1080p Graphics Need Sli Or Crossfire?

[privateapples]

So last year around this time (black friday) I built my pc. But in the mix of things I got a Asus P5E (that supports crossfire) and a e-Geforce 8800GTS 640mb . At the time it ran so well I didnt even think a year later Id be wanting to game on my new 42in Aquos at 1080p.

 

So my question is

 

-Do I really need SLI or crossfire to run my games at 1080p?

-Or do I just need to get 1 card thats powerful enough?

Im online and cant find anyone that is only running one card and playing at 1080p.

 

But if I do need XFire or SLI I'm not sure what to do. Do i sell my Asus P5E get an SLI mobo and use my current 8800GTS with another SLI card?

(If so what card what mobo)

 

Or sell my 8800 and get 2 XFire cards?

(If so what cards)

 

Thanks guys

Edited November 25, 2008 by privateapples

[maj0rgamer]

have you hooked your tv up to your current card to see what happens?

 

if it doesn't cut it (and as far a frames per second go it may not), then i would go with the crossfire situation and keep the motherboard you have. You could probably get around $100 for your 8800gts (maybe a little less) and get a couple 4850's for pretty cheap.

 

edit: maybe not so cheap, but good...here's one to look at, it's pretty nice...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Radeon-HD-4850-Gra...%3A1|240%3A1318

Edited November 25, 2008 by Maj0r Gamer

[MINDSCI]

I have a Phillips 47" 5ms 1080p 120Hz HDTV... I am running a Nvidia GTX280 & am planning on adding a 2nd GTX280, because I do Neuroscience-Brain 3D Scientific Illustrating work. However, I have not yet gotten into gaming- Far Cry 2 is on its way now, and I can't wait to get my feet wet!

 

As such, the more Graphics Card Firepower you can throw at your 42" 1080p HDTV the better. You could do a 4850x2 or a 4870x2; or crossfire 4850's or 4870's. For a middle of the road Graphics solution a single 4850 really can't be beat- see all the reviews here at OCC and you'll see what I mean.

 

Right now is a good time to be buying Graphics Cards... Prices have been dropping precipitously on sites like Newegg. Both ATI & Nvidia will be slashing prices even more in the next few weeks since new cards are coming out. Plus, both camps have had abysmal Q3 & Q4 earnings- layoffs, spinning off company divisions etc. So, they are hard up for cash and need to liquidate their overstocked inventories.

 

Finally, the more GPU memory you can afford, the better for these big HDTV's- at least that's what I have read.

[Crazy_Nate]

Im online and cant find anyone that is only running one card and playing at 1080p.

 

Me! Me!

 

1080P here. 8800GTS (G92). Works just fine (but...what games you play at what settings might make a huge difference...)

 

I play UT3, a slew of Valve games (CS:S, DoD:S, TF2, Portal, blah blah), Company of Heroes, Fallout 3, etc. I haven't really tried some of the more hardware intense games...however, I do play all of the aforementioned with High settings, and usually a sufficient amount of AA / AF.

 

Try it first

[Krieg1337]

So last year around this time (black friday) I built my pc. But in the mix of things I got a Asus P5E (that supports crossfire) and a e-Geforce 8800GTS 640mb . At the time it ran so well I didnt even think a year later Id be wanting to game on my new 42in Aquos at 1080p.

 

So my question is

 

-Do I really need SLI or crossfire to run my games at 1080p?

-Or do I just need to get 1 card thats powerful enough?

Im online and cant find anyone that is only running one card and playing at 1080p.

 

But if I do need XFire or SLI I'm not sure what to do. Do i sell my Asus P5E get an SLI mobo and use my current 8800GTS with another SLI card?

(If so what card what mobo)

 

Or sell my 8800 and get 2 XFire cards?

(If so what cards)

 

Thanks guys

 

I would suggest at least one GTX 280, but two would be even better.

Or an HD 4870X2?

[Crazy_Nate]

Also note, it is not size that matters, but resolution...1080p can be easier than a 24" LCD monitor...

 

Again, try it first

[privateapples]

Crazy Nate what kind of cable do you connect your card with?

Edited November 25, 2008 by privateapples

[MINDSCI]

4870x2 and 4850x2 are dual GPU cards that take only one PCI x16 slot. Crossfire of two 4850 or 4870 cards would need 2 x16 slots- nit sure which P5E Mobo you have.

Nvidia has/had the 9800GX2 dual GPU card, but support for it is waining. Newer Graphics cards have SPDIF audio inputs, so you can run digital audio from a Mobo or Soundcard to your graphics card and then hookup your system via an HDMI cable to get the best 1080p pic & sound. Component- red, blue, and green can do HDTV but not all can do 1080p, and the audio might have to be hooked up analog if you don't have a digital audio input on your HDTV or Receiver etc.

[Archerzz]

Even a normal 4870 would be fine at 1080p also if you want to run sli I believe you still would need the exact same card as you have for sli to work properly even down to the bios version (has this been changed since i last looked at sli?).

[g0tanks]

I have the EVGA 8800GTS 640MB too overclocked to 675/1500/1050. Runs all games fine on 1080P (of course you have to lower the settings a bit on Crysis but it will still look good).

[cchalogamer]

if you want to run sli I believe you still would need the exact same card as you have for sli to work properly even down to the bios version (has this been changed since i last looked at sli?).

WAY outdated there buddy, any card with the same core can run with any other card with the same core in SLI, for example, 8800 GTS 640mb will SLI with a 8800 GTS 320mb, though they will act as two 320mb cards, but the 8800 GTS 512mb will not SLI with either of them.

[hardnrg]

i have run 8800GTS 640 cards in single and SLI, stock, oc'd and voltmodded oc'd... 8800GTS 640 SLI is really nice, and definitely a step up from a single 8800GTS... i game at 1920x1200

 

I say sell the gcard and go for a 4870X2, unless you want to get a 790i board and ddr3