Would 2 8800GTS's with 320MB running in SLi be graphically better than 1 8800GTS with 640MB? or is it the other way around? explainations would be helpful. Thanks.
would they each run faster, smoother, more efficiently? is better because 2 cards share the load? Are graphics cards better with more total video memory?
You would get better performance over all, but as far as memory is conserned, depends on the game. 2 cards do not double the memmory, it just means you have each cards memory to candle the load it is doing. So if you SLI 2 512... you are running half the rendering of the game on each card with 512... and if the game doesn't use it all, the rest just sits. You will have 1g+ total memory but will only use maybe half on each card, where if you had a GTX for example, you would render all the graphics on the 700+, but again, would only use what the game requires.
No. But my single 640MB GTS is still able to play all the newest games in 1680*1050 with max detail and max AA. So unless you play at extreme resolutions, you don't really need SLI yet. When you do, you can always buy a second 640MB GTS (at that time it will be much cheaper) or an even better card.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/04/17/geforce_8600/ has performace data and it shows that the 320MB isn't that much faster than the 640MB card (10-20% tops) .
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