SLI or Cross-fire

[markuserectus]

I was wondering if anyone had any kind of preference over SLI and Crossifre when is comes to graphics cards on the pc. would like to know because im looking at upgradeing my pc in the very near future. Or maybe even your
preferences between ATI and NVIDIA

[harveyhanson]

From what i hear, nvidia have better drivers for vista, this might sway your decision?

By the way, why is :kermit: on here, strange smiley?

[markuserectus]

I think i might sway towards NVIDIA due to the DX10 graphic capabilities but the NVIDIA site only says that they will be avaliable around the launch of vista so i might be waiting a while to get the most out of a 8800 GTX

[jayesh]

i have a gts... the smaller brother of the gtx. Current drivers are just not mature for vista or for that matter even xp. I suggest you wait a while.

[markuserectus]

Could you recommend a lower grade card to tied me over until vista based drivers are more developed?
spend under £100

[jayesh]

well i suggest you hold off. I am in regular contact with nvidia and i know for a matter of fact atleast 4 more dx10 based cards are on their way out sometime in feb and when cebit takes place. Pick up a gts then... the rate will have dropped like crazy

[jayesh]

and oh if u have to get it ..... well 7600 gt is more than powerful enough

[markuserectus]

Thanks for the info you've really helped.

[Royale]

I would wait. Theres no point in getting either SLI or Crossfire if theres no game that suddenly makes the price of such cards worth it! 8800 sales have been weak because no one feels the need. 7900s and X1900s run BF2142 well, and thats the most demanding game out now pretty much. These DX10 cards are only going to be useful starting with Crysis which comes out in april/march which actually runs in DX10. ATI's DX10 cards are coming out any day now and supposedly have a leap in performance over the 8800s. SLI or Crossfire really only depends which games make use of the system. Both are powerful for obvious reasons but their technology is similar. However, i think Crossfire is better and will be better. The new AMD-ATI show off how a card in Crossfire can be used as a powerful physics and cpu backup while the other does GPU work.

My opinion is look at reviews for these two systems now and see the performance differs.

Also this whole Vista support thing is kind of stupid. I don't think most people are going to get Vista within a month especially if your doing custom PC stuff. Within a month and more direct x 10 card announcement/releases drivers will be fully optimized. Both Nvidia and AMD boast the best Vista experience. Considering ATI cards have better driver interfaces and more to offer, i think ATI/AMD might rule Vista.

[jayesh]

i dont quite agree royale.. ive done an extensive review of nvidia's drivers while i was benchmarking the 8800gtx ..they seemed to be pretty good. I prefer nvidia's drivers over ATI which at times are very flaky.

as for rd600 what they come up with ... remains to be seen. Its vapourware right now where as nvidia has had DX10 cards out since months now

[markuserectus]

I Did end up going with a really cheap Nvida 7300 and now I am looking to upgrade to an 8800 GTS now that the Price has come down abit and i can afford it. i took the asus p32 e sli board which runs sli when i need it, i was wondering if anyone could recommend a 8800 gts i'm looking to spend £250 max.

[markuserectus]

I Did end up going with a really cheap Nvida 7300 and now I am looking to upgrade to an 8800 GTS now that the Price has come down abit and i can afford it. i took the asus p32 e sli board which runs sli when i need it, i was wondering if anyone could recommend a 8800 gts i'm looking to spend £250 max.

[GeekyTiffy]

I'm running Dual 8500GTs and running Bioshock and Crysis pretty smooth. The cards are real cheap now. Think its worth it if your into serious gaming on a low budget