Hypothetically speaking... (8800GTX SLI)

I'm building a rig w/ a Q6600 and 8800GTX. All will be enclosed within an Antec Nine Hundred. Games will be played on a 21.6" WS LCD @ 1680 x 1050.

Let's say that by this time next year, the higher demanding games will require me to either (a.) play at lower settings or (b.) upgrade my video card. I'd assume by this time that the next model nVidia cards should be out and the price of an 8800GTX should be lower than what it is now. Would I benefit or improve gameplay more by adding a 2nd 8800GTX in SLI or would it be best to purchase the latest model?

I ask for future-proofing purposes. If the best "bang for the buck" is to go SLI, then I should make sure that I purchase SLI compatible components now and not later (RAM, mobo,PSU, etc.). One of my main concerns was the PSU. I was looking at the OCZ 850W GameXStream. Newegg specs show this as nVidia SLI Certified, but the OCZ 850W PSU doesn't show up on this list: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Your thoughts? Should I go with a PSU listed on that site?

Thanks!

The best thing to do next year when a new model is out is to just get the new model, not a 2nd 8800GTX. Performance is generally better, less heat, less expensive PSU, etc. The perpose of SLI is for people with 30" monitors who can't max games with the single best card, in cases of extreme resolutions you need more than one to max games.musclesforcier

Thanks for the info... I'll just build my rig and hope it lasts for a good 2-3 years without needing any major upgrades. Thanks again.

*edit... not sure why it only showed your quote, but i edited to show my comment again.

Changes are that at some point in the next 3 years, you will want to upgrade the video card. Having the OPTION of doing SLI with a 2nd 8800GTX (which should be cheaper in 1 year or 2) is good, but chances are you will be able to get a newer generation card for just a little more money, better performance, less heat and power usage, etc.

When I bought my XPS Gen2 4 years ago, it came with a ATI 9800. I upgraded to a X800 and later to a X1950Pro over a period of 4 years, and it still holds its own (P4EE 3.2GHz.) The 8800GTX is a very powerful card, and at 1680x1050 you are not going to be pushing it hard for a long while...

The "Sli" ram is just a fancy heat spreader nothing more.fivex84

Yeah, about that... are we paying more for anything labelled "SLI Compatible"? If I'm pretty much set on going non-SLI, why should I be forced to pay more for something I'm not going to use?

The "Sli" ram is just a fancy heat spreader nothing more.fivex84

That is not true. SLI RAM has profile information embedded in the memory itself which automatically configures the memory settings optimally. A SLI compatible motherboard would eat this stuff up...

And oh, by the way, since I re-read the thread - do not confuse SLI in the context of video cards with SLI memory. Those are two completely different and unrelated things.

[QUOTE="fivex84"]The "Sli" ram is just a fancy heat spreader nothing more.Dyrti_Byrd_2k2

Yeah, about that... are we paying more for anything labelled "SLI Compatible"? If I'm pretty much set on going non-SLI, why should I be forced to pay more for something I'm not going to use?

Yeah a SLI mobo is more then a non sli, genereally.