Is 3-way SLI worth it?

[hdantman]

I've currently got 2 8800 GTs OC'd to 704/1006, which *should* be nearing the performance of dual *stock* 9800 GTXs (right?--similar clock speeds...). I have a 790i Ultra mobo, and I've been weighing the possibility of 3-way SLI. I have cursed nVidia many times for not offering 8800 GT drivers to accomplish this, since it would be such a cheap jump for me (I'm even attempting to write drivers myself, but DAMN it's hard!), but now the prices of the GTXs are going down--found one today for 179 bucks. I have the option to build a friend a an SLI rig with my other 8800GTs, so I'll make the money back. But is it worth it? Why in poop is the 9800GTX not much faster than the 8800GT? Why on earth isn't it faster than the 8800GTX across the board? Are the GPUReview numbers correct? I'm assuming they are, and that the advantage the 9800GTX has is that it's running G92 instead of G80, so it's more OCable with the 65nm process.

Anyhow, I'm trying to figure out if running 3x9800GTXs ($540) is a good/bad idea price/performance wise. Would it be better to just get a single GTX 280 ($460)? I want to get the most out of my 3x x16 slots, but is it worth it? I have the other hardware to run it for sure (no bottlenecks/PSU issues). I run two 22" monitors, so the resolutions I play games at are pretty good (3360x2100).

I'm probably going to wait a while, since right now I'm dealing with a car accident that is costing me dinero, but I just don't know what to do once I have it.

9800 GX2 is out of the question (why pay more for a dumbed down, hotter setup?), as are the ATI cards, as I've discovered (from my past 3870 x2 problems) that they don't run well with my mobo.

Any ideas? Of course, if one of you knows of some hacked 8800GT 3-way SLI drivers, (or a firmware flash hack) I'd love you forever and call it a day. G92 is enough for me. Sorry for so many questions piled into one post. I get carried away sometimes.

[Radiator]

3-way SLi will not work in most games . However , when it works , it is tons faster than any other setup ... but the extra performance you'll get , will only be needed in Crysis . So , are you willing to spend a ton of cash for running Crysis ?

[hdantman]

Firstly,

I don't know why it posted twice.... Oh well.

I thought that SLI support was either/or. If a game supports SLI, shouldn't 3way SLI work? It's a driver issue, from what I've read.

I know that a lot of games have no SLI support, but it seems like more do than don't.

[Sunny]

Ummmm, 8800 GT's cannot 3 Way SLI because of the sli connectors that it has available. It needs 2 connectors per card and each 8800GT only have one connector. So 3 way SLI is out of the question for 8800 GT.

i would honestly go with the GTX 280 it is very similar in performance with 2 9800GTX in SLI according to the review over at the [H]. So if you were to upgrade to 2 GTX280 down the road your performance should exceed that of 3 way 9800GTX's in SLI.

Another thing to remember is that SLI does not support Dual monitors. If you have 2 monitors I believe SLI has to be turned off and each card runs by itself.

One more thing to note is that I don't know what operating system you are using either Windows XP or Vista? Currently 3 way SLI is only supported in Windows Vista.

Hopefully that will answer some of your quesitons.

[Die Auslese]

Its the number of GPU's that a game supports much the way a game supports single/duel/quad CPU core(s). In my Opinion just go with a single GTX280, yes 3 9800GTX's OCed will mostley kick the crap outta the GTX280. However remember that everytime you boot up a game it will use that single GTX280, vs 1 of 3 (or 2 of 3) 9800GTX. If you want, u can go my way, which is a GX2 with a water Block, water cooler, and overclock the HELL out of it. My GX2 out does a GTX280, and roughly costs the same. Thats if you rethink the GX2 as a fesible option.

[Radiator]

The GX2 has more issues than a GTX280 , though . Microstuttering and other problems from SLi .

[hdantman]

Thanks for the responses,

I'm using Vista 64bit.

I'm not sure I want to change over to liquid cooling, and I have had issues with micro-stuttering before, as Radiator pointed out in another post of mine. I resolved this by usind Wizard's solution: assigning affinity to the SLI drivers and 3 cores to the game.

Crysis isn't worth another dime to me, since I already get 34fps at all settings maxed, 2x antialiasing. I still like pushing the system though, and I'm sure games will become more demanding as time goes on--Crysis was just a start.

I haven't had good experiences with dual gpus on a card so far--that's why I'm trying to avoid it. I'm glad it works well for you, though. How much was your waterblock setup?

Sounding like the 280 at this point.

Sunny, when I read your post, I was puzzled, and had to open up my 790 box and take a look at the 3-way sli connector. When I did, I laughed out loud. Cancel the 8800GT driver proj...

[Sunny]

Sunny, when I read your post, I was puzzled, and had to open up my 790 box and take a look at the 3-way sli connector. When I did, I laughed out loud. Cancel the 8800GT driver proj...

Ha ha ha no problem man. I have seen lots of people say the same stuff about 3 Way SLI.;)

[hdantman]

Oh, and Sunny--you're right about SLI not supporting multiple monitors. You have to use Matrox Dual or Triple head 2 Go.