NVIDIA SLI Performance Preview with MSI's nForce4 SLI Motherboard
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 29, 2004 5:06 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Doom 3 Performance
This benchmark requires no introduction - currently the most stressful game on today's GPUs, Doom 3 performance is the perfect area to look at the benefits of SLI.
Starting at 1024 x 768 we see that despite the low resolution, the GeForce 6800GT got a nice 46% performance boost from SLI. The performance improvement is much greater on the slower 6600GT as it is more GPU limited at 1024 x 768 than the 6800GT, weighing in at just under 72%.
Here the performance of two 6600GTs is equivalent of a single GeForce 6800GT.
As the resolution goes up so does the performance benefit from SLI. The 6800GT moved up to a 68% performance improvement, while the 6600GT only inched up to a 78.2% gain. The 6800GTs in SLI configuration actually make 1280 x 1024 with 4X AA smooth as butter under Doom 3.
At 1600 x 1200 we see some huge performance gains from SLI: 75.3% and 85% from the 6800GT and the 6600GT respectively. It's clear that SLI makes even the highest resolutions with AA enabled quite playable.
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ImJacksAmygdala - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
Thanks for the article.I think I will skip the nforce3 and nforce4 boards. I hear that there will even be HT problems with the Nforce4 AO3 silicon and I don't feel like rolling the dice with any other problems.
I;m not sold on SLI anymore either. I have the cash for it, but I'm considering the extra cost of 2 high end cards instead of just getting the latest and greatest every 1.5 to 2 years. I'm concerned about the extra heat and noise aswell.
I would have much rather had Sound Storm than SLI. I think I will just wait and see if a Dolby Live 5.1 encoding sound solution shows up before I upgrade to a AMD64 system. Intel has Dolby Live 5.1 encoding so maybe Creative will soon too.
Lord Banshee - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
Can you please test Spec ViewPref 7.1.1 or above with the next SLI mobo you test. Alot of us 3D modelers want to know if SLI will benifit.CrystalBay - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
GJ Anand, you scooped everyone (other review sites) again... :)bob661 - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
mrdudesirSee #34.
mrdudesir - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
I dont get why everyone is bitching about the added cost for people who dont want it. There is no added cost if you dont want SLI. Just buy a board based on the NF4 Ultra Chipset. ITs the exact same chipset just with no SLI. In fact if anything SLI lowers the price because it leaves a new top of the line chipset so that the NF4 Ultra doesn't have to be the absolute best and hence it is cheaper.nserra - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
I already had a dual voodoo2 SLI, and besides the extra speed (and not always), no more....This is not that brilliant:
1st - Need motherboard support and a special/specific one (voodoo2 didn’t)
2nd - Doesn’t bring anything new features besides extra speed (play at 1280x1024 instead of 1024x768?)
3rd - More heat and power requirement.
4th - The driver must support the game (I don’t know if voodoo2 also needed this)
5th - It will prolong your PC how? Does the SLI 6600GT have the same functionalities/features of future products (NV50) don’t think so.
6th – Price, price, price …..
7th – Voodoo2 also had a version of SLI in a single board, a much cleaver solution, for the immediate since every board would accept it.
8th - I bet there will be games incompatibles (voodoo2 had to disable SLI in some games in order to work/play)
….
Reflex - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
#35: If you do not wish to use the second slot for graphics, it is still a fully functioning PCI Express slot you can use for *anything* else, so it is not wasted board space at all.Reflex - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
#9: There will be no add in SoundStorm solution. The group that developed that technology at nVidia has been dissolved and moved on to other projects.Just as well, it was not a quality solution anyways.
bob661 - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
The hardware does exist. You can buy 6600GT's right now on Newegg.haris - Friday, October 29, 2004 - link
SLI is an option on the motherboard. Great. SLI might work because of the driver, but doesn't the hardware have to exist for the feature to be used in the driver?What if Nvidia/ATI have to use up valuable board space for a feature that will only be used by high end users, this means that everyone else is paying for a feature that they don't want or will never use. I don't like the idea that I might be paying extra for my card because one person out of ten thousand (or whatever the % of high end to average users is) wanted that feature.