GT(s) in SLI are great on a 780i board. But I'd just as readily say go with a 3870X2 on a x38 board with the option to add another 3870X2 or a 3870 in the future. Both are priced and will perform similarly.

Edit: Again, if we know your specific budget it really helps.
 
Joined
May 9, 2006
Messages
2,116 (0.32/day)
System Name Not named
Processor Intel 8700k @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Assassin II
Memory 16GB DDR4 Corsair LPX 3000mhz CL15
Video Card(s) Zotac 1080 Ti AMP EXTREME
Storage Samsung 960 PRO 512GB
Display(s) 24" Dell IPS 1920x1200
Case Fractal Design R5
Power Supply Corsair AX760 Watt Fully Modular
I have seen somewhere i cant remember that the 3870's dont do well when AA is enabled, and come behind a 9600 GT. but i am not aiming to go tri sli with 8800 GTX's may be 8800 GTs would do the job. what i choose, i am really sitting on the fence here.

9600gt's are very powerful, but they're not better than 3870's. Although you are correct about the whole ati cards suffering with aa+af and such, they do seem to take a bigger hit.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3235

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nvidia-9600gt-review.ars/2

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/21/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt/index.html
 

GameSinewPCs

New Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
89 (0.02/day)
Location
Albany New York
Also take into consideration that a single 3870 is usually identical in price to a single 9600GT. There are advantages/disadvantages to each. 9600GTs tend to run quieter and draw a little less power than 3870s.
 
Top