Dual vs. Single Graphic Card Question

Are dual graphic cards always better than singles?
Or are there some singles that are better than dual ones? (if so what are they)

Thanks.

it all depends on the the card/cards, dual 7900 gtx's will beat a 8800 gtx( dx 9 of course) but dual 7600 gt's will not beat a 8800 gtx.bumsoil

Dual 7900 GTX's DO NOT beat the 8800 GTX.

Not even dual X1950 XTX beat the 8800 GTX.

I would consider dual-graphics card combos to be a total waste of money. There's no question that if you want the highest framerate in town, it's the way to go. However, it's usually much more worth your while to upgradeyour system with a newer, more advanced single GPU. If you're going for the balls-to-the-wall highest-end rig in all the land, SLI might be good for you since it doesn't get any faster... yet. The only reason SLI is really necessary is if you need something faster than the fastest single card available, which is totally unecessary. I wouldn't SLI two 8600s. I would instead go for a single 8800, which leaves you with the option of installing another one down the line when it starts to struggle. The only problem with this is that you need to match the exact GPU in the future, and card makers basically phase out product lines on a weekly basis. I had a friend looking into buying a second GeForce 7800 GT, but they're virtually impossible to find since the entire 7800 line has been replaced with the 7900. They're hard to find, and lack of supply can lead to unreasonable prices. You'll most likely have to resort to eBay or craigslist.

Plus, their performance gain is not always the same with each game.

Depending on the game you can recieve either little performance or significant performance benefit.

I would consider dual-graphics card combos to be a total waste of money. There's no question that if you want the highest framerate in town, it's the way to go. However, it's usually much more worth your while to upgradeyour system with a newer, more advanced single GPU. If you're going for the balls-to-the-wall highest-end rig in all the land, SLI might be good for you since it doesn't get any faster... yet. The only reason SLI is really necessary is if you need something faster than the fastest single card available, which is totally unecessary. I wouldn't SLI two 8600s. I would instead go for a single 8800, which leaves you with the option of installing another one down the line when it starts to struggle. The only problem with this is that you need to match the exact GPU in the future, and card makers basically phase out product lines on a weekly basis. I had a friend looking into buying a second GeForce 7800 GT, but they're virtually impossible to find since the entire 7800 line has been replaced with the 7900. They're hard to find, and lack of supply can lead to unreasonable prices. You'll most likely have to resort to eBay or craigslist.

cricketboy2238

[QUOTE="cricketboy2238"]

I would consider dual-graphics card combos to be a total waste of money. There's no question that if you want the highest framerate in town, it's the way to go. However, it's usually much more worth your while to upgradeyour system with a newer, more advanced single GPU. If you're going for the balls-to-the-wall highest-end rig in all the land, SLI might be good for you since it doesn't get any faster... yet. The only reason SLI is really necessary is if you need something faster than the fastest single card available, which is totally unecessary. I wouldn't SLI two 8600s. I would instead go for a single 8800, which leaves you with the option of installing another one down the line when it starts to struggle. The only problem with this is that you need to match the exact GPU in the future, and card makers basically phase out product lines on a weekly basis. I had a friend looking into buying a second GeForce 7800 GT, but they're virtually impossible to find since the entire 7800 line has been replaced with the 7900. They're hard to find, and lack of supply can lead to unreasonable prices. You'll most likely have to resort to eBay or craigslist.

jhunte99

Hehe, he actually managed to find one locally on Craigslist.

I run 2 7950 gt ko's in sli and there was a pretty good increase of graphic performance...

I am saving for just one 8800 though....

I have run games with both a single 8800 GTX and two of them in SLI. I have seen performance gains as high as 120% in Lost Planet DX10 and as low as 10% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. On average though you'll see performance gains of 70%-90%, not to mention you can run DX9 games with 16x Supersampled CSAA with no problem whatsoever.Spindoc_SEI

The supersampling AA is actually something worth noting because while it can bog down performance in games that use both graphics cards, if you have a game that doesn't you can make use of your second graphics card by using 16x CSAA atpractically no performance cost.

sometimes dual card setups can benefit, 2X 8800 GTS in SLI are cheaper then one 8800 ultra and are more powerful by a little bit, Im building a new rig for christmas and I gonna be running 2X 8800 GT in SLI and from what i've herd they are allmost as fast as a 8800 GTS so 2 of them will be about the same as an ultra or even more powerful.

still though some games have problems with SLI and only read a single card, still though you can gain 80% extra FPS regarless of what resolution you are using dual card setups are good for getting that extra power and speed increase, like 2 8600 GTS in SLI will be about as powerful as a 8800 GTS but it will have 512MB of RAM instead of 320 wich nodays you really cant survive on anything under 512MB, unless if its a extremly poweful card like theXFX 8800GTS FATAL1TY card.

sorry for the long post.........

I was just about going to reccomend you Dell's latest gaming laptop with 2X 8700GT those card are very fast, only a few FPS slower then the 8800 cards, 2 of them would be as powerful as a GTX or even more powerful.

go for the Dell laptop for sure

I would consider dual-graphics card combos to be a total waste of money. There's no question that if you want the highest framerate in town, it's the way to go. However, it's usually much more worth your while to upgradeyour system with a newer, more advanced single GPU. If you're going for the balls-to-the-wall highest-end rig in all the land, SLI might be good for you since it doesn't get any faster... yet. The only reason SLI is really necessary is if you need something faster than the fastest single card available, which is totally unecessary. I wouldn't SLI two 8600s. I would instead go for a single 8800, which leaves you with the option of installing another one down the line when it starts to struggle. The only problem with this is that you need to match the exact GPU in the future, and card makers basically phase out product lines on a weekly basis. I had a friend looking into buying a second GeForce 7800 GT, but they're virtually impossible to find since the entire 7800 line has been replaced with the 7900. They're hard to find, and lack of supply can lead to unreasonable prices. You'll most likely have to resort to eBay or craigslist.

cricketboy2238

I second this post.

I personally dislike SLI in general. Dual gfx cards just aren't the bestdeal for the money.