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6600GT sli Vs 7600 solo

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Hi,

Long time reader, first time poster. My 6600gt is beginning to feel a bit old and i was wondering what the best upgrade path would be. So if you were me what would you go with:

1. Buy a second 6600gt and go sli (have the board already)

or

2. Buy a 7600gt.

Also for future upgrades would 7600 sli beat a 7900gtx solo? the two are approx the same price all in all, but i'm not totally convinced by sli.

Cheers for the advice!

J
 
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M. Mellough

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mcloughj said:
Hi,

Long time reader, first time poster. My 6600gt is beginning to feel a bit old and i was wondering what the best upgrade path would be. So if you were me what would you go with:

1. Buy a second 6600gt and go sli (have the board already)

or

2. Buy a 7600gt.

If speed is what matters and you have no use for the newer features the 7xxx series come with (very few games support those features anyway) you'd better get a second 6600 GT. In SLI mode this will yield a much higher performance than a solo 7600 GT. If I recall well the 6600 GT in SLI mode is as at par with 6800 Ultra which is close to 7800 performance (6800 Ultra is supposed to be as fast as 7800 GS).

Also for future upgrades would 7600 sli beat a 7900gtx solo?

No, the closest 7600 GT in SLI mode comes to is beating the 7900 GT but then again, only at stock speeds.

I gather from your questions that you're wondering if buying a single 7600 GT now would be a good move if all you had to do later was to add a second one instead of buying a 7900 GTX? The answer is no, if you want a good performance boost now but can't afford a 7900 GTX yet the best (as well as cheapest) solution is adding a second 6600 GT and, if required, a more powerful PSU.
 

b1lk1

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I would also add another 6600GT, especially with the proces of them. You could almost certainly find one for $100-120 and it would give your PC a nice kick in the ass. Skip the 7x00 series altogether as they will be outdated by the time your 6600GT SLI setup is too slow.
 
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I agree with going for the 6600GT...It would be a nice boost (I know newmodder has a 6600GT setup, you could always pm him).

As for your other question concerning the 7600GT SLI beating the 7900GTX. SLI and Crossfire still has big overheads due to the drivers not being that great. About a year ago, SLI only offered a 10% increase over the original card. Now they offer around 30% of an increase. It is always better to go for a higher end single card than a lower end SLI/Crossfire setup since the single card usually outperforms or performs on par with the SLI setup, plus you can still have an upgrading path with the single card.

Good luck and post some marks up on the SLI setup.
 
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b1lk1

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Brand does not matter so I'd get the cheapest one available with the same stock clocks. If you overclock, then stock clocks don't matter as much, but brand mixing is fine with SLI.
 
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thanks guys... lots of food for thought. I suppose with DX10 on the horizon i should hold off on the 7 or X1 series and wait to see what the future holds.
 

b1lk1

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For what it would cost you to get another 6600GT you would get some really good gains to hold you over for another year or so until you can do a full upgrade. Getting another GT is, in my opinion, a very good idea.
 

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6600 gt

i would agree get another 6600 gt.after reading your guyzziz posts i going to stick with my current setup.
i am not getting enough cool air between the thwo cards, so if i put my audigy zs at the very bottom the other card would run even warmer. you can see i dont have enough room in the pic.
 
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that`s very close mate...like a thriller...
 

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i beg to differ with anyone that says 1-7900gtx will beat 2-7600 gt's (@stock speeds). i score 10,110 @stock speeds w/2x7600gt's. with my 7800gtx machine it compares to a 7900gt. so i guess the 7900gtx will yield maybe 1,000 to 1,500 points more. so if you looking to spend around 300 bux that will compare to 500 bux buy the 7600gt's. if you looking to save go with the 6600gt's.

btw-i dont know exactly what 2x6600gt's bench but a single 7600gt in my machine benched around 6300 points @stock. if my memory serves me right my friend had 2x6600gt's and he scored around 6700 points.
 
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sell your 6600 card.. buy a 7600gt.. then a few months down the line when u feel the need as u will.. buy another 7600gt..

dont hold your breath waiting for the benefits of DX10

trog
 

Ketxxx

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I doubt DX10 will offer much if anything over DX9c, but why waste money on a DX9c card with DX10 not far off? If you havent already, before splashing any money, OC your 66GT, it may give you the boost you want without spending anything and saving the money for a 2nd\3rd gen DX10 card ;)

To put it another way, even a 68GT clocked still offers plenty of grunt in the latest games, lacking some resolution maybe, but everything else is there.
 

b1lk1

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Selling the 6600GT he has won't bring much money and they are so cheap buying another one is the most cost effective way to get a boost. They are not that power hungry and SLI is sooo easy to set up. I still say a 6600GT SLI setup > 7600GT single all day long.
 

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$100-130 is still $100-130 saved towards a 2nd\3rd gen DX10 card. I know I wouldnt waste that on a DX9c card with DX10 not far off. I would consider it though if a 66GT could be found on fleabay for say $50.
 
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