1 GFX card or 2?

Wesker

I'm looking at buying a new computer in the near future, preferably one with SLI (Dual cards) but what is the difference between having, say, 1 x 640mb card or 2 x 320mb cards?
I was thinking that if i had the one card to start with, then in a year or so if i wanted to upgrade i'd just have to buy another card the same, rather than 2 more to replace the 2 if i went for that option, if you know what i mean.
But then by that time i probably wouldnt be able to get another card the same as the first what with the speed of technology these days.
Me is confused lol :rolleyes:

GoofyGAT

Wesker wrote: »

I'm looking at buying a new computer in the near future, preferably one with SLI (Dual cards) but what is the difference between having, say, 1 x 640mb card or 2 x 320mb cards?
I was thinking that if i had the one card to start with, then in a year or so if i wanted to upgrade i'd just have to buy another card the same, rather than 2 more to replace the 2 if i went for that option, if you know what i mean.
But then by that time i probably wouldnt be able to get another card the same as the first what with the speed of technology these days.
Me is confused lol :rolleyes:

Sli/Crossfire & single cards compared. I reckon the former are a waste of money - the gains aren't that great, or on the odd occasion may look good on paper/the benchmarks. But they don't really make any/much of a difference in realworld terms. E.g., would anyone be able to tell if they're running a game at 90fps or 110fps? There's probably more to a game & the dual/quad GPU setup than just speed, but it still ain't woth it.

640Mb is a waste of money too - they're only meant for very high resolution gaming (extra large monitors) & don't make enough of a difference on smaller displays to justify the premium price tag. Just have a look at the benchmarks & reviews out there.

As you rightly said, get one 320Mb to start you off. When the next best thing comes around, get another single card. It doesn't have to be the very best - 2nd best is usually more than enough & quite a bit cheaper too. One cannot get any more wiser & wallet-friendly than that when buying high-end GPUs . You already knew this though, didn't you?

"But then by that time i probably wouldnt be able to get another card the same as the first" - you would most probably be able to get the same card some years later on eBay - at a fraction of the cost (at least, one hopes!). G

Wesker

Thanks for your reply. It will probably be nearer Xmas before i get a new PC but just looking at what's on offer
Your links were very helpfull, will keep an eye on them

Cerro

I have to agree with GoofyGAT, in real world terms 2 graphics cards just aren't worth the money. Although as the card ages the difference between 90 and 120fps does make itself apparent (when one is 30 and then other is 60 its very noticeable) but after that amount of time, the money you saved on the second card could be spent on a much better, new one.

Alternatively i'd spend the money that would have gone on the second card, on more ram. Double the ram really does improve performance and load times, which really is worth that little bit extra.

SLI/Crossfire is just a very good marketing ploy to get you to buy 2 of those £400 cards and not just 1 £300 one which, does the same in real-world terms.