Hey, I have a question for you guys. You know I was going to build a computer before, and I still am, but after reading up on SLI, I may want to re-think how I build my system so that I can use SLI.
What are your expierances with SLI, and how greatly does it effect performance?
ID:182710
 Feb 25 2008, 8:32 am
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And let me just take this moment to provide a less objective whine.
I hate SLI :( I currently have a SLI machine setup in the workshop that looks as follows: ASUS Striker II Formula 4x 1024MB Kingston HyperX Ultra-Low-Latency (3-3-3-9, 800MHz) Soundblaster Fatal1ty X-FI 2x GeForce 8800GTS in SLI 3x Samsung 500GB Spinpoint 7200 SATAII 1x BluRay Drive (don't remember exact details) 1x ASUS 20x DVD-RW Coolermaster Stacker case The computer *used* to have an ASUS P5N-T Deluxe motherboard, and the HDD's *used* to be WD Raptor 150GB 10000RPM disks. So far, we've sent *three* motherboards in as defective (3 P5N-T Deluxe), because they've died while setting this computer up and been unrecoverable. We've also had to replace the Raptor disks with more 'regular' disks, as they started clicking as soon as the computer even turned on. We've also replaced the PSU twice, tried with a different processor, replaced the DVD-RW drive twice and tried with an 8400GS graphics card. Nothing makes the computer work (CD-drive clicks, if more than one HDD is connected they all click constantly, IE explorer crashes going to www.nvidia.com off a 100% fresh Vista installation, programs fail to install correctly, etc). Don't do SLI. And if you do, don't touch nForce 780i with a stick, or it will swallow you whole and eat your soul. I can't even imagine, if I was a private customer and I had bought these things and it just refused to work. This computer is priced at around $5000. | |
I've built probably 50 SLI setups, and probably close to 3x as many non-SLI setups.
In order to use SLI, you need a board with the nForce chipset. The nForce chipsets have, generally speaking, a much larger failure rate than other chipsets. Some of them undervolt the Northbridge or CPU or RAM or all 3, some of them die if you flash to the newest beta driver (780i chipset, ASUS P5N-T Deluxe) and some cause erratic behavior (Clicking optical drives and HDDs, failure to POST, BIOS resetting) even when they are set up correct and have been working for a day or two.
Out of the 50 or so SLI setups, less than half have been 'problem free', and almost none of them have worke with RAM not on their QVL (Qualified Vendor List).
As for performance boost from SLI itself, probably close to about 20 - 40% depending on the game. This is based off playing games (Crysis & BioShock), as well as 3DMark tests and BurnIn tests run over an extended period of time (Which had to be done on a few of the machines I've built, to make sure they're stable).
Add to this the fact that not a great deal of games even support SLI, and you're going to want to set *everything* in the BIOS manually and you better know what you're doing and have spare components to test with - And my personal verdict on SLI is as follows:
User friendliness: 0/10
Performance boost: 4/10
Failure rate: ~30% on systems where all components are made for SLI (SLI ready RAM, QVL components, etc); > 30% on systems where they aren't.
Worth it ? No. I work at a computer store where I assemble about 10 - 30 computers a week, by the way (Ranging from office machines with graphics cards integrated into the mobo, to gaming computers that cost $3000 - $6000). My co-workers and myself attend business meets at Intel, AMD, Antec, etc. and so we tend to have a pretty good insight into the market and what benefits lie where.
Don't go SLI - Get one solid graphics card (Wait for the 9800GTX and use that), a good motherboard (ASUS P5E, ASUS Maximus Formula are two very good bets) and some good RAM (Corsair is dodgy sometimes, and while it performs very well, we get a lot of Corsair which we send in as defective as well. Kingston HyperX RAM works really well, and you can easily OC the low-timing HyperX RAM (4-4-4-12, you can even get 3-3-3-9 timings if you want) to over 1100MHz if you've got the right setup.
If you want to throw money at performance, get one of the new Penryn CPU's with a 12MB cache and core-load-balancing support. The CPU actually OC's one/two cores if only one/two/three are in use, and turns off the remaining ones. It does this automagically, which is awesome.