Image

SLI or more RAM?

Need help? Or just want to chat about your rig.
Locked
Hammer137

SLI or more RAM?

Post by Hammer137 » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:16 pm

I'm ready to upgrade my PC again :wall: What should I do? add 2GB of ram or add another Geforce 7900 GS KO?

User avatar
madmaz
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Out at sea guarding the Plankton. NUKE THE WHALES!

Post by madmaz » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:59 pm

You already have a Geforce 7900 installed, or want to upgrade to one? Of course it depends on what you want the upgrade used for, gaming or regular PC stuff. If reg PC stuff go with the ram but if for graphics and gaming go for the Geforce. But if you can afford it do both.
Baseball is wrong: Man with four balls cannot walk.

Hammer137

Post by Hammer137 » Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:43 pm

You already have a Geforce 7900 installed, or want to upgrade to one?
I already have 1 installed but I was thinking about adding another 1 to make it SLI.

-999-
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 266
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Strangled, pounced, boomed, hit with concrete and somehow on fire with pipe bomb under me

Post by -999- » Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:52 pm

Generally not worth it to sli. More power requirements, more heat, and the extra performance is only so much, depending on the resolution you're running and your processor/ram. If you don't have 2 gigs of matched ram, I'd go for that. If you're not running atleast 1600x1200, you're not likely to see enough of a performance improvement for the money. Not sure how much mem you have now, but if you already have 2gigs, and you're not planing on upgrading to vista soon, just save the money for a better single card solution in the near future.

Hammer137

Post by Hammer137 » Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:02 pm

Right now I am running on 1024MB of 667mhz DDR2 Dual Channel RAM

-999-
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 266
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Strangled, pounced, boomed, hit with concrete and somehow on fire with pipe bomb under me

Post by -999- » Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:05 pm

2GB is really the "sweet spot" for xp, unless you're running something that could require 2gb of memory space, it's all you need. Just make sure it's a matched pair.

TAR
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm

Post by TAR » Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:47 pm

I completely agree with -999- Don't bother with the SLI b/c you will more-than-likely have to buy a new power supply to run it. The matched pair of ram is key here b/c if they aren't then you are losing performance in the faster ram. What is the max speed ram for your board? You may want to buy some faster ram is possible. Keep in mind that 800mhz ram at 5,5,5,15 timing is going to be slower then low latency (2ish) 667mhz, but if you can 800mhz at low latency that would be pretty nice!!!

This may all be a mutt point... are you running DDR or DDR2?

You could always do a mild fsb/ram speed overclock.

My 2 cents. Any thoughts/comments on my suggestions -999-?
Image

Hammer137

Post by Hammer137 » Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:26 pm

I dont think there would be any power issues

Image

620W SLI Modular :hail: :hail: :hail:

surfgeko

Post by surfgeko » Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:54 pm

oooo, detachable cabels!! nifty

im running a Trio! 650 watt true power elite SLI PSU.

and i have a Geforce 6600 :lol:

FragginOne
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Florida

Post by FragginOne » Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:42 pm

I would definitely say more RAM now. Then save your money for a DirectX10 vid card.

ano1
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: not here

Post by ano1 » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:06 am

FragginOne wrote:I would definitely say more RAM now. Then save your money for a DirectX10 vid card.

yep

-999-
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 266
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Strangled, pounced, boomed, hit with concrete and somehow on fire with pipe bomb under me

Post by -999- » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:47 am

Hammer137 wrote:I dont think there would be any power issues

Image

620W SLI Modular :hail: :hail: :hail:
You can't go by the wattage of a power supply, as wattage in dc is either sound or heat. You need to know the amps on the +12v rail(s).

User avatar
Nerdy
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Hiding in the bushes...

Post by Nerdy » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:58 am

-999- wrote:
Hammer137 wrote:I dont think there would be any power issues

Image

620W SLI Modular :hail: :hail: :hail:
You can't go by the wattage of a power supply, as wattage in dc is either sound or heat. You need to know the amps on the +12v rail(s).
Agreed. Either one +12v rail with a high amp count, or multiple +12v rails with 18 amps or more is good. The 700w ThermalTake Toughpower modular that's going in my new rig has 4 +12v rails with 18 amps each.

As for SLI or RAM, I would get the RAM. SLI is picky with certain games, and sometimes the performance increase isn't enough to justify buying a second card. When it comes to video cards, I would buy a single card solution that is more powerful than SLI'ed 7900 GSes. Right now a single card from the 8800 series goes way beyond what two of your cards would be capable of.

M13
Retired Clan Member
Retired Clan Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Post by M13 » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:35 pm

RAM!!!

SLI/Crossfire is for those who want to play at VERY high res and with lots of AA.

Or SAVE up for a DX10 card, Qwake Wars is just around the corner. Until it comes out and we can see for ourselves what is needed to play I am not upgrading.

Locked