Now that PCI-X gives us some new options when deciding on the parts for our "performance PC", and since I'm going to soon be getting some new hardware and haven't had the money to do this since I got an 800 FSB P4 3.2 GHz Hyperthreading platform (decidedly not-so-current), I have the following compelling question for the hardware performance enthusiasts.

Considering the price of two PCI-X GeForce 6600GTs is about the same price as a single GeForce 7600GT (2 x $109.99 vs. $240.00 approx.), what gives the better performance? Buying a pair of 128M 6600GT's or a single 256M 7600GT?

Of course, from a "future upgrade" standpoint, if you go with two 6600GT's, you'll have to take them both out to upgrade video, but if you put in a single 7600GT, you can just add a second card later to boost performance...

I'd like to know your opinions. Thanks!

Well if I were you I would pick up a a 7600GTS. Its essentially a 7600GS core running at GT speeds with GDDR3 memory so it essentially equals a 7600GT (minus the massive oc potential). Plus at $99 its fairly cheap. I picked up one after Christmas and have been really happy with it.

And iirc a 7600GT is about equal to a 6800GT which was about equal to 2x 6600GT's. Not to mention that you can always throw in another 7600. Also the 7 series support Shader Model 3.0 which is nice.


Lastly where are you getting $240 for a 7600GT? Most of them are running around $120-$150 right now.



Hope this helps

^What eascarface said. It's always better to get newer technology if you can.

But don't you mean PCI-E Coelacanth? I thought PCI-X was a server and workstation standard?

7900GS's are about $170, and they'll be loads better than the other options. And some have good MIR's on newegg. It all depends on how much you want to pay.
Newegg.com - eVGA GeForce 7900GS 256-P2-N624-AR KO Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - XFX GeForce 7900GS PVT71PUQF3 Video Card - Retail

There's also the Ati option. And X1900GT's (better than 7900GS's, and I've used both) are $155 with out MIR's.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900GT 100189L VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail
And finally for $200 you could get an X1900XT.
Newegg.com - connect3D Radeon X1900XT 3059 VIVO Video Card - Retail

I think he meant 7900GT. As was said you can get 7600GT's for a little over $100.
BFG 7600GT $110 AR

Typically..dollar for dollar, a single card will out perform SLI cards..keep in mind not all games properly support SLI!

(Mostly the older ones..so that isn't going to be a real issue anyways, since they should be able to play max detail and high res even on todays midrange cards)

It's only when you reach the top of the line is it worth going SLI IMO, like a pair of 8800GTX's, because obviuosly there is nothing better on the market then!

And as you mentioned, buying a single powerfull card now allows you to add a second card later as the price drops/gaming requirements warrant it, and you have time to save up...going with 2 cards right now means you are gonna be stuck with selling them both to upgrade.

The only reason to go dual cards now is the "Bling Factor" as they certainly do look bad ass!

Does your board support SLI? Not all of them do, and it sounds like your board was made just before SLI was introduced.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro Typically..dollar for dollar, a single card will out perform SLI cards..keep in mind not all games properly support SLI! (Mostly the older ones..so that isn't going to be a real issue anyways, since they should be able to play max detail and high res even on todays midrange cards) It's only when you reach the top of the line is it worth going SLI IMO, like a pair of 8800GTX's, because obviuosly there is nothing better on the market then! And as you mentioned, buying a single powerfull card now allows you to add a second card later as the price drops/gaming requirements warrant it, and you have time to save up...going with 2 cards right now means you are gonna be stuck with selling them both to upgrade. The only reason to go dual cards now is the "Bling Factor" as they certainly do look bad ass! Does your board support SLI? Not all of them do, and it sounds like your board was made just before SLI was introduced.

Sound advise.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro Typically..dollar for dollar, a single card will out perform SLI cards..keep in mind not all games properly support SLI! Does your board support SLI? Not all of them do, and it sounds like your board was made just before SLI was introduced.

Thanks for the advice. The board I mentioned certainly isn't SLI-capable, I was referring to the new hardware I was going to get. After much research and discovering that DDR2 only currently gets a maximum of 5% performance gain over DDR, I pretty much decided to go with a Socket 939 instead of AM2 mobo, the Asus A8N-32 SLI Deluxe. It looks like it will have plenty of upgrade potential, I can put in an inexpensive Athlon 64 around 4000+ range with 1 MB cache/1 GHz FSB, and later toss in an FX when they become remotely affordable. The "True dual PCI-Express 16X" also seems to be a promising feature, other similar mobos cap dual PCI-Express cards to 8X in SLI mode.

Of course I meant PCI-Express when I wrote PCI-X.

Speaking of your pricing on 7600 GT's, here's where I found *my* prices; bearing in mind that I'm from Canada. The lowest-priced eTailer was Memory Express, who have outlets in Calgary and my hometown, Edmonton:

Memory Express (Video Cards > PCI-Express Video Cards) - Memory Express
BFG makes a 7600 GT OC, I've been happy with BFG as a brand, they sell for $259.99 with a $40 rebate.

TigerDirect.ca has the same card for quite a bit less, in every other case Memory Express was cheaper, but this is a surprisingly different price for the same unit. Could be their website is due for an update. Tiger sells it for $190.99 with a $30 rebate. So either way we're talking over $200 with taxes and shipping.
BFG GeForce 7600 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 SLI PCI Express Dual DVI HDTV Video Card BFGR76256GTOCE in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

As far as the cards made by "el-cheapo" manufacturers like DiabloTek or eVGA, I stay away from those. They use cheaper quality parts, usually crappy low-surface-area aluminum heatsinks, and bad cooling solutions overall. I tend to overclock everything sooner or later, and you can't push much more out of those cheapies unless you spend more money on better cooling products for them. I've been happy with BFG's offerings, the quality is good, they're already mildly overclocked, and I found I could get quite a bit more out of them. Well worth the extra expense, IMO.

EDIT: Re: US pricing by Newegg and other places: yes, those prices are quite a bit cheaper, but we really get dinged by Customs and have to pay crazy duties when buying from the USA. I've sometimes had to pay 30% or more of the original purchase price. So I tend to avoid buying anything from across the border, unless it's something that can be shipped with a declared value of 5 bucks and take the risk of no shipping insurance...NOT something I wanna do with high-end computer components!

Why don't you check out NCIX? They seem to be offering much much more reasonable deals and from what I've heard they are a very reputable seller. They've got a BFG 7600GT for $135 after a $40 rebate which is about right pricewise.


Also EVGA is a much much better company now--I rank them right around BFG.

From what I understand of benchmarks (and other threads comparing the pro/con of one better card to two junkie cards in SLi) is that the best way to make use of SLI, is to buy the best card you can at this time, then after some month of price drops, buy a second equal (but now cheaper) card.

Quote: Originally Posted by Coelacanth Thanks for the advice. The board I mentioned certainly isn't SLI-capable, I was referring to the new hardware I was going to get. After much research and discovering that DDR2 only currently gets a maximum of 5% performance gain over DDR, I pretty much decided to go with a Socket 939 instead of AM2 mobo, the Asus A8N-32 SLI Deluxe. It looks like it will have plenty of upgrade potential, I can put in an inexpensive Athlon 64 around 4000+ range with 1 MB cache/1 GHz FSB, and later toss in an FX when they become remotely affordable. The "True dual PCI-Express 16X" also seems to be a promising feature, other similar mobos cap dual PCI-Express cards to 8X in SLI mode.

Just some thought on the 939 AM-2 debate...

939 CPU's have been out of production for a while now..and I found out the hard way it is now MORE EXPENSIVE to build a new 939 rig! (In the US at least)

DDR-2 and DDR 1 pricing is about the same, so there is no real cost savings there.

For an AM-2 3800X-2, there is a thread here that has them for 99$ and I can't find a new one online for 939 for under 165$...even regular price is 130$ for AM-2.

And if you are thinking long term for the rig, dual core is end of the road for 939, the FX-62 will be the fastest you will ever be able to go.

Quad core CPUs will be out for AM-2 at the end of summer, though any software apps for it are limited right now..but I would bet by this time next year games will start supporting it.

The other thing I might mention just as a FYI, is that 8x vs 16x PCIE isn't that huge of a difference, performance is typically almost identical... kinda like 8x and 4x AGP was mostly a marketing gimmick...



Testing shows that the bandwidth isn't saturated with todays cards (Though I have not seen anything using a 8800GTX set up and 8x..that may show a bit more difference)

AnandTech: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe: NVIDIA Dual x16 for the Athlon 64

The article seems to think the performance gain came more from a new chipset revision than anything to do with the 8x vs 16x.

(From the next page of the review)

Quote: In single video card mode, we were completely surprised to find performance increases on the Asus as high as 17.3%. This is an even higher performance increase than SLI mode, but in this case, both the DFI and Asus are running a single card in x16 mode

I did check ncix.com actually, but they didn't carry the majority of items I was looking for. If possible, I like to buy most (if not all) of my stuff from a single online store, it saves on shipping. I hate having to buy a mobo/processor at one place, RAM at another, HSF at a third, and video card at a fourth. I look at who is selling things at the cheapest price overall, then usually go with them. I'm not loyal to any specific vendor, but I've been happy with Tiger Direct. But I recently found Memory Express to be cheaper on almost every item, they sell the Gigabyte G-power pro HSF which has been getting good reviews, and they're local.

I'll have to look more into AM2, and see if there really is a big difference in price. If it's significantly cheaper, and has a bit more future, count me in! I'll do more research...

Just a question, why AMD? The new Core 2 4300 is going to be out soon and it will be about equal to the 3800 at stock. Once it's oc'ed it will wipe the floor with most things.

Quote: Originally Posted by eascarface Just a question, why AMD? The new Core 2 4300 is going to be out soon and it will be about equal to the 3800 at stock. Once it's oc'ed it will wipe the floor with most things.

Mainly because I never buy technology when it's just released (I think I mentioned that earlier). It's ridiculously overpriced and a year later it's probably half the price or less. If I could afford the latest and greatest technology, and had the money to build a $2500 to $3000 PC (and over a grand of that on the CPU alone), I'd throw away the money, for sure. But I don't have that luxury, unfortunately.

Coel, we've had the debate about new technology before so you probably know what I'm going to say...

The E6400 is the way to go. I've been running an E6600 rig almost since they were released and have not run into a single issue at all other than having to learn to OC Intel style. You will gain SO much more performance, the price is cheap, and it future proofs your system for much longer.

Do me a favor and at least price one out with the components you want. I even have a Core 2 motherboard that I would let you have for a real good price. Just do the research and price it.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Coel, we've had the debate about new technology before so you probably know what I'm going to say... The E6400 is the way to go. I've been running an E6600 rig almost since they were released and have not run into a single issue at all other than having to learn to OC Intel style. You will gain SO much more performance, the price is cheap, and it future proofs your system for much longer. Do me a favor and at least price one out with the components you want. I even have a Core 2 motherboard that I would let you have for a real good price. Just do the research and price it.

Will it run Win 98?

Hey, great to hear from you again, ol' dawg!

Yeah, it's cool to see you hanging around too.

I read some reviews of the Core 2 Duo vs. AMD FX-series processors, and the Intel indeed does a little whup-ass. It really shows how out-of-the-loop I am when it comes to new hardware, as I haven't been able to afford anything new since Hyperthreading was a new thing. A recent 2006 article I read showed the AMDs to be out in front of Intel, but I guess the Core 2 Duo gives Intel the jump. It's also more affordable than I thought, but I'll have to do more detailed pricing to see how close they are.

Thanks for the heads-up guys!