Crossfire vs. SLI

[JPLake]

Crossfire vs. SLI - which is better?

Is there a meaningful reason to base my next system on one technology or the other? I guess this is also essentially a question on nForce chipsets vs. Intel 965/975.

ATI website claims that you can mix and match GPU's (to a certain extent) with Crossfire, while with SLI you have to pair the exact same GPU. Am I missing anything else?

 

[HotFoot]

You might consider adding a third option: neither. Unless you're pairing up two high-end cards (ATI 19xx, Nvidia 79xx or 8800), then you're better off upgrading to a single high-end card over using two mainstream cards (ATI 16xx or NV 76xx).

It seems to me that it's a better upgrade path, for those on a fixed budget, to just trade up to a newer performance video card rather than double-up their old card. You might think that SLI is nice because you can get one 79xx now, and then in a few months add another. However, by that time, you might be better off with a single R600 or NV80 based video card. And if you do go with dual graphics cards, then when it's time for them to retire, you have twice as much hardware becoming obsolete.

On the other hand, if you want to run two 8800's in SLI, this is an incredible setup. I imagine you'd want to be running a huge monitor with ridiculous resolutions to take advantage of that much power, though.

 

[JPLake]

Can I assume from your reply that you dont have a preference between an nForce 680 and an Intel 975 chipset?

 

[HotFoot]

No, I don't have a preference between the two. I have taken more of a liking to Nvidia than ATI since I had quite a lot of trouble getting an ATI video card to work with SUSE Linux, and then an ATI capture card that worked perfectly in my girlfriends' computer didn't work properly at all in mine (software installation issue, and then technical support was non-existant). I pawned both ATI cards and now I don't buy from that company any more.

EDIT: The software issue I mentioned above was in Windows XP for both cases. My machine is dual boot (currently Ubuntu and WinXP).

 

[prozac26]

There is no "better". It depends on the cards. Two 8800s in SLI would be better than two X1950XTXs in CF, due to the fact that a single 8800 is better than a X1950XTX.

 

[Slava]

You might consider adding a third option: neither

Agreed...

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and while one is 'technically' better than the other the simple truth is along the lines of what people already mentioned;

If you don't know why one or the other is better and don't know why you NEED one or the other, then really, neither is for you.

Buy whichever mobo has the best other features, SLi/Xfire isn't the only difference.

I'd be more concerned about SATA/FireQire/Ethernet/USB/MemorySupport/Overclocking/etc. issues than SLi / Xfire.

And if you find you eventually Do NEED one or the other, then sell the board you have and get the best solution for that 'NEED'.

 

[enforcerfx]

Neither. Dont burn 1000-1500 bucks on a top-of-the-line SLi/CF setup if your only going to play on a screen with resolutions below 1600x1200, and even then 1 high-end card will do it nicely. I plan to swap my 2 7900GTX's out this year for a 8800GTX or possibly even a 8900 series if it comes along in due time so I can save the extra cash on a nice C2D setup or quad-core if it comes cheap enough. Either way, SLi and CF is now a gimmick, always trying to get people like you to buy their products. Last year, I dont think SLi was a big problem since more powerful cards were being released and everyone wanted bragging rights. And CF, well that only came a short time ago compared to SLi. My advice, don't go with either of them like many have said here.